This week, the WNBA officially announced that a Toronto franchise will join the league in 2026, while another seismic shift arrives in college sports.
Here’s the news you might have missed from around the WNBA and across women’s basketball.
The 6ix is getting Team 14
Several weeks ago, reports emerged that the WNBA was expanding to Toronto, with the league’s 14th franchise expected to debut in 2026. Now, it’s official!
Over at Raptors HQ, Chelsea Leite is on top of all the details about the WNBA’s expansion to Canada.
You heard it here first
Commissioner Engelbert has officially announced our exciting expansion to the 6ix
Welcome to the W, @WNBA_Toronto pic.twitter.com/NC5wJopwAF
— WNBA (@WNBA) May 23, 2024
Keep watching the W
Another week of WNBA action, another viewership record.
Last Saturday’s ABC doubleheader, which featured the Indiana Fever taking on the New York Liberty and the Los Angeles Sparks challenging the Las Vegas Aces, was the most-viewed opening weekend doubleheader in league history, with 1.71 million tuning in for the first game and 1.34 million watching the second.
ABC delivered its most-viewed #WNBA opening weekend doubleheader
@IndianaFever vs @nyliberty | 1.71M viewers
@LASparks vs @LVAces | 1.34M viewers pic.twitter.com/heVlSILh8T— ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) May 21, 2024
Augustus named LSU assistant
What a year for Seimone Augustus! And what a coup for LSU!
Recently inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, Augustus will be enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in August. Then, she’ll head back to her hometown and alma mater in Baton Rouge, joining head coach Kim Mulkey’s staff as an assistant coach for LSU.
Seimone Is Home
Let’s get to work #GeauxTigers pic.twitter.com/dBY12oDDsu— LSU Women’s Basketball (@LSUwbkb) May 23, 2024
An assistant for the Los Angeles Sparks in 2021 and 2022 and a facilitator for Athletes Unlimited the past two seasons, Augustus’ forthcoming stint with LSU seems like another step on her journey to becoming at head coach at the collegiate or WNBA level.
Another seismic shift in college sports
Amateurism is dead. The outdated belief that college athletes should simply play sports for the love of the game, even as they earned millions for the universities they represented, has, finally, expired, as the NCAA and Power 5 conferences settled three anti-trust court cases that not only will grant college athletes backpay damages, but also opens the door for college athletes to be paid directly by their schools through a revenue-sharing model.
If that’s not confusing enough, a myriad of unknowns remain, including how Title IX will apply in the revenue-sharing structure. Stay tuned.
Confused by all the news on the NCAA-P5 settlement?@NicoleAuerbach has you covered! pic.twitter.com/eJHvVX5AzS
— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) May 24, 2024
