Editor's Note: This story updated Sept. 26, 2024.
Sports fans and Ontario sportsbooks customers in and around Toronto will have a new team to cheer for, and wager on, in 2026.
It was announced this summer that Toronto, Canada’s largest city, would get a WNBA expansion team that starts play in the 2026 season. And this month, news broke that the women’s basketball league would return to Portland, Oregon, with a new team to start in 2026 as well.
Combine those teams with the one that starts play in the San Francisco Bay area in 2025, and you have a recipe for a league that’s growing quickly.
The WNBA playoffs are ongoing and Ontario NBA betting is about to start in earnest for Canadian hoops fans. But what are the odds for cities to get the next WNBA franchise, if and when the league adds a 16th team? Here are our hypothetical odds:
Next WNBA Franchise Odds
City / Metro | Percentage Chance | Odds |
Houston, TX | 40.0% | +150 |
Philadelphia, PA | 22.2% | +350 |
Miami, FL | 12.5% | +700 |
Denver, CO | 6.3% | +1500 |
Detroit, MI | 6.3% | +1500 |
Nashville, TN | 4.8% | +2000 |
Charlotte, NC | 4.8% | +2000 |
The Field | 3.2% | +3000 |
Remember, these odds were developed exclusively for OntarioBets.com. Your favorite Ontario sports betting apps operators have a wide variety of WNBA and NBA bets available, but not for this topic.
When Might New WNBA Franchise Start?
In 2024, the WNBA has 12 teams. Of that current dozen, the newest franchise is the Atlanta Dream, which launched in 2008.
The Golden State Valkyries will be team No. 13 when it begins play next season. The new teams in Toronto and Portland will follow, bumping WNBA membership up to a record 15 franchises. The teams starting in 2026 have not announced nicknames yet.
This is Portland’s second crack at a women’s franchise. The home of the NBA’s Trail Blazers and the Timbers of MLS also had the WNBA’s Portland Fire in 2000-2002.
Toronto is getting Canada’s first WNBA franchise. See our WNBA expansion teams guide to read about how previous teams have done in their first seasons.
Sports Business Journal reported this week that about a dozen bidders are lining up for Team No. 16 and that the target date is 2027 or 2028.
Which Cities Might Get Next WNBA Team?
The top five cities on our list already have NBA teams. That’s not a surprise, as some of the biggest cities in North America are lining up to get another pro team and take advantage of rapidly expanding interest in the women’s league.
We have Houston as the favorite at +150 odds, or a 40% implied probability. Texas billionaire Tilman Fertitta, who owns the NBA’s Houston Rockets and the Landry’s restaurant empire among many other enterprises, has spoken openly about his desire to bring a WNBA team back to Space City. The Houston Comets won the first four league championships, from 1997-2000, but folded after the 2008 season.
Philadelphia is second at +350 odds. The home of the NBA’s 76ers is the fourth-largest television market in the United States and the biggest one that has never had a WNBA team. Miami (+700) had a WNBA team before from 2000-02, just like Portland. Two more NBA markets, Denver and Detroit, are next on our list at +1500 odds.
WNBA wagering opportunities for the 2024 season are winding down, but our Toronto Raptors betting guide will get you the information you need for NBA action as the season approaches.
USA Today photo by Kirby Lee
