Seeking to expand its North American presence, the WNBA will be playing a “Canada Game” prior to the start of its regular season.
However, a WNBA game in Canada — like many things in the Great White North — takes a back seat to hockey. Especially if we’re talking a NHL playoff game. Being gracious visitors, the WNBA agreed to move its contest from the original date.
The Los Angeles Sparks and Seattle Storm were originally slated to take to the court at Rogers Place in Edmonton on May 5, but will now play May 4 instead.
The reason? May 5 could potentially the date of a Game 7 in the Edmonton Oilers first-round postseason matchup against the Los Angeles Kings. That game would potentially be played at Rogers Center.
Second ‘Canada Game’ for WNBA After 2023 Sellout
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The Sparks/Storm matchup will be the WNBA’s second game to take place in Canada in as many seasons. A sequel matchup was announced in March. Last season, the Chicago Sky defeated the Minnesota Lynx in front of a sellout crowd of 19,800 at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
It’s a league that may be considering an expansion north of the border by 2028. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert told reporters of holding a second preseason game in Canada:
“We want to bring the WNBA back to Canada. Edmonton felt like the perfect place to move west this year. We know basketball is a passion in Canada.”
Last year’s WNBA contest in Canada not only sold out in Toronto, it also set records for TV viewership as well as league merchandise sales in the nation.
The 2024 version of the contest will be the WNBA’s fourth preseason game played outside the United States. In addition to Toronto last year, the league also played in Monterrey, Mexico in 2004 and in Manchester, England in 2011.
Toronto May Land a WNBA Expansion Team Soon
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The upcoming 2024 campaign will be the final season for a 12-team WNBA. The league already announced that an expansion team has been awarded to the San Francisco Bay Area to begin play in 2025. That franchise, which will be operated by the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, will be the first new team in the league since the Atlanta Dream joined the league in 2008.
However, the league is not stopping there. Reportedly, Engelbert said that the WNBA is looking to add a 14th team for the 2026 season. Toronto is among the locales in the running for that team, as well as Philadelphia, Portland, Ore., Denver, Nashville, and “South Florida.” Engleberg said of the forthcoming expansion:
“It’s complex because you need the arena and practice facility and player housing and all the things you need, committed long-term ownership groups. And so, the nice thing is we’re getting a lot of calls, we’re continuing to engage with cities.”
The WNBA, riding a wave of popularity in women’s basketball, may also add a 15th and 16th team as soon as 2028. The league had grown to 16 teams back in 2000, but that expansion, coming just three seasons after the WNBA’s inaugural game in 1997.
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Tom Carothers is a sportswriter with more than 20 years of experience covering sports at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. Still longing for the return of his Minnesota North Stars, he has a high pain tolerance as a big fan of the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Browns, and Tottenham Hotspur.
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