Local business group with basketball roots eyeing WNBA expansion team for Vancouver

For Bill Bakk, bringing a professional women’s basketball franchise to Vancouver is more than a hoop dream. It’s a solid business move. 

The retired finance executive is leading a group of basketball and business professionals that has its sights set on landing a Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) team in the city, possibly in the next five years.

“One of the first questions we had before we got going down this road, because it's been a very intensive road, is: does Vancouver have a chance? And we talked to the right people in the WNBA world, including Canada Basketball, the NBA themselves to get that feeling,” said Bakk. 

Jodi Evans, former Canadian basketball Olympian and vice chair of Deloitte Canada has joined in Bakk's efforts as an advisor. She says in a city that has embraced professional women’s sport in general, basketball seems like a slam dunk.

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“The Vancouver Rise has the largest fan attendance of any team in the Northern Super League and the Goldeneyes hockey team has the second highest fan attendance in the [Professional Women’s Hockey League], so there’s all these data points showing the demand is there and the opportunity is there,” she said.

The WNBA has been around for three decades but fan interest has exploded in recent years, fuelled by superstars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese driving its popularity to new heights with massive growth in attendance, broadcast audiences and sponsor interest. 

“Three years ago, the average screen viewership for a WNBA game was 440,000 people, it's now 1.4 million. That's an over threefold increase,” said Evans. 

The surge in interest is also