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Serena Williams is joining the ownership group of the WNBA’s Toronto Tempo, an expansion team entering the league in 2026.
“I am thrilled to announce my ownership role in the first Canadian WNBA team, the Toronto Tempo,” Williams said in a team statement. “This moment is not just about basketball; it is about showcasing the true value and potential of female athletes — I have always said that women’s sports are an incredible investment opportunity. I am excited to partner with Larry [Tanenbaum] and all of Canada in creating this new WNBA franchise and legacy.”
Williams’s investment still needs league approval, the team said Monday.
Tanenbaum, of Kilmer Sports Group, is the team’s majority owner. He is also the chairman of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which owns the Raptors, Maple Leafs, Toronto FC, and other teams.)
The tennis legend’s choice of Toronto for her WNBA investment is a big moment for the league, and could be seen as yet another cold shoulder from the sports world to rapper Drake.
Williams recently danced on the grave of her former flame and famous Toronto fan at the biggest night in sports during fellow Compton native Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime performance of the diss track “Not Like Us.” The Canadian rapper has previously taken shots at Williams and her husband—serial sports investor and Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian—in his lyrics, and is frequently spotted sitting courtside at Raptors games. He bought naming rights to the team’s practice center, which is called OVO Athletic Center after his record label and lifestyle brand, and was appointed the team’s “global ambassador” in 2013.
Drake has long been a supporter of the WNBA. He was featured in a commercial promoting the WNBA playoffs in 2016. He’s worn WNBA merch, hung out with its players, and shouted out Liz Cambage on a 2018 song.
The rapper has also been vocal about bringing a team to his hometown. In 2021, he posted on social media “@wnba I need a Toronto team.” Drake attended an event celebrating the new expansion team last May—his first public appearance since the beef with Lamar heated up. It’s clear Drake has a longstanding interest in the team, and would have seemed to be a likely investor.
But things have been complicated for Drake since his beef with Lamar. It has even seeped its way into his beloved Raptors. Drake said on a podcast in November that if the team “ever put up a [Demar] DeRozan banner, I’ll pull that thing down myself.” Weeks later, Drake claimed that the show where he made the remarks, NFR Podcast, was paid to promote “Not Like Us.”
DeRozan and Williams are both from Compton and are both mentioned in the mega-hit song; DeRozan appeared in the music video.
Supporting the Tempo in any capacity isn’t out of the cards for Drake, but one of his public foes choosing his hometown for their investment stake certainly pours salt in the wound.
Williams is joining the WNBA at a time where she could take her pick from several markets and ownership groups. In addition to the league’s existing dozen teams, Golden State, Toronto, and Portland are all entering in the next two years. Then there’s the slew of other hopefuls—Cleveland, Houston, Philadelphia, Nashville, and Detroit are all in the running.
A stake in her hometown L.A. Sparks would make sense for Williams. Along with Ohanian, she has invested in the NWSL’s Angel City FC and TGL’s Los Angeles Golf Club. She also has ties to L.A. Sparks owner Magic Johnson, who said when he resigned as Lakers president that it was because Williams had asked him to mentor her and be on her advisory board, a position he said he wanted to take.
When it comes to other cities and ownership possibilities, Williams has a small stake in the Miami Dolphins and ties to Portland, where the biggest building on Nike’s Beaverton campus is named after her. She was born about an hour and a half outside of Detroit, and is in the Michigan Women’s Hall of Fame.
So, why Toronto?
“Canada has always been a special place for me,” Williams said in a statement to The Peterborough Examiner. “I played my first professional tennis game in Quebec City. And I love Toronto — the culture, the food, the people. I won my first Rogers Cup here when I was 19.” The Examiner also reported that Williams has been in discussions with the league for months, and league officials introduced her to the Tempo.
Ohanian praised Toronto on X Tuesday. He mentioned the region’s tech community and Oktoberfest, and called Toronto “such a family-friendly city” that “we’ve always loved visiting.”
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