Vancouver group wants to bring WNBA expansion to Rogers Arena
Could professional basketball make a return to Vancouver?
That’s the goal of a committee that is preparing a bid for a WNBA franchise. Three members of the committee — Bill Bakk, Jodi Evans, and Kevin Hanson — appeared on Global TV on Thursday to go public with their efforts.
“It evolved due to our love of basketball,” said Bakk, a retired finance executive formerly with Deloitte. “All of us [played] — some of us still play — and we decided that with all of the interest in the WNBA, that we wanted to do something about it.”
Where would this potential franchise play? Bakk suggests that Rogers Arena would be the likely home of the team.
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’s sports makes this the right time for Vancouver to join the WNBA.
“The Vancouver Rise has the largest fan attendance of any team in the Northern Super League,” said Evans to the CBC. “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.”
Pro basketball returning to Vancouver? Local group goes public and launches bid process for a WNBA team 🏀@GlobalBC pic.twitter.com/x4LiXuoCDy
— Jason Pires (@JPiresGlobal) September 14, 2026
Hanson, the former head coach of the UBC Thunderbirds’ men’s basketball team and one of the most successful basketball coaches in USports history, pointed to the Toronto Tempo’s recent visits to Vancouver as proof that the city could support a WNBA team.
“Two games, the first was on a Friday night, and they had 12,000 spectators,” said Hanson. “The crowd was electric, the social media was off the charts as to how well the game went over in Vancouver…It’s a very exciting time for women’s basketball.”
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.
Caitlyn MacDonald/Daily Hive
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.
It also won’t be cheap, though Evans suggests that’s part of the appeal for potential investors.
“The numbers have grown in the past few years,” said Evans. “It cost about $50 million to buy a franchise three years ago; it’s now $250 million US. That just speaks to the value of these franchises, what they’re bringing in, and the fanbase.”
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.
“The investors we’ve talked to are very captured by what this is all about,” said Bakk. “Most of them know about baseball and about hockey, but it’s not the same product they’re looking at. It’s unique, the women’s sports; it’s absolutely a unique part of this.”
Hanson has a personal connection with women’s basketball that drives his interest in bringing the WNBA to Vancouver.
“My daughter is finishing playing five years of professional basketball and is getting into the coaching world,” said Hanson. “To 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’s a big reason why I’m getting involved in this.”
For Evans, who played for Team Canada for nine years, the potential to inspire the next generation is a key part of their bid.
“There’s a great quote from Billy Jean King: ‘If you can see it, you can be it,'” said Evans. “For the young girls in the community to have those role models to look up to, that is exciting.”