EXPERT ADVISORY: May 13 2024 – R0061
It will all come down to dollars and sense — of both collaboration and leadership.
That’s what Brock University experts say will be needed for women’s professional basketball to find success after tipping off in Toronto in 2026.
As news whirls of an expansion franchise of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) heading to Canada, professors in Brock’s Department of Sport Management suggest there are a few critical steps that should be taken to ensure the team finds a permanent home court.
Michele Donnelly, Assistant Professor of Sport Management, says a willingness to invest resources in the long term will be crucial to the success of Toronto’s WNBA expansion team.
“We know that fans want to be able to buy a jersey with their favourite player’s name on the back, attend games in modern sport venues and follow their teams on various media platforms,” she says. “Making these things available to as many fans as possible will help Toronto’s WNBA team be successful.”
There are signs that fan interest is growing.
“Attendance at the WNBA pre-season game in Toronto in May 2023 clearly demonstrated an interest in, and excitement about, women’s basketball,” Donnelly says. “It is about time Canada has a WNBA team, and it is good to see that Kilmer Sports Inc. has pursued the franchise after Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) denied support for a Toronto team.”
The groundswell of support extends well beyond basketball, with more people recognizing how “exciting, entertaining and impressive” women’s sport is, Donnelly says.
“Audiences around the world have increasingly been given the opportunity to learn this, largely due to the efforts of women athletes and existing women’s sport fans,” she says. “Women athletes have done an incredible amount of work to promote themselves and their sports using social media and other non-traditional media platforms. Their successes are being recognized, and more mainstream media outlets and corporations are interested in the audiences those athletes have cultivated. From a business perspective, professional women’s sport is now viewed as a more profitable option for broadcasters and sponsors.”
Shannon Kerwin, Associate Professor of Sport Management, says the WNBA has created a collaborative culture that must be maintained as an expansion moves forward.
“Ensuring that the values of the WNBA — and less so the values attached to the other sport franchises in Toronto — are held constant with the new franchise will be key to its success,” she says. “We know that the movement towards embracing women’s sport is fierce and staying true to the values that have grown the professional women’s game in North America will be paramount.”
The new WNBA team will need to navigate its place in a large sport market, but there is room to leverage connections with the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) and professional women’s soccer league already built within Toronto, Kerwin says.
“Being mindful of the ground that has been laid for women’s sport in Toronto by leagues, sponsors, organizations and the sport research community will be important for overcoming any barriers that may be faced,” she says.
Taylor McKee, Assistant Professor of Sport Management, calls the arrival of the WNBA to Toronto a “watershed moment for professional sport in Canada” that is “long overdue” given the high-quality basketball talent the country has produced in recent decades.
In last year’s NCAA tournament, Canada had 22 women competing, along with four active Canadian WNBA players this season.
McKee says MLSE may have missed the mark by turning down the franchise expansion opportunity.
“Countless metrics have demonstrated the immense growth in women’s sport in North America. Closer to home, the seeming initial success of PWHL Toronto would appear to have given MLSE enough proof of concept to support the pursuit of a franchise,” he says. “However, ultimately putting forward the capital to bring a WNBA team to Toronto is not an endeavour free of risk. It is decidedly possible that MLSE’s decision will look short-sighted if the WNBA franchise enjoys the type of success that many anticipate is possible.”
The team will benefit from the leadership of Larry Tanenbaum, the Toronto billionaire who heads Kilmer Sports Inc., McKee says.
“That it was Tanenbaum who successfully brought a WNBA franchise to Toronto is crucial given the importance of stable, committed and well-heeled ownership and Tanenbaum’s previous track record,” he says.
Assistant Professors Michele Donnelly and Taylor McKee, and Associate Professor Shannon Kerwin, all of Brock University’s Department of Sport Management, are available for media interviews on this topic.
For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:
* Maryanne St. Denis, Manager, Content and Communications, Brock University mstdenis@brocku.ca or 905-246-0256
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