Building a new basketball legacy in Toronto

We got next. That's a slogan that rang out of the WNBA offices when the concept of the league was officially announced back in 1996. Well, it's now ringing again, this time around the streets of Toronto. The city has been awarded AWNBA franchise that is set to begin play in 2026. And joining us to talk about the news and its impact is Neil Lumpson, Ontario's Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sports. Thanks so much for being with us. Thanks for allowing me to come in today. You were at the announcement today. Tell us what that was like. Well, as we expected, and you go to something like that, you expect a lot of energy. But I think the energy was actually more than even I anticipated. Sport always brings that enthusiasm and something around an announcement. But you know, Premier Ford was there, the Prime Minister was there, everyone knew it was a big deal. And I think that there's a sense of the announcement is today, but there's so much more to come. There's it's going to resonate, resonate well before 2026 when they do get into the league and they start playing and there's so much for them to do. But I think that again, the the ripple effect is going to continue until 2026 with so many opportunities for them to promote the team, promote the WNBA here in Toronto and actually just it's Canada's team right now. So there's a lot there, even though a couple of the games will be played out West. Yeah, it's phenomenal. It's going to be fabulous. So what does this do for the economy here or the potential impact it could have on the economy? Well, that's a great question. And I think it's a couple fold. And I think what you see is in typically sports is an energy around a franchise. What goes on people that come from out of town. I mean, we've, we've, we have found out with the PWHL that people from not only in the core around the home team, but outside of it, they will travel sport tourism, if you will, because of the energy and, and the newness. And, you know, I, I spoke about this a little bit earlier and none of this is a surprise to me. I, I think when you're talking about high performance athletes, because that's what exactly what we're talking about here. People appreciate they see them on TV and they want to be part of it. And as soon as your home team is part of it, and the Leafs are a great example. I mean, they they packed the arena outside. There's thousands of people. There's an energy that goes with sport that is hard to match anywhere else. So I think economically it's a great impact for that. I mean, for bars, restaurants, all the other things, merchandise. And maybe the most important is young women realizing that there's a chance to aspire to be a professional basketball player where before that might have never been thought of. And and I've always thought that, you know, not every day. I mean, the top of the pyramids really small, right? But it's getting there is what the important part is for any athlete. So young women are have a chance to aspire to get to the WNBA and on the way achieve so much more from a just a learning and understanding teamwork and and leadership and responsibility. That's what sport does. And there's just so many good things are going to come. It's really powerful to be able to see someone who looks like you being able to achieve things that you're also passionate about, right? If you can see it, you can be it. At the end of the day. What message do you think this is something to women and girls? Well, I think exactly that. I think you framed it perfectly. I think back of when my kids were growing up and both were athletes and my son had an opportunity to go on and and have a great career in two different sports. My daughter was a good athlete too, but I think she didn't see any pathway after that. And I think that stops people and takes them in another direction. We want them to go to university. We want them to play at an elite level at university. But then you want them to be able to say, hey, maybe I could do this as well. But it's that journey to get there that's the more most important thing from maturing young people and getting to understand responsibility. There are statistics out there that say that young women, young men who play and participate in team sports, go on into a leadership position more often than not. And that's in a lot of ways because of what they've learned in the environment they've been in. And I think young women now, it's as they're inspired and I think it will resonate in so many different ways. And just let's be honest, it would be a fan. Go watch again, high performance athletes, the best in the world right here in Toronto. These young women are going to won't be taking it to the streets, but not a bad Doobie Brothers connection. They're taking to the streets and the WNBA. OK, let's stick on the topic of inspirational here because this was such a transformative year for Toronto. PWHL Two, we saw historic game being played at Scotiabank Arena. Two, is there any doubt that the city will not come out to support Toronto's WNBA team? Well, not only in my mind is there a doubt and I think the women's hockey has proved that across the board, not only in Toronto, but I think that it creates another relationship at home with mom and dad and their kids or mom and their kids or a dad taking the young girls out to a professional game, something that they can connect with emotionally too. And see, as you said a few minutes ago, see themselves. That's really an important sport. It was important to me as I was growing up. It was important again to my kids. My son had it, but it stopped for my daughter and, and who knows what would have happened And she's doing great and she's a fantastic person. But these young women now there's there'll be no stop. They can continue on and aspire to be what they want to be, and if it doesn't work out, that's OK 'cause as I said, there's not much room at the top of that pyramid. But to be part of that process, to get better and to try to achieve something, have a goal, that's fantastic. Priceless. It is priceless. I want to ask you really quickly because as I, as you mentioned, you were at this morning's announcement, got to mingle with some of the big names there today. Were you able to get any secrets for us in terms of names or colour? I thought I would ask, Well, you sure, go ahead and ask, did you? No, no, I got nothing. I know there's lots of time for that. And I think though there was a, the common theme was a colour, there was a lot of orange around. OK, so I, I'm just saying I don't know for sure, but maybe, maybe maybe it's there's a lot of blue in this city. Maybe it's time for couple of orange. I'm just, I'll leave that with you. We're going to hold on to that clip for future reference. I'm sure we'll learn more in the coming weeks. And you know, we're two years away, so that is just around the corner. Minister, thank you so much for taking the time to come in on this amazing day to talk about such an important and exciting topic. We really appreciate it. Thank you.