A Vancouver group wants to bring a WNBA team to the city — and it's willing to spend big to make it happen.

Led by retired executive Bill Bakk, the investment committee revealed the bid on September 14th after spending over a year quietly building the proposal. Their goal: raise roughly $500 million CAD, about $350 million USD, to fund a WNBA stake that would cover the expansion fee and a dedicated practice facility.

Details Emerge Behind Vancouver's Planned WNBA Expansion Team

If the bid lands, games would likely tip off at Rogers Arena. The 19,700-seat venue, home of the NHL's Canucks, has already hosted WNBA games over the past two seasons and pulled solid attendance numbers.

Pacific Coliseum, where the PWHL's Goldeneyes play, is a backup option. The group is also exploring government-owned land near the Coliseum for a mixed-use training complex.

Still, timing remains the biggest hurdle to Vancouver's WNBA expansion plans.

Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia are all joining the league by 2030, but the WNBA has not announced new cities beyond that. Bakk's group is targeting 2031, though they're flexible and open to an existing franchise relocating north.

"We want to be ready," Bakk said. "You never know in the world of sports as to when franchises move."

WPBL investor Mina Kim filed a petition in Delaware's Court of Chancery on Monday, demanding 19 categories of financial records from the Women's Professional Baseball League. The request comes less than four weeks into the league's inaugural season.

Details Behind the WPBL Investor Lawsuit

At the center of Kim's concerns is a nearly $60,000 payment to a company owned by WPBL CEO Keith Stein and his wife. That transfer was initially named as a startup expense reimbursement, then reclassified as a loan receivable, allegedly without board approval or formal documentation.

Beyond the payment itself, Kim's filing also raises potential conflict-of-interest questions. Stein works as an attorney at Dentons, and fellow WPBL director Andreas Kloppenborg is a partner at the same firm. Meanwhile, board member Mark Prosterman may share a familial connection to Stein's wife, whose maiden name is Prosterman.

The league pushed back, calling Kim's petition a "personal grievance" and noting that the other five board members "stand unified in their repudiation of any allegations." Still, the timing is unfortunate for a league actively courting fans and sponsors in its first season. as unanswered financial questions could stall that momentum.

The WPBL's four-team regular season wraps September 6th, with postseason play beginning September 16th.

Rule42 Sports Group is now one of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League's largest investors. Former Intel president Renée James, who founded Rule42, finalized the AUSL deal this month. She also purchased Softball America, teams' go-to prospect rankings platform.

AUSL Softball Secures Key Backer in Rule42 Sports Group

The investment puts Rule42 alongside MLB, the Milwaukee Brewers, and Ryan Sanders Baseball as key AUSL backers, while James also joins the league's board of directors. Meanwhile, Softball America will operate under Rule42 as Softball America by Rule42, with Tara Henry stepping into the role of VP of Softball.

The move comes at a pivotal moment for the pro softball league.

The AUSL's six teams just wrapped a second season defined by growth, as average ESPN viewership jumped 152%, broadcast games expanded from 18 to 47, and 25 games sold out entirely. The AUSL championship opener drew 732,000 viewers, setting a record for professional softball in the US.

AUSL Gains New Partners, Expands Player Discovery Platforms

Beyond the numbers, new sponsorship deals with adidas and Labcorp add to a returning roster of partners that includes Sephora and Rawlings. James framed the investment around equity in scouting infrastructure, noting that women's sports still lack the player-discovery pipelines their men's sports counterparts rely on.

"It's a very positive opportunity," James said of the investment. "There are girls everywhere playing softball and they wonder, what comes next? And now, the answer is they can be a pro too, and that is why I'm investing in AUSL. I want to see us grow. I want to see us continue."

Spain’s Liga F cashed in this week. The top-flight women’s league approved a €55 million commercial investment deal with former NBA star Pau Gasol’s Gasol16 Ventures alongside Fortified Partners.

The sum weighs in as the largest private investment in women’s club soccer history. The funds will be distributed over the next four seasons in a targeted effort to build up the league’s commercial and operational structure. 

Liga F is gaining speed, drawing 7.5 million viewers this past season — up 11.2% year-over-year. The league additionally closed out the fiscal year with €25.8 million in revenue.

“This is not an emotional investment in women’s sport,” Gasol said in this week's press release.

“It’s an investment decision driven by data, market trends, and the conviction that women’s football represents a tremendous growth opportunity.”

The PWHL is opening its books, welcoming first-ever outside PWHL investors Kilmer Sports Ventures and Ilitch Companies via a reported $100 million buy-in.

It marks Toronto-based Kilmer Sports’s second women’s sports stake, after Larry Tanenbaum’s multi-team operation backed the WNBA’s Tempo ahead of its 2026 debut.

Chris Ilitch’s Ilitch Companies — parent to Detroit’s Tigers (MLB) and Red Wings (NHL) — already manages Little Caesar’s Arena, home to Detroit’s incoming PWHL expansion team.

The league is gearing up to enter its fourth season amid record growth, surpassing one million fans and seeing a 28% jump in attendance. Alongside the new PWHL investors, it continues to operate under a single-entity model led by Mark and Kimbra Walter.

“Building world-class women’s sports organizations that inspire the next generation of athletes, fans, and leaders is how you create something that truly lasts,” Tanenbaum said in a league statement.

“We’re proud to deepen that commitment through this significant investment in the PWHL.”

Three women’s soccer greats are buying in, as retired USWNT stars Abby Wambach, Julie Foudy, and Leslie Osborne joined multi-club ownership group Crux Football’s new Player Investor Collective.

The initiative invites former athletes across all sports to invest in European women’s soccer clubs, building on a portfolio that includes France’s Montpellier HSC Féminines and Sweden’s FC Rosengård.

“We don’t necessarily need more investment in Lyon, Arsenal, or Barcelona,” said founder and CEO Bex Smith. “What we need are better teams throughout the leagues. We need more competitive environments, more stories for broadcasters to tell and more opportunities for players to develop.”

Crux focuses on smaller markets, aiming to promote parity and self-sustainability within teams while appealing to investors who might not have the capital to buy into big-name teams.

“We wanted to make ownership accessible,” she continued. “Not everyone can come in with tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. There should be pathways for athletes to participate in building the future of the sport.”

The Sports Bra is expanding its reach, as Portland’s pioneering women’s sports bar launched a crowdfunding campaign inviting fans to buy in for as little as $250.

Founder Jenny Nguyen’s “Own a Piece of The Bra” initiative is looking to raise $1.2 million toward national expansion, targeting 40 locations by 2031.

“When we came onto the market in 2022, folks were doubtful of the concept,” Nguyen told The Athletic.

“Immediately we started to see other places opening up, because the proof of concept was there when The Sports Bra became successful.”

Backed by from Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and other high-profile investors, the bar generated more than $1 million during its first eight months. The company projects annual revenue could exceed $75 million by 2030.

“Women’s sports is big business, and supporting through investment will yield returns,” said Atlanta Dream co-owner and The Sports Bra investor Renee Montgomery.

“If you’ve been paying attention, it’s easy to see how backing The Sports Bra is a winning move.”

Five new locations are in development in Las Vegas, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Boston, and Maine. Required initial franchise investment ranges from $400,733 to $1,108,958.

Fans can learn more and purchase equity shares via Republic.

Cleveland is already stacking its WNBA roster, as the upcoming expansion team added women’s sports-focused investment firm Monarch Collective alongside business leaders with Ohio ties to its growing ownership group on Tuesday.

Monarch Collective, whose portfolio already includes the NWSL's Angel City, Boston Legacy, and San Diego Wave, chose Cleveland as its first-ever strategic WNBA investment — and its first foray into backing basketball in general.

Joining the firm in as fellow minority owners in the WNBA's 16th team are Liz Yee, Ted Coons, Steve and Lauren Spilman, Steve Demetriou, Michael Petras, John Morikis, Chris Hyland, and AJ Murphy.

"Our commitment to Ohio runs deep, and this strategic investment – along with partners who share our fervor for women's sports in this region – marks a powerful next step for our franchise," said Rock Entertainment group chairman and majority owner Dan Gilbert in Tuesday's press release.

Fans are already clamoring to catch the new team in action, with the franchise already securing more than 8,000 initial season ticket deposits ahead of its planned 2028 season debut — nearly 25 years after the folding of the city's original WNBA squad, the Cleveland Rockers.

"We believe in the present and future of women's sports," added Gilbert. "The ownership group we have assembled will help propel this franchise forward and support its mission to become a force for good in our community and across the sport."

How to buy WNBA Cleveland season tickets

WNBA fans looking for season tickets when Cleveland begins playing in 2028 can place an initial $28 deposit — which includes a time-stamped spot on the seat selection list — via the franchise's official ticketing partner, SeatGeek.

The WTGL is stocking up on golf stars, as TMRW Sports' newly announced offseason league begins to build its debut roster in partnership with the LPGA.

World No. 1 golfer Jeeno Thitikul (Thailand) signed on to participate in WTGL's inaugural season this week, alongside No. 5 Charley Hull (England), No. 6 Lydia Ko (New Zealand), No. 25 Brooke Henderson (Canada), and No. 79 Lexi Thompson (USA).

"WTGL will be a global stage to showcase LPGA stars, and this first wave of committed players represents that opportunity with some of the world's best," said TMRW Sports founder and CEO Mike McCarley in Monday's press release.

Set to launch next winter, the WTGL looks to build off the popular, second-year men's Tomorrow's Golf League (TGL), with the competition integrating both a physical and virtual golf environment inside Palm Beach Gardens at Florida's SoFi Center.

"These players will thrive in WTGL's competitive environment as fans will witness their skill and connect more deeply with their personalities through the unprecedented access the league delivers," said McCarley, noting that TGL golfers remain mic'd up throughout the team event.

The WTGL is also earning stamps of approval from several women's sports greats, as the Alex Morgan co-founded Trybe Ventures — an investment group that includes Morgan's fellow former USWNT stars Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach — became the new league's lead capital partner last week.

The Stars are investing in the future, with the Chicago NWSL team announcing on Tuesday that it's planning to build a club-owned training and performance center on a 10-acre site in suburban Bannockburn, Illinois.

"This facility will set the standard in women's professional soccer by providing the infrastructure our players need to develop to their highest level of performance," said executive chairperson Laura Ricketts in a club statement. "This new facility isn't just an investment in the Stars, it's an investment in the future of women's soccer."

Set to break ground in this spring, the Chicago Stars' private training ground will include two full pitches, a goalkeeper pitch, and a 45,000 square foot performance center as the founding NWSL club doubles down on its new identity after finishing the 2025 season in last place.

Along with a brand overhaul, the Stars announced last year that the club will relocate from Bridgeview's SeatGeek Stadium to Northwestern University's Martin Stadium in 2026.

"Providing our players with a private facility will be pivotal in their development and performance," said incoming head coach Martin Sjögren. "The environment will eliminate distractions to maximize the energy and focus our athletes are able to dedicate to their craft. This includes a focus on the whole person — optimizing both mental and physical health to drive results and help us continue to draw top level talent to Chicago."