By Troy Tyrell | Founder of Tsquared Personal Training WBN News - Vancouver | September 23, 2026 Subscribe For Free Click Here

A group of Vancouver business and basketball leaders has confirmed it is working to bring a WNBA franchise to the city, marking the most concrete step yet toward professional women's basketball in British Columbia.

The effort is being led by Bill Bakk, a retired Deloitte finance executive; Jodi Evans, a former Canadian Olympic basketball player who now serves as vice chair at Deloitte Canada; and Kevin Hanson, the longtime former head coach of the UBC Thunderbirds men's basketball program. The group went public with its plans in September 2026, saying it will spend the next two to three years building the ownership group and financial case needed for a formal bid, with 2031 discussed as a possible launch year.

What Happened

The Vancouver group has not filed a formal WNBA expansion application, and the WNBA has not opened a new bidding process. Bakk has said the group is "jumping ahead" of any formal process by developing its ownership structure and business case now, before a call for bids exists.

The group says it will need close to C$500 million to bring a franchise to Vancouver, a figure that includes startup costs such as a practice facility, according to Evans. She has pointed to the rising cost of WNBA expansion fees, which she says have climbed from roughly US$50 million three years ago to roughly US$250 million today, as the reason the number has grown so large.

Rogers Arena has been identified as the likely home for a future franchise, according to reporting on the group's plans.

Key Developments

  • The group has reportedly been developing the idea for about a year before going public in September 2026.
  • Bakk, Evans and Hanson are the three public members of the group so far; Evans and Hanson bring direct basketball backgrounds, while Bakk brings a finance background from his career at Deloitte.
  • The group has pointed to strong local attendance at two Toronto Tempo games played in Vancouver in August 2026, at Rogers Arena, against the Portland Fire and the Las Vegas Aces, as evidence the market can support a team. Reported attendance for the two games was approximately 12,000 and roughly 15,877.
  • Evans has said the group expects a "long process," with a formal bid unlikely for at least two to three years.

By The Numbers

  • C$500 million — estimated total investment the Vancouver group says it will need, including startup costs
  • 2 to 3 years — timeline the group expects before a formal bid is ready
  • 2031 — year discussed publicly as a possible launch target if a bid succeeds
  • 15,877 — reported attendance at one of two Toronto Tempo games played in Vancouver in August 2026
  • US$250 million — reported cost of the WNBA's three most recent expansion franchises (Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia)
  • US$50 million — reported expansion fee paid roughly three years ago (Golden State, Toronto)
  • 18 — number of WNBA teams the league has committed to fielding by 2030
  • US$414 million — average WNBA team valuation reported by Forbes in 2026, up from US$272 million in 2025
  • 3.1 million — WNBA's 2025 regular-season attendance, a league record

Business Impact

A WNBA franchise would bring recurring, large-scale events to downtown Vancouver, with implications for Rogers Arena's event calendar, hospitality-adjacent businesses, and corporate sponsorship budgets. Women's professional sports properties have increasingly drawn sponsors outside the categories traditionally associated with men's sports, including financial services, healthcare, beauty and consumer products, giving Vancouver businesses a new category of local sponsorship opportunity if a franchise is awarded.

Strategic Implications

The central strategic question is financing. Evans and Bakk have said the group is still assembling investors for a project they estimate at close to C$500 million, a figure that does not guarantee a bid will ultimately be filed or approved. The group's own timeline of two to three years to prepare a bid, with 2031 discussed as a target for launch, assumes the WNBA opens a new expansion window, which the league has not yet confirmed beyond the 18 teams already committed through 2030.

A second strategic question involves infrastructure. Rogers Arena already operates as a major professional sports and entertainment venue, which could reduce some of the startup costs and operational risk a new ownership group would otherwise face compared with a market that would need to build a venue from scratch.

What Most People May Be Missing

There is no formal WNBA expansion bid from Vancouver, and no confirmation from the league that it will expand beyond the 18 teams already committed through 2030. The group's announcement is a public statement of intent and an early step in assembling investors, not a franchise application.

It is also worth noting that Vancouver's attendance case rests on two exhibition-style games rather than a full season of local ticket sales, and the WNBA has said it evaluates markets on long-term criteria, including ownership stability and corporate and media support, not single-event turnout alone.

Background

Toronto became the WNBA's first Canadian franchise when the league awarded the Toronto Tempo to Kilmer Sports Ventures in 2024; the team began play in 2026. The WNBA has committed to reaching 18 teams by 2030, with the Golden State Valkyries beginning play in 2025, the Toronto Tempo and a new Portland franchise beginning play in 2026, and teams in Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia scheduled for 2028, 2029 and 2030 respectively.

The WNBA's overall business has grown quickly over the same period. The league reported record regular-season attendance of roughly 3.1 million fans in 2025, and Forbes reported in 2026 that the average WNBA franchise was valued at approximately US$414 million, up from roughly US$272 million a year earlier.

Looking Ahead

Other North American markets have also been reported as pursuing WNBA expansion interest, including Houston, Austin, Kansas City, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Nashville, Charlotte and Denver, so Vancouver would not be alone in seeking a future spot if the league opens additional bidding. The next identifiable steps for the Vancouver group are assembling its investor group, developing a formal ownership and business plan, and waiting for the WNBA to signal whether it will consider expansion beyond the 18 teams already committed.

Why It Matters

A WNBA franchise would be more than a new professional sports team. If Vancouver's group succeeds, it would give the city recurring, marquee women's sports programming at Rogers Arena, a new sponsorship category for local and national businesses, and a second Canadian WNBA market alongside Toronto. It would also represent a nine-figure private investment into Vancouver's sports and entertainment economy.

The larger significance is what it signals about the business of women's sports. WNBA expansion fees have risen roughly fivefold in three years, franchise valuations have jumped by more than 50 percent in a single year, and the league has already lined up ownership groups willing to pay it. Vancouver's bid effort, and the attendance data it is pointing to, is one more data point in that broader trend.

What comes next is a financing and timeline question more than a basketball question: whether the group can assemble roughly C$500 million in investment, and whether the WNBA opens a new expansion window in the years ahead.

About Troy Tyrell

By Troy Tyrell | Founder of Tsquared Personal Training WBN Contributor | Community Builder | Mountain Biker | Advocate for Local Business & Fitness

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