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TORONTO — Larry Tanenbaum has never lacked for vision. Or patience. Or the will to see things through. 

He began pursuing professional sports franchises to bring to Toronto in the mid-1970s. Six decades later he’s still at it, still building a legacy with untold dividends. 

It’s why he’s become one of the most successful businessmen in Canada, and in Canadian professional sports, the singular driving force that has helped elevate what was a sleepy town primarily defined by a poorly run and half-baked NHL team to a sports market that matches the diverse and pulsing city Toronto has become. 

That’s one lens through which to view the news Friday morning that his newest investment vehicle, Kilmer Sports Ventures, will be awarded a WNBA franchise that will begin play in Toronto in 2026. 

The I’s and T’s have yet to be dotted and crossed, but multiple sources have confirmed that the deal is all but done.

Officially, it’s not official: 

“We continue to engage in productive conversations with interested ownership groups in a number of markets and the granting of any expansion teams requires a vote of the WNBA and NBA Board of Governors,” per a WNBA spokesperson. 

And, from Kilmer Sports Ventures: “We have no comment at this time.” 

But given Tanenbaum’s stature as the chairman of the NBA board of governors and the potential of Toronto as a market, the WNBA expanding to Toronto has been mostly a done deal since he expressed interest in getting a team.

“No one is going to say no to Larry,” said one NBA source.

But official non-denials aside, another lens to view the arrival of the WNBA in Toronto is by how inevitable it has all seemed even before Tanenbaum began his pursuit. That speaks to the remarkable growth of the league and women’s professional sports in general over the past decade or more, and Toronto and Canada’s growth as a basketball market.

In contrast to when Toronto was awarded an NBA franchise in 1993, back when there were some real question marks around how a new team and a new sport would succeed in a new city and a new country, the prospect of the WNBA coming to Toronto has been greeted with equal measures of excitement and ‘what took so long?’ 

The idea that it might not succeed is not part of the story. Instead, success is assumed, and the long-term impact of that success is part of the excitement. 

“All I can say is I saw [the news] and I was like, ‘What a time. What a time for basketball in our entire country and for a WNBA team to be coming to Toronto and to be coming to Canada,” says Canadian women’s team captain Natalie Achonwa, a nine-year WNBA veteran. “I didn’t think it would happen so soon, but what a wonderful surprise. For Larry and his group to make that investment and that commitment to continuing to grow the game in our country is amazing. 

“And I can’t wait for the little girls and little boys at home to be able to grow up and see this league firsthand. Growing up I only knew that boys played basketball. I grew up watching the Raptors. And for kids to be able to be in an arena firsthand, to see little girls and little boys to see what strong, passionate, competitive women look like firsthand is going to be amazing for the next generation.”

Credit to Tanenbaum for seeing it through. As has been widely reported, the possibility of bringing a WNBA team to Toronto was presented to the board of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment at a meeting in 2023. It was something that Tanenbaum wanted to pursue and there was additional support from other members of the MLSE board, but the idea eventually was rejected. Tanenbaum felt strongly enough about the potential of the project that he asked the MLSE board if there would be any objection to him pursuing a franchise on his own. He then began the process independently of MLSE, which is jointly owned by BCE and Rogers Communications (parent company of Sportsnet), who share 75 per cent of the business, with 20 per cent belonging to Tanenbaum and an additional five per cent indirect shares owned by OMERS, a Canadian pension fund, after a $400 million deal with Tanenbaum last summer.

This news marks the first stage for what promises to be an intriguing period for the Toronto sports industry, as the WNBA will be Tanenbaum’s first flag in the ground for his new sports venture, one that promises to be dynamic and active just as the MLSE chairman is expected to be bought out by his fellow owners in July of 2026.

Given Tanenbaum’s track record, the expectation is that his WNBA team will be well-funded, well-run and have every opportunity to be an instant hit. 

“There’s no question in my mind this will succeed,” says Achonwa, who has long been part of the WNBA players’ union. “I saw how the game in Toronto went [an exhibition game between the Minnesota Lynx and the Chicago Sky at Scotiabank Arena last May that sold out in minutes] and how the game in Edmonton went [another sold-out exhibition game last Saturday] … and I don’t have a doubt in my mind that those that are invested and committed to basketball in Canada will make sure that this is done right.”

Tanenbaum’s successful pursuit of a WNBA team was first reported by Shireen Ahmed at CBC.ca and subsequently confirmed by Sportsnet. The details, according to Ahmed, include:

• The formal announcement is expected on May 23.
• The franchise will likely be headed by Teresa Resch, the Toronto Raptors’ former vice president of basketball operations and player development.
• The team will play at the city of Toronto-owned Coca-Cola Coliseum at Exhibition Place.

The undertaking is not without risks and is no small investment. A franchise in Toronto would bring the WNBA to 14 teams and comes on the heels of Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob bringing the 13th team to the Bay Area in 2025. It was reported that the expansion fee for the Bay Area team was $50 million. Presuming the fee for a Toronto franchise is comparable, the start-up costs could run Tanenbaum close to $100 million when all is said and done, per industry sources. 

Recouping that investment can only be a long-term play.

“Women’s forces (are) having a moment. I’m not sure it’s THE moment, but it’s definitely a moment,” said one sports industry executive with WNBA and NBA experience. “But it’s a very, very hard business and it can be very hard to sell tickets to it, and when you do sell them it’s not for $300 like at an NBA game, you’re filling the building with $50 seats. Doing that outside MLSE will be a grind, so, you know, we’ll see.”

But Tanenbaum has the financial wherewithal to manage any short-term pain, and there is plenty of evidence that the WNBA is on the verge of breaking out as a mainstream sport if it hasn’t already. From record viewership of WNBA games on television last season to the pop culture buzz generated by No. 1 overall pick Caitlin Clark during her record-setting NCAA career, the number of eyes on the league has never been higher nor the excitement greater.

It helps too that Canada’s presence in the WNBA and across women’s basketball generally has only continued to grow. There are four Canadians in the league currently — Kia Nurse with the Los Angeles Sparks, Bridget Carleton with the Minnesota Lynx, Laeticia Amihere with the Atlanta Dream and Aaliyah Edwards with the Washington Mystics — and a wave of young talent within the women’s national team program that could see that number double in years to come. There should also be opportunities for members of Canada’s growing ‘basketball industry’ to find roles through the front office, medical staff, or coaching and management, not to mention roles for some of Canada’s WNBA pioneers.

“The conversation of having WNBA alum being a part of the front office has been huge because we know the game, we know the league, we know what is necessary to keep pushing the game forward, on and off the court,” says Achonwa, who will be representing Canada at the Olympics for the fourth time this summer, a record for any Canadian basketball player and likely her last event with the national team. “And so integrating for players and front office positions is huge. And having Canadians a part of it would be even something more special, so… yeah, of course, I mean, throw my name in the pot, too. I would love to be a part of the staff or whatever it looks like.”

A hometown star would be crisp too: 

“I mean, how special would it be to have a Canadian player playing on the team in Toronto?” says Achonwa. “I mean, you got to think that they’re gonna want to pull at least one hometown hero vibe on the team.”

The possibilities are endless and made possible because Larry Tanenbaum has once again seen the future and willed it into existence.

More from Sportsnet

Toronto awarded WNBA expansion team for 2026 season

WNBA set to tip off with spotlight on rookie class led by Clark, Reese

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All the best plays from the past 7 days in the NHL, including Avalanche’s Miles Wood’s OT winner in Game 1 vs. Dallas, Joel Edmundson’s massive hit on David Pastrnak, then Pasta’s revenge, scoring the series winning overtime special vs. Maple Leafs.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are entering an off-season that could feature significant change. Keep up to date with all the news and analysis all summer long.

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On Friday, basketball fans across the country woke up to the news that the WNBA is coming to Toronto.

Toronto will be the 14th WNBA franchise and the first international team to hit the court in 2026. The 13th team, based in San Francisco, will enter the league next season.

Last year, when the WNBA had a pre-season game in Toronto, we asked fans to share ideas on what they would want to call a future WNBA Toronto franchise.

The CN Towers, the Toronto Towers, the Toronto Loons, the Toronto Pterodactyls, the T-Rex, the Tigers, the Stars and the Six emerged as potential options.

However, one fan said that the name “needs to be different from the Raptors.”

“I feel like we shouldn’t be comparing the two like we always do,” they said.

Now that the team is confirmed, what would you name the Toronto franchise?

More from Sportsnet

Toronto awarded WNBA expansion team for 2026 season

WNBA set to tip off with spotlight on rookie class led by Clark, Reese

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Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving said Auston Matthews sustained a head injury during their first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins.

Treliving addressed the media Friday, alongside Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Keith Pelley and team president Brendan Shanahan, a week after the team was eliminated in Game 7.

Matthews was also dealing with a virus and told reporters Monday he “took a weird hit” during Game 4. Treliving clarified it was “head injury issues” that forced the Leafs superstar to miss the following two games in the series.

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Matthews, who scored a league-leading 69 goals during the regular season, finished the series with one goal and three assists.

Treliving also said goaltender Joseph Woll sustained a back sprain.

Woll helped the Leafs stave off elimination in Games 5 and 6, stopping 49 of 51 shots, but he did not dress for the decisive series finale due to the injury.

Treliving added that Bobby McMann suffered an MCL sprain and Connor Dewar is undergoing shoulder surgery Friday.

McMann, who missed the final two games of the regular season and the entire first-round playoff series, had a breakout season scoring 15 goals and 24 points in 56 games during the regular season.

Dewar had one goal and five points in 17 games during the regular season after he was acquired from the Minnesota Wild at the trade deadline on March 8. He added one assist in six playoff games.

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Nikita Zadorov looks like he was engineered in a lab to play playoff hockey.

First and foremost, he is huge. The colossal defenceman also comes equipped with a mean streak that fits his 6-foot-6, nearly 250-pound frame.

The Vancouver Canucks traded for Zadorov early in the regular season hoping that he would make an impact come spring. So far, so good.

Zadorov, who blistered a slap shot past Stuart Skinner during the third period of the Canucks’ comeback win against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday, has scored three goals in seven post-season games. (He had six in 75 regular-season games with the Canucks and Calgary Flames.)

He then helped set up Conor Garland’s game-winning goal 39 seconds later with a deep stretch pass.

“He’s had a hell of a playoffs for us,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet told reporters after the team’s 5-4 win. “He’s obviously (been) a huge acquisition.” 

Zadorov has earned Tocchet’s trust; he is averaging 20 minutes of ice time per game in the playoffs — up from 17:04 over 54 regular-season games following his arrival from Calgary this past November.

As he demonstrated on his end-to-end goal against the Nashville Predators in the first round, Zadorov’s skating is an underrated aspect of his game. His 1.18 carries into the offensive zone per 20 minutes rank eighth out of 47 defencemen who have played at least 100 minutes at 5-on-5 in the playoffs.

In addition to the goals and points, Zadorov has played well defensively. The Canucks have allowed 0.37 expected goals against per 20 at 5-on-5 with Zadorov on the ice — the best mark among qualified defencemen. The fact that he has started just 18.8 per cent of his even-strength shifts in the offensive zone makes his performance even more impressive.

And of course, Zadorov has dished out plenty of bone-rattling body checks. He leads all Canucks defencemen with 25 hits in the playoffs.

Zadorov’s impactful post-season comes at a great time for him. He will be an unrestricted free agent July 1 after concluding his two-year, $7.5 million contract. His price tag surely has gone up over the past few weeks.

“I enjoy the high-stakes games,” Zadorov told reporters during the first round. “I enjoy the pressure. I’m enjoying (being) on the ice for the big moments of the game, for the important times of the games.”

All stats via Sportlogiq

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While the Toronto Blue Jays haven’t experienced many pleasant surprises in the opening stretch of 2024, Danny Jansen’s offensive excellence certainly qualifies.

Jansen has a recent track record of producing at a high level at the plate — especially for a player who has a lot to offer defensively behind it — but his early-season numbers are nothing short of spectacular.

The 29-year-old got a late start to his 2024 campaign thanks to a wrist injury, but he’s performed at a superstar level since his debut on April 16.

Shohei Ohtani is the only hitter in the majors with 50-plus plate appearances who has topped Jansen’s impressive wRC+ (199) and slugging (.667) marks.

While he probably won’t keep raking at his current clip, he looks in control at the dish in a way he’s never demonstrated before. Jansen has flashed elite power over short stretches in the past, but he’s never shown the kind of plate discipline he’s exhibiting now.

Jansen’s plate discipline has never been a serious problem for him, but it’s never looked this good — and appears to be stemming from the catcher showing unprecedented restraint against breaking pitches.

While he’s always produced relatively well against sliders and curves, so far in 2024 he’s been impossible to beat with them. So far this season his whiff rate on those pitches is a minuscule 5.6 per cent, a ludicrously low number even in a small sample. In his previous five seasons that mark has never dropped below 20 per cent.

The best explanation for that is he’s done an amazing job laying off pitchers’ pitches. Of the 46 breaking balls he’s seen outside the zone this year, Jansen has only swung at four of them — and one of those swings resulted in a double.

It’s a microtrend, but one that gives a sense of just how locked in Jansen is now, and it’s not difficult to envision the catcher remaining extremely dangerous if he can retain even a little bit of the discipline gains he’s shown in the early going.

FanGraphs’ ZiPS projection system predicts he’ll produce a 137 wRC+ from here on out, an elite number that would’ve ranked 12th among all qualified hitters in 2023. The lowest projection Jansen gets from FanGraphs’ six projection models is 117, which is still excellent

It might be time to start conceiving of Jansen as less of a tandem catcher and more of a legitimate middle-of-the-order bat. Unfortunately for the veteran — and the Blue Jays — there’s a “when healthy” caveat attached to that statement because of his many trips to the injured list in recent seasons. 

Even so, he’s looking more and more like a guy capable of delivering high-level offence and power to a team that lacks both whose other option at catcher has seen his extra-base ability wane significantly in recent seasons.

In the immediate term, Jansen is a critical player for the Blue Jays who deserves to get as many at-bats as the team can feed him thanks to his outstanding production, promising projections, and ability to help paper over some of the club’s current weaknesses.

Looking a little bit further down the road, he’s an absolutely fascinating figure for the franchise due to the fact he’s an unrestricted free agent following the 2024 season.

Not so long ago, the most logical path for Jansen seemed relatively clear. 

When Alejandro Kirk was performing at an all-star level, the fact he was younger and under team control longer than Jansen made him seem like the long-term solution. Meanwhile, it felt fair to presume the former 16th-round pick would seek greener pastures and more playing time in free agency while the Blue Jays got a more traditional backup for Kirk and allocated resources elsewhere.

That could all still come to pass, but the situation has been complicated by Kirk’s offensive decline and the possibility Jansen is finding a new gear. If that makes the Blue Jays want to keep the guy who’s been their best position player on a per-game basis this year, it’s difficult to come up with a reasonable contract.

Since building a new offensive identity around a power-first approach in 2021, Jansen has hit .242/.323/.499 while contributing strong work behind the dish. In just 806 plate appearances he’s hit 46 home runs and produced 7.1 fWAR. FanGraphs estimates the monetary value of those efforts at $56.4 million.

At the same time, Jansen’s relative lack of playing time is more of a bug than a feature. It’s tough to know how to value a player with an extensive injury history entering their 30s and playing the game’s most physically-demanding position. 

Even though no one disputes catchers’ importance, teams have been reluctant to commit to them long-term unless they are superstars. Just 10 backstops are currently playing on contracts of three years or longer. Only eight make $10 million or more per season. Jansen is worthy of a commitment, and getting worthier by the day, but Toronto could remain reluctant to provide one. 

While Kirk has regressed offensively, he’s one of the game’s best framers and a top-tier pitch blocker as well. He doesn’t have to produce much with the bat to be a capable starter, and having him relegated to a pure backup while Jansen returning as a traditional No. 1 option on a sizable contract would be a bit of a waste. At that point a Kirk trade would come into play, but the 25-year-old makes for an odd trade asset.

That’s also true of Jansen considering the juxtaposition between his stellar production and durability worries and could be more of a pressing concern. 

If Toronto becomes a mid-season seller, it would make sense to flip him. The Blue Jays’ catcher surplus has resulted in plenty of trade speculation — and the Daulton Varsho deal —  in recent years, and Jansen has rarely seemed like the right player to move because other teams might be scared off by his injury history or skeptical of his mid-career power surge.

Now things could be changing. 

Although catcher trades tend to happen more in the off-season due to the difficulty of learning a pitching staff on the fly, the plausibility of Jansen carrying significant trade value at some point in 2024 is creeping up. If his performance remains in line with his projections, he could become a big-ticket power bat capable of sliding into a contending team’s DH spot, not just a catcher. 

He could still provide the most value behind the plate, but there’s a big difference between a slightly-above average hitter who plays a single position — no matter how valuable that spot is — and a guy whose production commands that he finds his way into the order. Jansen is currently trending towards being seen as the latter.

For now, the Jansen situation is simple. At a time when some of the Blue Jays’ top hitters are underachieving, they are fortunate that he’s stepping up. Add in Kirk’s rough offensive start to 2024 and Jansen has been a cure for a lot of what ails the Blue Jays since returning to the lineup, or at least someone who’s part of the solution not the problem.

A few steps down the road, things are going to get more complicated. Jansen is simultaneously becoming a better extension and trade candidate at a time when the Blue Jays have credible reasons to be gun shy about choosing either path — particularly if they are in contention when the trade deadline rolls around. 

Jansen is an amazing homegrown player-development story and an extremely valuable two-way contributor. Those characteristics almost always result in extension if the player in question is open to it, but the catcher’s future is still uncertain and the better he plays the cloudier it seems to get.

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