WNBA expansion timeline: When will Toronto, Golden State and rumored Portland team join league? | Sporting News Canada

Expansion looms in the WNBA.

The top-flight women’s basketball league has increased its reach over the past few seasons. And in 2024, star players old and new have brought the league to even greater heights.

With the WNBA on stable ground, the league is turning to the next step on the horizon: expansion.

A trio of cities — Golden State, Toronto and Portland — are set to receive WNBA franchises in the coming few years, all of which are expected to bring with them a gaggle of adoring fans to fill their respective concourses.

With that, here’s what you need to know about the league’s expansion plans for 2025 and beyond.

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WNBA expansion history

The WNBA started with eight teams in its inaugural 1997 season.

The league reached as many as 16 teams in 2000, but the Miami Sol and Portland Fire folded after the 2002 season, bringing the total down to 14. The number of teams hovered at 13 or 14 through 2009, as several franchises folded (Charlotte Sting, Houston Comets) but others joined (Chicago Sky, Atlanta Dream).

The Sacramento Monarchs folded after the 2009 season, leaving the league with its current 12-team structure.

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When is Golden State team joining WNBA?

The WNBA’s next expansion franchise, Golden State, will join the league’s ranks in 2025, the WNBA announced in October 2023. The team, nicknamed the Valkyries, will operate under the stewardship of business magnates (and Warriors co-owners) Joe Lacob and Peter Guber.

“We’re coming in here, number one, to win,” Warriors chairman Joe Lacob said. “Number two, we want to see this league and women’s basketball grow, and we hope to be a big part of it.”

The Valkyries will play their games at Chase Center. They’ll be headquartered in Oakland, making use of the practice facility and office space used by the Dubs from 1997-2019.

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When is Toronto team joining WNBA?

Toronto will get a WNBA franchise of its own in 2026, a move that may have been sparked, at least in part, by Toronto-based billionaire Larry Tanenbaum’s persistence.

Given women’s basketball’s growth in popularity across the Great White North, Tanenbaum thought it was as good a time as ever to invest in the game. For his efforts, he was rewarded with his own franchise, one he hopes can captivate the masses of Canadians just as the Raptors have done since their arrival in the Six back in 1995.

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The team has yet to unveil its name. It is expected to play its games at Coca-Cola Coliseum, home of the Toronto Marlins, the AHL affiliates of the Maple Leafs. The site has a capacity of 8,000 and also hosted Toronto’s Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) franchise at various points during its inaugural 2023-24 campaign.

Expect those details to spill some time before the 2025 WNBA season.

When is Portland team joining WNBA?

Portland appears to be next in line to join the WNBA after Golden State and Toronto, with the City of Roses expected to have a W side of its own in 2026, as first reported by The Rose Garden Report’s Sean Highkin.

The franchise’s ownership group will be led by the Bhatal family, who also own the NWSL’s Portland Thorns.

The WNBA had previously negotiated with Portland-based businessman Kirk Brown to bring a team to Portland in 2025, but those talks evaporated in the 11th hour. WNBA commissioner Cathy Englebert initially blamed renovations to the Moda Center — home of the NBA’s Trail Blazers — for the proposal failing. She later walked back on those comments.

Portland has previously been home to a WNBA side — the Fire. The team existed from 2000-2002 before being disbanded. The name of the next iteration of Portland’s WNBA team has yet to released.