WNBA Expansion Teams 2026: Toronto Tempo & Portland Fire Guide
The WNBA’s two expansion teams for 2026 are the Toronto Tempo and the Portland Fire, and both have been better than expected: as of June 10, Toronto sits at 6-5 and Portland at 6-7, putting two first-year franchises in the middle of the standings instead of the basement. This guide covers everything in one place: who owns and runs both teams, how the April 3 expansion draft built their rosters, how they are performing on the court, how betting markets are treating them, and the league’s approved path to 18 teams by 2030.
The 2026 season is a milestone for the league in two directions at once. The Tempo are the WNBA’s first franchise outside the United States, and the Fire revive a name Portland fans last saw in 2002. We keep this page updated as the season moves, so the records and performance notes below carry their as-of date.
The 2026 Expansion at a Glance
Two franchises joined for 2026, bringing the league to 15 teams. Here is the side-by-side.
| Toronto Tempo | Portland Fire | |
|---|---|---|
| Arena | Coca-Cola Coliseum, Toronto | Moda Center, Portland |
| Ownership | Kilmer Sports Ventures (Larry Tanenbaum) | RAJ Sports (Lisa Bhathal Merage, controlling owner) |
| Head Coach | Sandy Brondello | Alex Sarama |
| General Manager | Monica Wright Rogers | Vanja Cernivec |
| Record (as of June 10, 2026) | 6-5 | 6-7 |
| Franchise Note | First WNBA team outside the U.S. | Revives the 2000-2002 Portland Fire name |
Meet the Toronto Tempo
The Tempo are the WNBA’s first international franchise, owned by Kilmer Sports Ventures and led by Toronto businessman Larry Tanenbaum, who paid a $50 million expansion fee for the rights. The ownership group has grown into one of the most star-studded in the league, adding investors including Serena Williams, Lilly Singh, and former Raptors president Masai Ujiri. The franchise plays at Coca-Cola Coliseum and wears one of the league’s most distinctive identities: Hydrogen Blue and Tempo Bordeaux, with a logo built around a white T on a basketball trailed by six speed lines.
The basketball operation signals how seriously Toronto is taking year one. General manager Monica Wright Rogers hired Sandy Brondello, who coached the New York Liberty to the 2024 championship, as the franchise’s first head coach in November 2025. The roster is built around a free-agent backcourt of Brittney Sykes and Marina Mabrey, signed to matching two-year deals at roughly $1.2 million per season and widely reported as the first million-dollar backcourt pairing in league history. Sykes has rewarded that investment with a career-high 20.1 points per game so far, while Mabrey, selected from Connecticut in the expansion draft before signing her new deal, runs the offense alongside Belgian point guard Julie Allemand.
Meet the Portland Fire
The Fire are a revival, not an invention. Portland’s original WNBA team played under the same name from 2000 to 2002 before folding, and the new ownership deliberately brought the identity back. The franchise belongs to RAJ Sports, the Bhathal family group that also owns the NWSL’s Portland Thorns, with Lisa Bhathal Merage as controlling owner and her brother Alex Bhathal as alternate governor. Home games are at Moda Center, the arena the Trail Blazers call home.
Portland’s front office paired general manager Vanja Cernivec with first-time head coach Alex Sarama, and the roster lean is young and international. The Fire used the first overall pick in the expansion draft on veteran wing Bridget Carleton, who has delivered 15.3 points per game as a stabilizing presence, while French guard Carla Leite leads the team in scoring at 16.3 a night and Sug Sutton runs the point. The roster skews young and international, and it has already produced signature wins over established playoff contenders, including New York and Indiana.
How the 2026 WNBA Expansion Draft Worked
The expansion draft ran on April 3, 2026, and it is the mechanism that stocked both rosters before free agency and the regular college draft filled in the rest. The rules, per the league’s official draft guide:
- Two rounds in a snake format, with up to 12 total selections available to each expansion team
- Each of the 13 existing teams could protect up to five players; everyone else was eligible
- Portland and Toronto combined could take a maximum of two players from any single existing team
- Each expansion team could select only one potential unrestricted free agent
- There were no positional requirements; both teams drafted purely for need and value
Toronto won the pre-draft coin toss and made an unusual call: instead of taking the first pick in the expansion draft, the Tempo traded that right to Portland in exchange for the No. 6 pick in the regular 2026 WNBA Draft, which they used on UCLA guard Kiki Rice. Portland used the first expansion selection on Bridget Carleton. Both teams also agreed to leave Chicago’s unprotected players alone in exchange for the Sky’s second-round picks, a side deal that quietly reshaped the draft board.
Toronto ultimately selected 11 players, eight of them international, headlined by Allemand at second overall, Mabrey, and forward Nyara Sabally. Portland built around Carleton and then leaned on free agency and the college draft to round out the rotation. The full selection lists live on the league’s official expansion draft guide.
How the Expansion Teams Are Performing
As of June 10, 2026, both expansion teams are hovering around .500: Toronto is 6-5 and Portland is 6-7. That is the headline of the season’s first quarter, because expansion rosters are usually expected to live at the bottom of the standings while they build chemistry. Instead, both teams have beaten established contenders and neither looks overmatched. This section reflects results through June 10 and gets refreshed as the season moves.
Toronto’s formula has been backcourt scoring and home-court energy. The Tempo handled the Chicago Sky 85-68 at Coca-Cola Coliseum on June 7 behind 25 points from Sykes, and they host Connecticut tonight in a Commissioner’s Cup matchup. Portland’s results have been streakier: the Fire have signature wins over New York and Indiana, but they dropped their most recent game 89-72 to the Sparks on June 7 and visit Las Vegas on June 11. Two expansion teams sitting mid-pack a quarter of the way into their first season is a sentence nobody expected to write in April.
How Betting Markets Treat the Expansion Teams
Sportsbooks price teams on rosters and results, not on how long a franchise has existed, and the 2026 expansion teams are the proof. Tonight’s slate is a live example: with Connecticut visiting Toronto at 2-11 and missing multiple rotation players, books have the first-year Tempo laying around 8.5 points at home, with the consensus moneyline implying roughly a three-in-four chance of a Toronto win once the vig is stripped out. That is the market treating an expansion team like an established mid-tier club, because on the floor that is what Toronto has been.
The practical takeaway for bettors is about information, not shortcuts. New teams mean new data: books had no prior-season numbers for the Tempo or Fire, so early lines leaned on roster projections, and lines on expansion games have moved as real results accumulate. If you bet these teams, treat every number the way our sports betting guide teaches: compare prices across books, know why a line moved, and remember that a market-implied probability is the market’s read, never a guarantee. Our daily picks and predictions cover expansion-team games whenever the slate calls for it, with the reasoning shown.
What Comes Next: 18 Teams by 2030
The 2026 expansion is the middle of a build-out, not the end. In June 2025 the league approved three more franchises: Cleveland begins play in 2028 under Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, Detroit follows in 2029 under Pistons owner Tom Gores with a minority group that includes Grant Hill and Chris Webber, and Philadelphia arrives in 2030 through Harris Blitzer Sports and Entertainment. That takes the WNBA to 18 teams, past the previous high of 16 from the early 2000s, per ESPN’s reporting on the announcement.
The economics tell the growth story in one comparison. Toronto’s expansion fee was $50 million. Three years later, Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia each paid $250 million. If the Tempo and Fire keep proving that first-year teams can compete immediately, that valuation curve is the reason: the league is selling a product that works on arrival.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the questions fans and bettors ask most about the 2026 expansion: who the new teams are, how the draft worked, how good they have been, and which cities come next.
Who are the WNBA expansion teams in 2026 and what are they called?
The Toronto Tempo and the Portland Fire. The Tempo are the league’s first franchise outside the United States and play at Coca-Cola Coliseum, while the Fire revive Portland’s original 2000-2002 WNBA name and play at Moda Center. Their arrival brought the league to 15 teams for the 2026 season.
How did the 2026 WNBA expansion draft work for the new teams?
The draft ran on April 3, 2026 as a two-round snake draft with up to 12 selections per expansion team. Existing teams protected up to five players each, Portland and Toronto combined could take at most two players from any one team, and each could select just one potential unrestricted free agent. Portland picked Bridget Carleton first overall; Toronto traded the top expansion pick for the No. 6 regular draft pick and selected 11 players overall.
Are the Tempo and Fire actually any good in their first season?
Better than most expansion teams historically. As of June 10, 2026, Toronto is 6-5 and Portland is 6-7, with both teams owning wins over established playoff-caliber clubs. Sportsbooks already price them like regular mid-tier teams rather than automatic underdogs.
If I want to bet on an expansion team game, what should I keep in mind?
Treat them like any other team, but remember the market has less historical data on new rosters, so lines can move more as results come in. Shop prices across a couple of books, check the injury report the day of the game, and treat market-implied probabilities as the market’s opinion rather than a promise. Our daily picks explain the reasoning whenever we cover a Tempo or Fire game.
Which cities are getting WNBA teams after Toronto and Portland?
Three more franchises are already approved: Cleveland starts play in 2028, Detroit in 2029, and Philadelphia in 2030. That expansion wave takes the league to 18 teams, and each of those ownership groups paid a 250 million dollar expansion fee, five times what Toronto paid just a few years earlier.
