First-ever WNBA game in Canada to be played in Toronto

The Minnesota Lynx will play the Chicago Sky at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena in a pre-season matchup on May 13, the first WNBA game ever played in Canada.

The WNBA is coming to Toronto, for one game at least.

The Minnesota Lynx, whose roster features Canadians Bridget Carleton and Natalie Achonwa, will play the Chicago Sky at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena in a pre-season matchup on May 13, the first WNBA game ever played in Canada.

But WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the game, which is being held in partnership with NBA Canada and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd., is more about the globalization of the game than a test run for a franchise in Toronto.

“Obviously, we’re working here in the off-season on expansion. It’s one of the things I’m asked about the most by both the media and fans and I get DMs all the time from fans who want a team and their market, which I’ve said from the beginning, a league of our size and scale in a country of our size and scale, leading the women’s sports momentum, we’re going to expand at the right time,” Engelbert said on a conference call.

Engelbert said about 100 cities are on the league’s radar for expansion.

“I’ve talked about narrowing that, Toronto is certainly one of the names on the narrowed list, but we’re having conversations with several potential owner groups and many markets at this point. And we’re just excited to see the passion for the game in Canada.”

Engelbert said the WNBA was just days from announcing a pre-season game in Canada in March of 2020. Then the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

The choice of teams was due to Minnesota’s Canadian content. Canadian guard Kia Nurse of the Phoenix Mercury is an unrestricted free agent. There was also the proximity of Toronto to the two franchises.