It’s no question that women’s sports are growing at an unprecedented rate compared to just a few years ago, especially in Canada.
In 2023 alone, the PWHL and the Northern Super League (NSL)—formerly known as Project 8—announced plans to begin play in our country in the coming years. And on the horizon, the WNBA is heading north of the border. In 2026, the league will welcome Toronto as the 14th franchise after two well-received exhibition games in Toronto and Edmonton.
With all this expansion in women’s sports throughout the country, as an Edmontonian, I’ve been left wondering one thing: would a professional women’s sports team work in our city?
It’s a difficult question to answer. There are some immediate logistics to consider, like if our city could even support a women’s team. While the history of women’s sports in Edmonton may seem non-existent at first glance, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Canada’s most successful basketball team, the legendary Edmonton Grads, called our city home from 1915-1940, winning a remarkable 95 per cent of their matches over 25 years. They were even inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.
Although the Grads’ days are gone, Edmonton’s rich history of supporting female sports is beginning to make a comeback. In the past 10 years, Edmonton has hosted three major female sports events: 10 matches in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, game six of the 2017 Rivalry Series, and the 2024 WNBA Canada game. Clearly there is potential for women’s sports to thrive in our city, and there are three obvious options for professional women’s sports leagues that could one day call Edmonton home.
The WNBA
In a place known for its love of hockey and football, the 2024 WNBA Canada pre-season game experienced surprising success. Similar to the NBA’s sold out pre-season game in Edmonton in 2022, the WNBA sold out Rogers Place in May 2024 when the Los Angeles Sparks took on the Seattle Storm. It’s clear there is a real appetite for top-tier professional basketball in Edmonton—something Canadian basketball star and Sparks player Kia Nurse reiterated several times during the game.
“Canada wants a WNBA team,” she told the media before tip-off. “That’s been very evident. It’s been something that fans have been screaming at the top of their lungs for.”
“We talked about this place [Edmonton] as a hockey city. Rightfully so … but there’s a real love for basketball in this part of the country.”
Although the Stingers have done an excellent job establishing basketball in the city, the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL) is not on the same level as the WNBA. The CEBL is a second-tier men’s basketball league meant to promote basketball in Canada, but, the WNBA is the most established women’s basketball league in the world with a global brand reach.
Basketball is a new thing in Edmonton. The Stingers have called the city home for five years, and shown there is an appetite for basketball, consistently averaged 3,800 fans at 2023 home games —one of the best attendance figures in the CEBL.
So, is there enough interest to host a women’s team and a men’s team? It’s anyone’s guess, but the WNBA is more of a household name than the Stingers, so an Edmonton team would immediately have an advantage in garnering fan support. The two leagues could co-exist, and compete at the same time.
It all comes down to how devoted an owner is to having a team in Edmonton. And although the idea of competing with another team for the same audience might shy away owners, if there is one thing our city has proven time and time again, it’s that we support our sports teams (unless it’s the Elks, but that’s a whole other conversation to be had). Adding another basketball team, especially a WNBA team, is a slam dunk.
The PWHL
Do you want to know what else Edmontonians are passionate about? Hockey! In a city known for supporting the Oilers, it was no surprise that when the Rivalry Series—an annual best-of-seven-game exhibition series between the National Women’s Ice Hockey teams from Canada and the United States—came to Edmonton in December 2017, it was met with an enthusiastic crowd.
And with the PWHL’s record-breaking inaugural season, it doesn’t feel too early to begin thinking about where the league could expand. On paper, a PWHL team in Edmonton seems like a great fit. The Oilers and Oil Kings ranked in the top two for average attendance in their leagues during 2024 and have cemented a culture of passionate hockey fans in the city.
However, similar to the WNBA, a potential Edmonton PWHL team faces some problems, like if there would be enough fan interest to support three different hockey franchises. Some cities do operate with three teams; Toronto is one of the more notable examples, hosting the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, AHL’s Toronto Marlies, and PWHL Toronto.
The Greater Toronto Area also has a population of 6,732,000 compared to Edmonton’s 1,544,000. Edmonton might not have enough bodies to justify three hockey teams. The Oilers, Oil Kings and PWHL all play during winter, which further risks the chance of oversaturation.
The other plaguing issue is the need for an arena. Rogers Place and the Edmonton Expo Centre seem to be the most logical options, but Rogers Place already hosts both hockey teams and dozens of events and concerts throughout the year. Could Rogers manage to add another 12 home games for the PWHL? Sure, but the more realistic option would be the Edmonton Expo Centre and sharing the arena with the Stingers, who play in the summer.
The downside? The Expo Centre would have the second lowest seating capacity in the PWHL, behind only the Mattamy Athletic Centre, the home of PWHL Toronto. It might take a while to find out if there is any interest in expanding the league, but Edmonton has shown interest in both professional men’s leagues and women’s hockey through the years, giving them an advantage over most places in North America.
The Northern Super League
Canada’s newest professional women’s sports league, the Northern Super League (NSL), plans to launch in 2025. The eight-team league will have clubs in Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto, Halifax, Montreal and Ottawa. There is room for one or two teams in Western Canada to even out the teams on each side of the country.
The NSL has made headlines by announcing a multi-year deal with CBC and TSN to stream the league’s 25-game season, and the league salary cap will start at $1.5 million—$400,000 more than Canada’s top soccer circuit, the Canadian Premier League.
Even though expansion is likely off the table for at least the first few seasons, there is still a case to be made for Edmonton to receive an expansion franchise. But the elephant in the room is the city’s track record for professional soccer. Since the 1980s, Edmonton has hosted four professional men’s soccer teams, all of which have folded.
But unlike men’s soccer, women’s soccer has seen great success during its limited time in our city. Edmonton hosted 11 matches throughout the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015, including the third-highest-attended tournament game on June 6 at Commonwealth Stadium between Canada and China.
Edmonton has several factors in its favour regarding the hurdles it takes to receive an expansion team. Where the WNBA and PWHL have issues with a potential facility to call home, the NSL has a viable option in Commonwealth Stadium. The only tenant is the CFL’s Edmonton Elks, so the stadium can easily accommodate adding a handful of NSL games throughout the CFL season.
While potential owners may have concerns about the city’s past with soccer clubs, the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup success could be a significant selling point for both the NSL and an ownership group.
If expansion is on the horizon for the NSL, Edmonton is a great fit. A professional soccer team would not have any competition in the city. And, because of the success of women’s soccer and its readily available stadium, there is a real case for Edmonton to be a potential NSL expansion city.
