The league is trying to build up Toronto as Canada’s team but it is exploring Vancouver.
The Women’s National Basketball Association is making a stop in Vancouver, British Columbia with the Toronto Tempo playing Portland on August 21st and Las Vegas on August 23rd. In between the games, there will be a fanfest day. The league has just one Canadian franchise, Toronto, but there is an effort to sell Toronto as Canada’s team so there are the games in Vancouver. The WNBA is probably testing out the Vancouver market as well to see if Canada’s third largest metropolitan area has the wherewithal to support a franchise. Vancouver has a National Hockey League team as well as a Professional Women’s Hockey League franchise and a number of junior hockey teams in the market. There also is a Canadian Football League team in the city. Additionally, there is the Vancouver Whitecaps Major League Soccer franchise, a business that has been up for sale and has attracted no local bidders because the business’ lease with the local stadium is awful. Vancouver political leaders are also going after a Major League Baseball expansion franchise, if MLB decides to expand.
The WNBA is expanding. A team in Cleveland is entering the league in 2028, followed by a team in Detroit in 2029 and a team in Philadelphia in 2030. The league has also allowed the Connecticut Sun franchise to move to Houston in 2027. There is no indication that the WNBA will stay at 18 teams once 2030 comes around or expand. There was some interest from investors in Boston in acquiring the Connecticut franchise and moving it to Massachusetts but the league turned that down. The Vancouver weekend is probably good for the league. The WNBA probably won’t have to deal with the stupid American WNBA cultural war in a foreign country.
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