The Sky are going international.
They will play the Minnesota Lynx in Toronto on May 13 in the WNBA’s third international preseason game. This game, the league’s first preseason game in Canada, will be the first time the Sky and Lynx have played outside the United States.
The Detroit Shock and San Antonio Silver Stars faced off in Monterrey, Mexico, in 2004 and the Atlanta Dream played the Standard Life Great Britain Women’s basketball team in Manchester, England, in 2011.
“It is monumental to be a part of history when it comes to being the first WNBA team to play a game in Canada,” Sky coach/GM James Wade said. “This WNBA introduction will be a key moment when it comes to high-level professional basketball expanding into Canada and we are very excited to partake in growing the sport there.”
“Being part of this story is amazing for an organization like the Sky. We cannot wait to grow the game in another country,” he added.
The game will be played at Scotiabank Arena, home to the Toronto Raptors.
The WNBA’s first preseason game in Canada was originally scheduled for 2020. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert was scheduled to make an announcement that March before the COVID-19 pandemic halted plans. The Sky and Lynx were two of the teams being considered for that game.
Engelbert said other teams showed interest as well, but the rivalry between the two franchises along with proximity to Toronto and the Lynx being home to Canadian players Natalie Achonwa and Bridget Carleton impacted their decision. Carleton is a restricted free agent which doesn’t guarantee she will be in a Lynx uniform next season and Achonwa announced her pregnancy in November.
Kia Nurse is another Canadian star playing in the WNBA. As an unrestricted free agent this year she could potentially land with either team when players being signing on Feb. 1.
Toronto remains on the short list of potential expansion locations for the WNBA. Engelbert indicated that the league would announce an expansion team before the end of the year with hopes of the new team being ready for the 2024 season. According to reports the WNBA’s expansion team is not expected to begin play until 2025 at the earliest.
“We’re going to expand at the right time,” Engelbert said. “We looked at about 100 different cities and I’ve talked about narrowing that. Toronto is certainly one of the names on the narrowed list. We’re having conversations with several potential owner groups in many markets at this point.”
While Engelbert didn’t say where Toronto falls among the markets on the league’s expansion list, she did say this game will help them assess the WNBA’s popularity in Canada.
Globalizing the WNBA was one of Engelbert’s key pillars when she took over as commissioner in 2019. With the 2024 Olympics being in Paris, Engelbert said she wants to see a swell of support for the women’s game as the U.S. Women’s National Team goes for their eighth straight gold medal. She added that the league will look at hosting future events in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
“We have a lot of opportunity here as these cities and countries around the world are growing the women’s game as well,” Engelbert said. “We’ll be looking to engage with [other countries] in the future.”
