The 2021 WNBA season was one for the books. The league’s 25th anniversary season concluded with the Candace Parker-led Chicago Sky lifting the championship trophy, but it was jam-packed from start to finish as teams finally returned to their home courts for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began and an Olympic break saw international women’s basketball at its peak with some absolutely electric performances.

With that, we saw the steady rise and growth of both numerous Canadian women hoopers in the W and the Canadian women’s national basketball program this year.  Now one very important question still lingers: is it time for Toronto to have a WNBA franchise?  We here at The Shift think it absolutely is!  Here are four reasons why:


1. The growing Canadian presence in women’s basketball

This season saw the league showcase a trio of Canadian talent as Kia Nurse, Natalie Achonwa and Bridget Carleton all played key roles for their respective teams this year.  All-Star and two-time Olympian Nurse had a strong season in her first year with the Phoenix Mercury that saw her play in every single regular-season game, averaging 9.5 points, and be a key contributor in the Mercury’s push to the WNBA semifinals before a season-ending ACL injury took her out of the competition.  In Minnesota, veteran Natalie Achonwa and Bridget Carleton contributed to the Lynx’s third-place seeding in the regular season, averaging 3.7 and 4.8 points, respectively.  All three represented Canada in the 2020 Summer Olympics as the Canadian women’s basketball team remains in fourth place in the FIBA world rankings.


2. The continued growth of the WNBA’s popularity 

In the WNBA’s quarter-century season, the league saw a significant uptick in viewership that will only continue to grow even more every year.  According to a report by ESPN PR, the 2021 WNBA playoffs had the most postseason views since 2014, averaging 367,000 viewers in 17 televised games, 63 percent higher than the entire 2020 postseason.  The regular season averaged 306,000 viewers, a 49 percent increase from the prior season.  The 2021 season also had the most-viewed regular-season game in nine years as the Seattle Storm vs. Chicago Sky game on August 15 averaged 755,000 viewers.  These numbers are promising and are poised to keep soaring higher and higher. 

3. The bigger the league, the more opportunities to show more talent 

It’s a simple formula; the more opportunities, the more talent showcased.  We’ve talked about growth already in terms of the Canadian presence in the league and viewership, but actually growing the league by expanding to new cities is the biggest way to grow the game of women’s basketball.  This gives the next generation of female hoopers even more inspiration to watch and learn as the league expands and becomes more available to view all over North America.  There are plenty of hungry markets that a WNBA team would surely thrive in, which leads us to our final point…

4. Toronto has earned it

Toronto has undoubtedly become one of the hottest basketball cities in North America.  The 6ix LOVES its ball and Torontonians all across the city would show lots of love for a WNBA franchise among its sports teams.  No one can forget the crowd and atmosphere when the Raptors won in 2019 and how filled Scotiabank Arena is on a nightly basis for them, we have no doubt in our minds that they would share the same support for a WNBA franchise as Canada continues to make its mark in both the men and women’s games.  We love watching Drake get absolutely fired up at Raptors games, now we want to see him doing the same for Toronto’s W team!