Women’s pro basketball history will be made on Aug. 15 when the Atlanta Dream and the Seattle Storm play a regular-season game in Vancouver, B.C., marking the first regular-season WNBA game outside of the United States.
“As we prepare to establish permanent roots in Canada with a Toronto franchise, this game and our year-round engagement efforts are a nod to the incredible momentum around women’s basketball in Canada,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement Tuesday.
The WNBA awarded Toronto a franchise last May, making it the league’s first outside the United States. That franchise — formally named the Toronto Tempo — will begin play in May 2026.
The WNBA has played exhibition games in Canada in the past two seasons, including in Toronto in 2023 and Edmonton in 2024. Both games were sellouts. The Vancouver game will be the fifth WNBA game played outside of the U.S. in the league’s history. The WNBA played preseason games in Monterrey, Mexico (2004) and Manchester, England (2011).
International games have long been a mechanism for pro leagues to expand their audience reach. The NFL is the most notable example as the league played five international games in 2024, including the first-ever NFL game in South America, an opening week 34-29 win for Philadelphia over Green Bay in São Paulo, Brazil.
The Storm, given the relative proximity to Vancouver, makes sense as one of the teams. The league said ticket information, broadcast details and the start time of the game will be announced in the coming months. Fans can register to be notified of presale ticket access at WNBACanadaGame.com. The game will be played at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
Although the WNBA is launching a team in Toronto, the Tempo said they hope to be a franchise that represents the entire country. Team president Teresa Resch said that the Tempo’s colors will be light blue and red, an effort to choose a scheme familiar to Canada’s color palette. The word “Tempo” is the same in both English and French, a nod to the country’s primary languages. Owner Larry Tannenbaum previously said that while the franchise will be based in Toronto, it will also play games in Vancouver and Montreal.
The two teams in the August contest feature one Canadian: Dream forward Laeticia Amihere, who is an Ontario native.
The Storm will be looking to make the postseason for the ninth time in 10 seasons. Atlanta, led by first-year coach Karl Smesko, will be seeking a third consecutive playoff berth for the first time since 2012-14.
Next season is a significant one for the WNBA as new media partners NBC and Amazon join Disney/ESPN as part of a long-term rights deal. The league hopes to expand on a record-setting 2024 following massive interest in a rookie class led by Indiana’s Caitlin Clark, as well as established stars such as A’Ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart helping set viewership records.
Overall, 32 WNBA television windows topped one million viewers during the 2024 season, including the WNBA Draft.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Seattle Storm, Atlanta Dream, WNBA, Sports Business
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