toronto, January 18, 2023 – The Ladies’s Nationwide Basketball Affiliation (WNBA) introduced at this time that the primary WNBA Canada recreation introduced by Tangerine will characteristic the Chicago Sky and the Minnesota Lynx on Saturday, Might 13, 2023, on the Scotiabank Enviornment in Toronto, Ontario. That is the primary WNBA pre-season recreation in Canada.
“Bringing WNBA preseason play to Canada is a vital milestone for the worldwide development of the league,” stated WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
“I’ve spoken loads concerning the world reputation of ladies’s basketball, and final season, WNBA video games have been broadcast in 207 nations and territories, together with in Canada, the place followers confirmed an enormous urge for food for WNBA motion.
“And as Canadian stars like Bridget Carlton, Natalie Ashonua and Kia Nurse proceed to thrive and generate curiosity throughout the league, we sit up for constructing on the momentum and pleasure surrounding WNBA in Canada with this historic recreation.”
“Because the premier founding accomplice of the WNBA in Canada, we’re proud to increase our dedication to girls’s sports activities and girls’s management,” stated Jillian Riley, Tangerine President and CEO. “We sit up for showcasing among the world’s finest basketball gamers on a brand new stage in Toronto.”
Chicago, who gained the WNBA Championship in 2021, reached the semifinals of the WNBA Playoffs introduced by Google final season behind 4 2022 WNBA All-Stars: Kahleah Copper, Emma Meesseman, and Candace Parker, all former Finals MVPs, and Courtney Vandersloot. Sky has additionally superior to the 2022 WNBA Commissioner’s Cup event introduced by Coinbase.
“The Chicago Sky are thrilled to have the chance to play their first pre-season recreation in Toronto, Canada and share the thrill of the WNBA with our pals up north,” stated Sky President and CEO Adam Fox. “We all know Canada has a wealthy historical past in girls’s basketball, a ardour for the sport, and shared values round variety, equality, and inclusion. We’re honored to accomplice with the Minnesota Lynx to showcase among the world’s best basketball gamers to assist increase the recognition of the WNBA in Canada and globally.”
The Lynx franchise, which gained 4 WNBA championships from 2011 by means of 2017, has made 11 straight playoff appearances beginning in 2011. Throughout final season, which marked the ultimate marketing campaign within the Lynx heart’s illustrious profession, Sylvia Fowles, Minnesota additionally drove the 2019 Kia WNBA Rookie of the Yr: Napheesa Collier, Aerial Powers and Canadian superstars Achonwa and Carleton, who just lately led Canada to the semi-finals of the 2022 FIBA Ladies’s Basketball World Cup. Carlton, a local of Chatham, Ontario, led Workforce Canada in scoring (12.8 ppg) and Ashunua, a local of Guelph, Ontario, was second-best on the staff (6.1 rpg).
“We sit up for taking part on this historic recreation for the WNBA,” stated Lynx Head Coach and President of Basketball Operations Cheryl Reeve. “The league’s world reputation has proven unbelievable development, and I am thrilled that our staff might be part of persevering with to pave the best way for the WNBA by bringing our recreation to Canada.”
This would be the third WNBA preseason recreation to be performed outdoors of america. In 2004 the Detroit Shock and San Antonio Silver Stars met in Monterrey, Mexico and in 2011 the Atlanta Dream performed the Normal Life Nice Britain girls’s basketball staff in Manchester, England.
Ticket info and begin time for the WNBA Canada recreation introduced by Tangerine might be introduced within the close to future. Followers in Canada can register to be notified of occasion info and entry a pre-sale ticket at WNBACanadaGame.com. The sport might be broadcast stay in Canada on Sportsnet and TSN, and might be accessible to followers in america on WNBA League Go.
The 2023 WNBA season will mark the third yr for the Tangerine founding partnership in Canada, a historic collaboration that brings new advertising and promotional alternatives to the league. Sport co-presenter Tangerine in collaboration with Her Time to Play just lately hosted a younger women’ clinic on the College of Toronto, the place Commissioner Engelbert and Canadian WNBA nurse Star Kea attended.
For extra info, followers in Canada can comply with the NBA FbAnd TwitterAnd Instagram And Tik Tokand the WNBA’s FbAnd TwitterAnd Instagram And Tik Tok. Official WNBA merchandise is out there on the NBA Retailer in Canada at www.nba.com NBAStore.ca.