Toronto’s WNBA expansion another big step for growing sport

10/05/2024

TORONTO — Larry Tanenbaum has never lacked for vision. Or patience. Or the will to see things through.

He began pursuing professional sports franchises to bring to Toronto in the mid-1970s. Six decades later he’s still at it, still building a legacy with untold dividends.

It’s why he’s become one of the most successful businessmen in Canada, and in Canadian professional sports, the singular driving force that has helped elevate what was a sleepy town primarily defined by a poorly run and half-baked NHL team to a sports market that matches the diverse and pulsing city Toronto has become.

That’s one lens through which to view the news Friday morning that his newest investment vehicle, Kilmer Sports Ventures, will be awarded a WNBA franchise that will begin play in Toronto in 2026.

The I’s and T’s have yet to be dotted and crossed, but multiple sources have confirmed that the deal is all but done.

Officially, it’s not official:

“We continue to engage in productive conversations with interested ownership groups in a number of markets and the granting of any expansion teams requires a vote of the WNBA and NBA Board of Governors,” per a WNBA spokesperson.

And, from Kilmer Sports Ventures: “We have no comment at this time.”

But given Tanenbaum’s stature as the chairman of the NBA board of governors and the potential of Toronto as a market, the WNBA expanding to Toronto has been mostly a done deal since he expressed interest in getting a team.

“No one is going to say no to Larry,” said one NBA source.

But official non-denials aside, another lens to view the arrival of the WNBA in Toronto is by how inevitable it has all seemed even before Tanenbaum began his pursuit. That speaks to the remarkable growth of the league and women’s professional sports in general over the past decade or more, and Toronto and Canada’s growth as a basketball market.

In contrast to when Toronto was awarded an NBA franchise in 1993, back when there were some real question marks around how a new team and a new sport would succeed in a new city and a new country, the prospect of the WNBA coming to Toronto has been greeted with equal measures of excitement and ‘what took so long?’

The idea that it might not succeed is not part of the story. Instead, success is assumed, and the long-term impact of that success is part of the excitement.

“All I can say is I saw [the news] and I was like, ‘What a time. What a time for basketball in our entire country and for a WNBA team to be coming to Toronto and to be coming to Canada,” says Canadian women’s team captain Natalie Achonwa, a nine-year WNBA veteran. “I didn’t think it would happen so soon, but what a wonderful surprise. For Larry and his group to make that investment and that commitment to continuing to grow the game in our country is amazing.

“And I can’t wait for the little girls and little boys at home to be able to grow up and see this league firsthand. Growing up I only knew that boys played basketball. I grew up watching the Raptors. And for kids to be able to be in an arena firsthand, to see little girls and little boys to see what strong, passionate, competitive women look like firsthand is going to be amazing for the next generation.”

Credit to Tanenbaum for seeing it through. As has been widely reported, the possibility of bringing a WNBA team to Toronto was presented to the board of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment at a meeting in 2023. It was something that Tanenbaum wanted to pursue and there was additional support from other members of the MLSE board, but the idea eventually was rejected. Tanenbaum felt strongly enough about the potential of the project that he asked the MLSE board if there would be any objection to him pursuing a franchise on his own. He then began the process independently of MLSE, which is jointly owned by BCE and Rogers Communications (parent company of Sportsnet), who share 75 per cent of the business, with 20 per cent belonging to Tanenbaum and an additional five per cent indirect shares owned by OMERS, a Canadian pension fund, after a $400 million deal with Tanenbaum last summer.

This news marks the first stage for what promises to be an intriguing period for the Toronto sports industry, as the WNBA will be Tanenbaum’s first flag in the ground for his new sports venture, one that promises to be dynamic and active just as the MLSE chairman is expected to be bought out by his fellow owners in July of 2026.

Given Tanenbaum’s track record, the expectation is that his WNBA team will be well-funded, well-run and have every opportunity to be an instant hit.

“There’s no question in my mind this will succeed,” says Achonwa, who has long been part of the WNBA players’ union. “I saw how the game in Toronto went [an exhibition game between the Minnesota Lynx and the Chicago Sky at Scotiabank Arena last May that sold out in minutes] and how the game in Edmonton went [another sold-out exhibition game last Saturday] … and I don’t have a doubt in my mind that those that are invested and committed to basketball in Canada will make sure that this is done right.”

Tanenbaum’s successful pursuit of a WNBA team was first reported by Shireen Ahmed at CBC.ca and subsequently confirmed by Sportsnet. The details, according to Ahmed, include:

• The formal announcement is expected on May 23.

• The franchise will likely be headed by Teresa Resch, the Toronto Raptors’ former vice president of basketball operations and player development.

• The team will play at the city of Toronto-owned Coca-Cola Coliseum at Exhibition Place.

The undertaking is not without risks and is no small investment. A franchise in Toronto would bring the WNBA to 14 teams and comes on the heels of Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob bringing the 13th team to the Bay Area in 2025. It was reported that the expansion fee for the Bay Area team was $50 million. Presuming the fee for a Toronto franchise is comparable, the start-up costs could run Tanenbaum close to $100 million when all is said and done, per industry sources.

Recouping that investment can only be a long-term play.

“Women’s forces (are) having a moment. I’m not sure it’s THE moment, but it’s definitely a moment,” said one sports industry executive with WNBA and NBA experience. “But it’s a very, very hard business and it can be very hard to sell tickets to it, and when you do sell them it’s not for $300 like at an NBA game, you’re filling the building with $50 seats. Doing that outside MLSE will be a grind, so, you know, we’ll see.”

But Tanenbaum has the financial wherewithal to manage any short-term pain, and there is plenty of evidence that the WNBA is on the verge of breaking out as a mainstream sport if it hasn’t already. From record viewership of WNBA games on television last season to the pop culture buzz generated by No. 1 overall pick Caitlin Clark during her record-setting NCAA career, the number of eyes on the league has never been higher nor the excitement greater.

It helps too that Canada’s presence in the WNBA and across women’s basketball generally has only continued to grow. There are four Canadians in the league currently — Kia Nurse with the Los Angeles Sparks, Bridget Carleton with the Minnesota Lynx, Laeticia Amihere with the Atlanta Dream and Aaliyah Edwards with the Washington Mystics — and a wave of young talent within the women’s national team program that could see that number double in years to come. There should also be opportunities for members of Canada’s growing ‘basketball industry’ to find roles through the front office, medical staff, or coaching and management, not to mention roles for some of Canada’s WNBA pioneers.

“The conversation of having WNBA alum being a part of the front office has been huge because we know the game, we know the league, we know what is necessary to keep pushing the game forward, on and off the court,” says Achonwa, who will be representing Canada at the Olympics for the fourth time this summer, a record for any Canadian basketball player and likely her last event with the national team. “And so integrating for players and front office positions is huge. And having Canadians a part of it would be even something more special, so… yeah, of course, I mean, throw my name in the pot, too. I would love to be a part of the staff or whatever it looks like.”

A hometown star would be crisp too:

“I mean, how special would it be to have a Canadian player playing on the team in Toronto?” says Achonwa. “I mean, you got to think that they’re gonna want to pull at least one hometown hero vibe on the team.”

The possibilities are endless and made possible because Larry Tanenbaum has once again seen the future and willed it into existence.