One Vancouver group would like to see a second WNBA team in Canada and has made its hopes of winning a bid for an expansion team public.
"We decided, with all the interest in the WNBA, that we want to do something about it. We just got us all together and (said) 'let's get going,' Bill Bakk, a former Deloitte executive who is leading the group, said on Canada's Global News Monday.
'(We have) not been invited to do anything. You talk in terms of bid ― there's no formal bid process established right now. We're getting our own going. We're forming what it should look like. So we're jumping ahead. We're trying to win it."
Bakk was joined by former Canadian basketball Olympian and vice chair of Deloitte Canada, Jodi Evans, and recently retired University
of British Columbia men’s basketball coach Kevin Hanson. His group says this process has been quietly in the works for close to a year, but it hopes to put a formal bid in with the WNBA within the next "two to three years", eyeing a potential 2031 launch if approved.
The Toronto Tempo, the league's first Canadian Expansion team, made its debut in 2026 alongside the Portland Fire, bringing the league's team total to 15 franchises. Toronto and Portland's arrival comes just a season after the introduction of the Golden State Valkyries to the WNBA and two years before another wave of expansion will start. The WNBA has previously announced plans for three expansion teams in the coming years, bringing the league's total to 18 teams: Cleveland in 2028, Detroit in 2029 and Philadelphia in 2030.
"I believe (the league is) aware Vancouver is interested. I think that the communication level we've had is in that whole system of the WNBA," Bakk said when asked about potential talks with the league. "Canada Basketball has been very helpful in guiding us through all the key steps. We've been in touch with the NBA, advisors to that whole world. So, what you get these days is indicators as to what's possible, what's realistic (and) what's not."
USA TODAY has reached out to the WNBA for comment.
Bakk and his group shared that they are aware of the financial investment a potential bid would require, including a practice facility and an arena for the team to play in. The group listed Rogers Arena, where the NHL's Vancouver Canucks play, as a possible venue for games. The arena seats 19,700 for basketball events. The Pacific Coliseum, which the group also called out, accommodates 15,713 seats and has a total capacity of 17,500.
"When you look at investors and you look at the opportunity here ― when the (WNBA) three years ago had an average fanbase viewership of 440,000 per game. It's now 1.4 million, and it's just continuing to go up," Evans said "And they're getting three million viewers at some of the biggest games. So, just the interest in the sport is huge. (World Cup) in Berlin just happened last weekend. Again, games that were sold out, with 11,000 people in the stands."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Another WNBA team in Canada? Vancouver group says it's 'forming' bid
