Toronto nailed its WNBA expansion audition. 

As the Chicago Sky took down the Minnesota Lynx 82-74 in preseason action Saturday, the sold-out crowd of nearly 20,000 fans in Scotiabank Arena cheered them on with an “almost ear-splitting” din, Sportsnet reported.

While the prospect of WNBA expansion remains front of mind, the timeline remains murky. But the WNBA’s first game in Canada proved that the league might just be ready now.

build it and they will come. 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/daaDJbUheb

— Natalie Achonwa (@NatAchon) May 13, 2023

“There’s no question that we’re ready,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said Saturday. ‘”When commissioner [Cathy] Engelbert thinks it’s the right business decision, obviously, we’re all going to feel really ready for that decision.

“It felt really coordinated,” she continued. “Someone holds up a sign that says ‘Toronto wants WNBA,’ people go crazy. It just felt like everyone was locked in on what the mission was: it was to make this an incredible environment. And they did that.”

Sky guard Feyonda Fitzgerald called expansion “more than needed,” pointing to the number of quality players that will be cut before the regular season due to limited roster spots.

The hope is that Toronto provides a model for other cities – and that one day, it’ll be at the front of the list for expansion. According to Engelbert, Toronto “scored very high” in the league’s evaluation of possible expansion destinations.

For Canadian forward Bridget Carleton, it was a “cool experience” to get to play in her hometown.

“I’m biased, first of all, but obviously I think Toronto would be a great market, I think we’re proving that this weekend,” Carleton said. “It’s almost a trial run to see what it would to have a WNBA team here. Obviously with the success of the Raptors, winning a championship in 2019, you feel the excitement around basketball in general in Canada.

“There’s like a culture … that people want to be part of it, it’s not just putting the ball in the hoop … it’s about going to games, engaging on social media, the whole thing around basketball. It’s exciting to be part of that growth and I think we’re proving that Toronto is a good market for that growth.”

And Carleton wasn’t the only one amazed by the crowd.

“It was really incredible: a sold-out crowd, they really brought the energy. It was biggest crowd I’ve played in front of and it was really fun,” Sky forward Morgan Bertsch said. “It really gets you energized as a player and it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as being part of the first game played in Canada.”

The game sold out quickly, and the fans came ready. In addition to the crowd, merchandise was flying off the shelves to the point that some stands were sold out by halftime.

“[This game selling out] shows if you give these women a platform and an opportunity, there are people that want to see it,’’ Sky star Kahleah Copper told TSN. ‘‘The WNBA coming to Canada and the game selling out in 18 minutes goes to show Toronto’s ready for expansion.”

The LPGA is hitting the green in teams on Wednesday night, as some of the top golfers on Tour link up to represent their countries at the 2025 International Crown in South Korea.

This fifth edition of the match-play tournament will see seven teams from the USA, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Sweden, and China, as well as a mixed World Team taking on the reigning champion squad out of Thailand this week.

Comprised of the four top-ranked LPGA players from each nation, countries earn a team spot in the biennial International Crown based on the combined rankings of their best quartet of golfers — with those overall aggregates also determining tournament seeding.

The US topped all teams to snag this year's No. 1 seed, though the squad suffered a significant availability blow earlier this month when world No. 2 Nelly Korda withdrew from the 2025 International Crown due to injury.

No. 28 Yealimi Noh will compete in Korda's place, with the 24-year-old joining No. 10 Angel Yin, No. 16 Lauren Coughlin, and No. 33 Lilia Vu on Team USA.

Led by another 24-year-old, LPGA Tour debutant No. 6 Miyu Yamashita, No. 2 seed Japan appears to be the team to beat, with the World Team's fourth-ranked Lydia Ko (New Zeland) and fifth-ranked Charley Hull (England) upping the stakes for the No. 7 seed squad.

How to watch the 2025 International Crown

The four-day 2025 International Crown will tee off at 10 PM ET on Wednesday night, with live coverage of each day of competition airing on the Golf Channel.

With the first-ever eight-team PWHL season fast approaching next month, the pro women’s hockey league unveiled the inaugural jerseys for incoming 2025/26 expansion sides Seattle and Vancouver on Tuesday.

The new teams will wear jerseys displaying their city names across the front, following suit after the six founding PWHL franchises debuted without original names or branding during their inaugural 2023/24 campaign.

Per this week's press release, Seattle's colors are "deep slate green and cream with a river blue accent," while Vancouver will sport "pacific blue and cream with an earthy bronze accent."

In addition to "allowing fans to immediately identify with their hometown's newest professional team," PWHL EVP of business operations Amy Scheer explained in a Tuesday statement that "These designs also connect our expansion teams to the league's foundation while they continue building their own traditions and ties to the community."

While the PWHL will reveal the full team identities — complete with names and logos — before the puck drops on the 2025/26 season on November 21st, Seattle and Vancouver will play in their generic branding until next season.

How to purchase PWHL Seattle and Vancouver jerseys

The dark-colored replica home jerseys for both Seattle and Vancouver are currently available for purchase alongside all PWHL merch at the league's online shop.

Women's professional baseball will soon be a reality, with the incoming WPBL announcing its four inaugural teams on Tuesday ahead of the league's November draft.

Kicking off with a coast-to-coast imprint, major sports hubs Boston, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco will house the founding WPBL teams, with the quartet of cities tapped "because of their fan support, market size, media presence, and rich baseball histories."

"We are so excited to finally announce the WPBL's first four teams," WPBL co-founder Justine Siegal said in the league's Tuesday press release. "Each of these cities are storied sports cities and we can't wait to connect with the fans who live there and baseball fans across the country."

Originally developed as a six-team venture, the 2026 debut of the WPBL will mark the first pro women's league in the US since the legendary World War II-era All-American Girls Professional Baseball League folded in 1954.

Each of the four inaugural team will feature 15 players, with next month's WPBL draft drawing from the top 100 players coming out of August's open tryouts.

The league's first competitive cycle will include a regular season, a postseason, and an all-star competition held at a neutral venue.

Adam Silver is back in the headlines, with the NBA commissioner speaking out on the increasingly fraught WNBA CBA negotiations on Tuesday — and pushing for controlled salary increases rather than the revenue sharing model that players overwhelmingly want.

"I think [revenue] share isn't the right way to look at it because there's so much more revenue in the NBA," Silver told the Today Show. "I think you should look at absolute numbers. In terms of what they are making, they are going to get a big increase in this cycle of collective bargaining, and they deserve it."

In response, the WNBPA posted a clip of Silver's interview to Instagram Stories, captioning it with "Don't want to share, @adamsilvernba?"

Tuesday's back-and-forth emphasizes a significant wedge issue within the CBA talks, as WNBA players argue for a salary cap determined by the total revenue generated from all basketball-related activities like ticket sales, media deals, sponsorships, and merchandise — the same model currently used in the NBA.

The WNBA — like Silver — wants salary cap growth to continue on a fixed scale, raising player salaries in the upcoming CBA while controlling revenue distribution at the stakeholder level.

"I think we all agree we're trying to return every dollar we possibly can to the players, but we also want to incentivize investment from owners," WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said when addressing the issue earlier this month.

With less than 10 days remaining before the CBA's October 31st deadline, differences continue to outweigh common ground en route to an unlikely deal.