The “Toronto Towers,” “Toronto Traffic,” or the “Toronto Pterodactyls”: Star readers got creative coming up with a name for the city’s first professional women’s basketball team with the WNBA.
The expansion team is set to start play in 2026 at Coca-Cola Coliseum on the Exhibition grounds. At a celebrity-filled event in Toronto on Thursday, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment chair Larry Tanenbaum, who brought the team to the city as part of his Kilmer Sports Ventures, officially announced Toronto’s first foray into professional women’s basketball.
The new team will be led by president Teresa Resch, a former front-office executive with the Raptors, with some games played in Vancouver and Montreal.
“We don’t know (yet); it’s a clean slate,” Resch said at the press conference about the team’s name and colours.
The league unveiled Toronto as its 14th franchise on Thursday morning, set to start play in the 2026 season. The team will be the league’s first
“We’re very much looking forward to sourcing information and suggestions from the Canadian public, so keep an eye out for that.”
We asked Star readers to take their best shot at naming Toronto’s new team — following in the steps of the Maple Leafs, Raptors, Blue Jays, Argonauts and Toronto FC. Here’s what they had to say.
What should we name Toronto’s WNBA team?
The most popular suggestion? Toronto Towers, because of the CN Tower but also because basketball players are tall, several readers said. That was also considered for Toronto Metropolitan University’s team name amid its rebrand before settling on the TMU Bold, according to trademark filings.
Some other Toronto and Ontario-themed suggestions: Toronto Trillium, Toronto Northern Lights and Toronto Sixers — the Philadelphia 76ers might take issue with the last one.
Many readers stuck with the dinosaur theme à la Raptors. Ryan from Toronto suggested Toronto Dinos. Larry, also in Toronto, suggested Toronto T-Rexs. Clem in Grand Prairie suggested Toronto Brontos after the herbivorous brontosaurus, and Kate in Toronto had Toronto Triceratops because “triceratops could kill raptors” according to her research.
One anonymous reader said the team should be named the Toronto Raptettes. In the same vein, Toronto Lady Raps was suggested by Ronnie in Brampton and Argonettes by James in Minnesota.
Several readers suggested variations of mythical female groups, including the Sirens, Amazons and Valkyries (which is taken by San Francisco’s WNBA team, set to start in 2025).
A few readers went with other animals. Huskies was popular, and the name of the short-lived Toronto entry in the NBA’s forerunner. Raccoons (Trash Pandas, Bandits, Rebels) were another popular choice by readers across the GTA.
Others just wanted to have fun with it. Dennis from Toronto suggest Toronto Kendricks, just for “pure spite against Drake.” Drake and Kendrick Lamar are involved in an ongoing rap feud, trading bitter diss tracks.
Eric from Brampton suggested Toronto Tanenbaums “because as an owner, he sucks. Just look at the record of his other teams.”
Christina from Toronto pitched the Toronto Traffic: “It’s emblematic of our city, speaks to its bustling nature, it’s indomitable.”
