{"id":896403,"date":"2026-09-15T07:46:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T07:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/896403\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T07:46:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T07:46:11","slug":"vancouver-group-wants-to-bring-wnba-expansion-to-rogers-arena-daily-hive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/896403\/","title":{"rendered":"Vancouver group wants to bring WNBA expansion to Rogers Arena | Daily Hive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Could professional basketball make a return to Vancouver?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the goal of a committee that is preparing a bid for a WNBA franchise. Three members of the committee \u2014 Bill Bakk, Jodi Evans, and Kevin Hanson \u2014 appeared on Global TV<\/a> on Thursday to go public with their efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt evolved due to our love of basketball,\u201d said Bakk, a retired finance executive formerly with Deloitte. \u201cAll of us [played] \u2014 some of us still play \u2014 and we decided that with all of the interest in the WNBA, that we wanted to do something about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where would this potential franchise play? Bakk suggests that Rogers Arena would be the likely home of the team.<\/p>\n

Evans played basketball at the University of Calgary and Oxford University, and represented Canada at the 1996 Olympics. Now a Vice Chair at Deloitte Canada, she is acting as an advisor for the bid and believes the landscape of women\u2019s sports makes this the right time for Vancouver to join the WNBA.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Vancouver Rise has the largest fan attendance of any team in the Northern Super League,\u201d said Evans to the CBC<\/a>. \u201cAnd the Goldeneyes hockey team has the second-highest fan attendance in the [Professional Women\u2019s Hockey League], so there\u2019s all these data points showing the demand is there and the opportunity is there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pro basketball returning to Vancouver? Local group goes public and launches bid process for a WNBA team \ud83c\udfc0@GlobalBC<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/x4LiXuoCDy<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jason Pires (@JPiresGlobal) September 14, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Hanson, the former head coach of the UBC Thunderbirds\u2019 men\u2019s basketball team and one of the most successful basketball coaches in USports history, pointed to the Toronto Tempo\u2019s recent visits to Vancouver<\/a> as proof that the city could support a WNBA team.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo games, the first was on a Friday night, and they had 12,000 spectators,\u201d said Hanson. \u201cThe crowd was electric, the social media was off the charts as to how well the game went over in Vancouver\u2026It\u2019s a very exciting time for women\u2019s basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also pointed out the second game featured an even larger crowd, nearly 16,000 people, despite taking place at the same time as a BC Lions game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.<\/p>\n

\"vancouver<\/p>\n

Caitlyn MacDonald\/Daily Hive<\/p>\n

Bakk noted this will be a long process, with the group unlikely to make a formal bid for a franchise for another two to three years. If successful, Bakk suggested it will be a four-to-five-year timeline.<\/p>\n

It also won\u2019t be cheap, though Evans suggests that\u2019s part of the appeal for potential investors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe numbers have grown in the past few years,\u201d said Evans. \u201cIt cost about $50 million to buy a franchise three years ago; it\u2019s now $250 million US. That just speaks to the value of these franchises, what they\u2019re bringing in, and the fanbase.\u201d<\/p>\n

Including the additional start-up costs, such as a practice facility, Evans expects that they will need a C$500 million investment to get a WNBA team up and running.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe investors we\u2019ve talked to are very captured by what this is all about,\u201d said Bakk. \u201cMost of them know about baseball and about hockey, but it\u2019s not the same product they\u2019re looking at. It\u2019s unique, the women\u2019s sports; it\u2019s absolutely a unique part of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hanson has a personal connection with women\u2019s basketball that drives his interest in bringing the WNBA to Vancouver.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy daughter is finishing playing five years of professional basketball and is getting into the coaching world,\u201d said Hanson. \u201cTo have something where young girls can get out there and watch and have role models, and to pursue careers, not just playing but in administrative roles, management, and coaching as well, that\u2019s a big reason why I\u2019m getting involved in this.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Evans, who played for Team Canada for nine years, the potential to inspire the next generation is a key part of their bid.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a great quote from Billy Jean King: \u2018If you can see it, you can be it,’\u201d said Evans. \u201cFor the young girls in the community to have those role models to look up to, that is exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n