{"id":295323,"date":"2025-11-20T11:24:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T11:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/295323\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T11:24:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T11:24:09","slug":"why-toronto-is-a-top-womens-sports-city-despite-being-snubbed-by-the-athletic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/295323\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Toronto is a top women\u2019s sports city \u2014 despite being snubbed by The Athletic"},"content":{"rendered":"

What if I told you there\u2019s a city that broke the all-time attendance record for a women\u2019s hockey game, was awarded a WNBA expansion franchise and has produced dozens of Olympic medalists?<\/p>\n

And what if I told you that city, Toronto, did not make The Athletic\u2019s top 10 list of the best women\u2019s sports cities<\/a>?<\/p>\n

The response from many Torontonians \u2014 maybe even many Canadians \u2014 might be similar to Toronto native and two-time Olympic gold medalist Natalie Spooner\u2019s own reaction.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m shocked,\u201d said Spooner, who grew up in Scarborough, Ont., and is now a forward for the Toronto Sceptres in the Professional Women\u2019s Hockey League. \u201cEven just the community that fans have built around our team. \u2026 That alone shows how great of a women\u2019s sports community there is in Toronto and how it should be in the top 10.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the obvious: the Toronto Sceptres, and the team\u2019s success since the PWHL launched in January 2024.<\/p>\n

Toronto sold out every home game of its inaugural season, with season ticket packages and single-game tickets selling out within minutes. Yes, the team was playing at the far-too-small 2,600-seat Mattamy Athletic Centre, but the demand was real.<\/p>\n

When the league moved a February 2024 game between Toronto and Montreal to a much larger venue, Scotiabank Area, home of the NHL\u2019s Toronto Maple Leafs, tickets sold out within minutes of the start of the general on-sale.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just sort of the perfect storm of perfect market, perfect match-up, a beautiful building, and Mattamy is sold out, so this is really the one time you\u2019re going to be able to see them play during the season,\u201d Amy Scheer, the league\u2019s executive vice president of business operations, said at the time.<\/p>\n

The draw of 19,285 fans at Scotiabank Arena became the largest crowd to watch women\u2019s hockey ever, including the Olympics, world championships and the NCAA. The record fell a few months later to Montreal at the Bell Centre, but that February game was proof of concept that there\u2019s an audience for women\u2019s professional hockey \u2014 in general but also specifically in Toronto.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously coming out, being from Toronto and just hearing how loud it was in there, was pretty crazy,\u201d said Spooner. \u201cIt was such a cool atmosphere to be able to play in when there\u2019s that many people. The fans were loud, and they were excited to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahead of Season 2, the PWHL moved its Toronto franchise to Coca-Cola Coliseum, which seats over 8,000 fans \u2014 a significant upgrade from 2,600 at Mattamy the year before. It was a big and natural next step for the Toronto franchise, which was among the top teams in the league by home attendance in the regular season.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s more than just the sheer number of fans who have attended Toronto games in the city. If we\u2019re measuring on vibes, those are pretty unmatched at Sceptres games, too. It\u2019s a positive, communal hockey-watching experience \u2014 something that can be in short supply in this city. Toronto Maple Leafs games are often a tense, sometimes toxic, or at the very least silent, experience. That\u2019s not the way it is when the Sceptres are playing.<\/p>\n

You see little kids, older women, a vibrant queer community, families and more coming together to rally behind the team. There are super fans, like Debbie Harris, the 64-year-old who got Crayola Canada to make a new purple crayon for the PWHL in 2024. And Connie Hamers, who\u2019s become known in the rink for her \u201cEmma Nation,\u201d section after taking a liking to Sceptres and Team Canada star Emma Maltais.<\/p>\n

This is awesome.<\/p>\n

Crayola Canada is releasing a new colour, powerplay plum, in honour of the PWHL and Toronto super fan Debbie Harrison.<\/p>\n

Harrison wore this to one of Toronto’s first games. pic.twitter.com\/2pl9DzERgF<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mark Colley (@MarkColley) March 12, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

There\u2019s less baggage and more positivity when the Sceptres are on the ice. And for a city that has come to define itself partially by hockey heartbreak and futility, the fact that Sceptres games are such a positive experience is notable.<\/p>\n

\u201cFans have built a community here,\u201d said Spooner. \u201cThey want to be involved, they want to feel part of the team, and I think that\u2019s pretty special.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pipeline of talent from the Greater Toronto Area also can\u2019t be ignored. There\u2019s Spooner, who won PWHL MVP in 2024 for her hometown team. Sarah Fillier, who tied for the league in scoring last season for the New York Sirens, grew up 30 miles outside the city. If we consider Hamilton part of the larger Toronto-Horshoe area, Sarah Nurse is one of the biggest faces in the sport.<\/p>\n

Eight players on Team Canada\u2019s 2022 Olympic gold medal winning hockey team are from the GTA \u2013 nine if we include Nurse.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not forget about the history either. Angela James, one of the sport\u2019s original stars, grew up in Toronto and became one of the first women inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2010. Geraldine Heaney, who is also in the Hall, grew up in North York, and led Canada to seven-straight world championships in the \u201990s.<\/p>\n

Now, there\u2019s an impulse to pigeon hole Toronto as all hockey, all the time. It\u2019s understandable. And even if that were true, if Kansas City deserves credit for supporting their single women\u2019s sports franchise, then Toronto should, too.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n A WNBA preseason game between the Chicago Sky and Minnesota Lynx played at Toronto\u2019s Scotiabank Arena in 2023 drew huge crowds. (John E. Sokolowski \/ USA Today)<\/p>\n

But, it\u2019s not just about one team. The city also holds its own in sports that got more attention from my colleagues.<\/p>\n

The WNBA\u2019s first-ever game in Toronto back in 2023 was a huge hit, setting records for attendance, viewership and merchandise sales. The 19,923 fans at Scotiabank Arena was the most ever at a WNBA preseason game. It was also the most-viewed WNBA preseason game ever, and the second-most-viewed WNBA game of all-time in Canada.<\/p>\n

An incredible 98 percent of in-arena merchandise was sold by the end of the game, according to the WNBA. There was also a 506 percent increase in WNBA merchandise sales in Canada compared to the same week last year.<\/p>\n

The numbers made it clear that Toronto was long overdue for a WNBA team. One year later, commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that Toronto would officially become the WNBA\u2019s 14th franchise at a packed press conference that included Drake, former Raptor Kyle Lowry and WNBA legend and Toronto native Tammy Sutton-Brown.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know Toronto is a basketball city. We\u2019ve seen time and time again that Toronto is home to dedicated and enthusiastic basketball fans,\u201d Engelbert said at the announcement. \u201cI\u2019ll never forget last year at Scotiabank Arena when I attended our Toronto game and lots of people coming up to me and saying, \u2018Thanks for making my dreams come true by bringing a WNBA game here.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s when I knew (Toronto) is the right place.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team, which has been named the Toronto Tempo, will begin playing at Coca-Cola Coliseum in May 2026, and has already received thousands of season ticket deposits. The organization has since added Sandy Brondello as head coach and tennis icon Serena Williams to its ownership group.<\/p>\n

The Tempo\u2019s inaugural roster won\u2019t be built until the entry and expansion drafts later this year. But perhaps they could add, say, Kia Nurse, who like cousin Sarah, grew up just outside the city in Hamilton, Ontario. Or Laeticia Amihere, who won an NCAA championship with South Carolina and grew up in nearby Mississauga.<\/p>\n

Whether or not the Tempo can acquire local players, the excitement for the team is palpable.<\/p>\n

Women\u2019s soccer has been successful here, too. In the leadup to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, the women\u2019s national team out-drew the men with a record 29,212 fans at BMO Field in Toronto \u2014 the biggest crowd for a Canadian national team game in Ontario.<\/p>\n

The Northern Super League, a new top-division pro women\u2019s soccer league that launched in Canada this year, has tapped into the city\u2019s appetite for women\u2019s soccer, given that there are no Canadian NWSL franchises.<\/p>\n

The Toronto franchise debuted to a sold-out crowd of 14,518 fans for its opener at BMO field, a record for the inaugural season. AFC Toronto also had the second-best average attendance (over 48,000 fans) in the NSL all season.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, the NSL final drew 12,429 fans. According to the Ontario government, the final is expected to generate over $12 million in economic activity and attract more than 20,000 people to the city.<\/p>\n

One thing that stands out about Toronto to me is the talent this city and area churns out.<\/p>\n

Almost half (8) of the Canadian women\u2019s soccer team that won gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics are from the Toronto area. There were six in 2016 when the team won a second-straight bronze medal in Rio, including NSL co-founder Diana Matheson who scored both goals in a 2-1 win bronze medal game win.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s Toronto native Penny Oleksiak, Canada\u2019s most-decorated Olympian with seven medals won in the pool. And swimming phenom Summer McIntosh, who won three gold medals at the Paris Olympics.<\/p>\n

There are elite rugby players, rowers, track athletes and more \u2014 all from Toronto and its surrounding area.<\/p>\n

There was a lot of talk in The Athletic\u2019s women\u2019s sports cities ranking about building community, specifically through local women\u2019s sports bars. When a popular Toronto bar, Peaches, closed last year, another venture popped up in its place. \u201cHer Game Toronto\u201d launched to \u201ccelebrate the incredible talent of Toronto\u2019s professional women\u2019s teams, shine a light on female athletes, and build a strong, connected fan community.\u201d The group hosts watch parties at different venues around the city, including one for the Toronto Sceptres\u2019 Nov. 21 season debut.<\/p>\n

In Tuesday\u2019s story, colleague Meg Linehan posed the question: What makes a great women\u2019s sports city?<\/p>\n

I\u2019d say all of the above.<\/p>\n