Girls’s professional basketball historical past can be made on Aug. 15 when the Atlanta Dream and the Seattle Storm play a regular-season recreation in Vancouver, B.C., marking the primary regular-season WNBA recreation outdoors of the USA.
“As we put together to ascertain everlasting roots in Canada with a Toronto franchise, this recreation and our year-round engagement efforts are a nod to the unbelievable momentum round ladies’s basketball in Canada,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert stated in a press release Tuesday.
The WNBA awarded Toronto a franchise final Might, making it the league’s first outdoors the USA. That franchise — formally named the Toronto Tempo — will start play in Might 2026.
The WNBA has performed exhibition video games in Canada prior to now two seasons, together with in Toronto in 2023 and Edmonton in 2024. Each video games had been sellouts. The Vancouver recreation would be the fifth WNBA recreation performed outdoors of the U.S. within the league’s historical past. The WNBA performed preseason video games in Monterrey, Mexico (2004) and Manchester, England (2011).
Worldwide video games have lengthy been a mechanism for professional leagues to broaden their viewers attain. The NFL is probably the most notable instance because the league performed 5 worldwide video games in 2024, together with the first-ever NFL recreation in South America, a gap week 34-29 win for Philadelphia over Inexperienced Bay in São Paulo, Brazil.
The Storm, given the relative proximity to Vancouver, is smart as one of many groups. The league stated ticket data, broadcast particulars and the beginning time of the sport can be introduced within the coming months. Followers can register to be notified of presale ticket entry at WNBACanadaGame.com. The sport can be performed at Rogers Area in Vancouver.
Though the WNBA is launching a group in Toronto, the Tempo stated they hope to be a franchise that represents your entire nation. Crew president Teresa Resch stated that the Tempo’s colours can be gentle blue and purple, an effort to decide on a scheme acquainted to Canada’s colour palette. The phrase “Tempo” is similar in each English and French, a nod to the nation’s main languages. Proprietor Larry Tannenbaum beforehand stated that whereas the franchise can be primarily based in Toronto, it’s going to additionally play video games in Vancouver and Montreal.
The 2 groups within the August contest characteristic one Canadian: Dream ahead Laeticia Amihere, who’s an Ontario native.
The Storm can be trying to make the postseason for the ninth time in 10 seasons. Atlanta, led by first-year coach Karl Smesko, can be searching for a 3rd consecutive playoff berth for the primary time since 2012-14.
Subsequent season is a major one for the WNBA as new media companions NBC and Amazon be a part of Disney/ESPN as a part of a long-term rights deal. The league hopes to broaden on a record-setting 2024 following huge curiosity in a rookie class led by Indiana’s Caitlin Clark, in addition to established stars equivalent to A’Ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart serving to set viewership information.
General, 32 WNBA tv home windows topped a million viewers through the 2024 season, together with the WNBA Draft.
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