The Atlanta Dream and Seattle Storm will play in the WNBA's first international regular-season game with a bout in Vancouver in August, the league announced in a Monday release.
“The WNBA Canada Game has been a tremendous opportunity to grow our league’s footprint, and we look forward to hosting the first-ever international regular season game with the Seattle Storm’s return to Canada to face the Atlanta Dream," WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in the release. "As we prepare to establish permanent roots in Canada with a Toronto franchise, this game and our year-round engagement efforts are a nod to the incredible momentum around women’s basketball in Canada.”
The two teams will battle at Rogers Arena, home of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks and the Vancouver Warriors of the National Lacrosse League, on Aug. 15, 2025.
The WNBA announced Toronto had been granted an expansion franchise last May, nearly seven months after the Bay Area was awarded an expansion franchise of its own. The newly-named Toronto Tempo will begin play in 2026. The Golden State Valkyries completed their expansion draft earlier this month. They selected forward María Conde, a former third-round selection by the Chicago Sky in the 2019 WNBA Draft, along with one player from 10 other WNBA franchises. The Sky will face the Valkyries on Aug. 15 at 7:30 p.m. EDT in Wintrust Arena, marking the final of three times Chicago will face Golden State in the regular season.
Chicago participated in the WNBA's first-ever Canada Game in Toronto in 2023. It defeated the Minnesota Lynx in front of a sold-out preseason crowd at Scotiabank Arena behind 18 points and nine rebounds from now-Phoenix Mercury guard Kahleah Copper. Guard Rachel Banham, who was included in a July Sky trade that sent scoring guard Marina Mabrey to the Connecticut Sun, scored 13 points and hit four of her eight tries from the floor for the Lynx. Seattle and Los Angeles Sparks faced off in the league's second preseason Canada Game last season, which saw former Chicago center Li Yueru log seven points and five rebounds in 20 minutes of play during the Sparks win.
The Sky went 3-4 against the Dream and the Storm during their 2024 campaign. Forward Cheyenne Parker, who spent six seasons with the Sky before signing a multi-year contract with Atlanta in 2021, averaged 11.3 points and six rebounds per contest in three games against her former squad last season. All-Star forward Angel Reese showcased her defensive potential when she earned five steals in a June matchup with the Dream, a game that ended with a conversation between Reese and 8-time All-Star center Tina Charles.
Continuing the league's international exposure can further increase the viewership and growth potential of a league that netted a massive media rights deal in July. Two 2024 matchups between the Sky and the Indiana Fever surpassed an average of more than 2.2 million viewers. Chicago's 2023 preseason win in Toronto was played in front of just under 20,000 fans. Tickets for the Toronto matchup were sold in less than 20 minutes, Chicago Sun-Times Sky reporter Annie Costabile wrote in a 2023 article, showing the need for Canadian expansion far before the Tempo takes the floor for the first time in 2026.