Drake wants a WNBA team in Canada. He has what it takes to make it happen.

Founding a team, even as a minority investor, is the most authentic way of proving you’re not a bandwagon fan.

Drake is famously a fan of many different sports teams but is looking to hang another jersey in his closet. He wants a WNBA team in Toronto.

The musician took to Instagram stories on Wednesday to post that his hometown in Ontario should be the next home to a franchise in the WNBA. Especially after the Toronto Raptors won the NBA title in 2019, the thirst for the game has only continued to grow around the nation.

As basketball’s popularity has increased around Canada in recent years, it seems obvious that there would be enough of a local fanbase to support an expansion team. Drake ought to do everything he can in his power — more than just an Instagram story — to make it happen.

If this deal ever went through, it would be the only professional women’s basketball team in Canada. That would mean unquantifiable things for not only the growth of the game but the youth of the country.

Bridget Carleton, a former Iowa State star who now plays as a wing for the Minnesota Lynx, has represented Canada’s national team at multiple FIBA tournaments.

Last month, she tweeted that she was “officially started manifesting” a professional women’s basketball league in Canada — one of the largest nations in the world that doesn’t have a professional women’s league.

Of course, a league would be a massive step in the right direction. But first, it would a great to start to have a WNBA franchise somewhere in Canada.

Alisha Tatham, who played for Canada’s national women’s basketball team during the 2012 Summer Olympics, explained what such a team would have meant to hear when she was growing up (via Sportsnet.ca):

“I absolutely think a WNBA team would have changed my perspective on where I could have pursued my dreams of basketball … Just being able to go to a game down the street would have expanded my vision on what could have been possible for me as a young girl pursuing a career in basketball.”

Last month, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said that “expansion is on the horizon” and that the league is using a variety of metrics to “evaluate a variety of locations” for new markets.

If it were to happen, Toronto would make a ton of sense as a logical destination even if Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment (MLSE) and Scotiabank Arena are not affiliated.

Daniel Escott, Canadian tech entrepreneur and one of the leaders of the group WNBA Toronto, explained (via Sportsnet):

“We want to be able to use this opportunity to inspire a new generation of women and girls in sport. And 20 years from now, when they’re Olympians, they can trace their success to this team and this moment.”

The reality of the situation is that if an expansion proposal was approved by the league, it wouldn’t be terribly hard for Drake — who has shown support for the WNBA in the past — to do more than just post an Instagram story in order to bring the league to Canada.

Beyond his obvious massive cultural influence and reach, there are fiscal reasons this makes sense as well. According to the New York Times, WNBA teams have typically sold for “single-digit or low double-digit millions” in recent years. Drake’s net worth, per Forbes, was estimated at around $150 million in 2019.

Perhaps, as Sean Hurd wrote a couple of years ago, Drake could help get the team off the ground by purchasing a partial stake (via The Undefeated):

“Why Drake? Why not? Drake has proved to be an instrumental asset and ambassador for the Raptors. What he brings, besides his sideline amusement, is his likeness as a symbol of pop culture, which can draw a demographic that the WNBA has desperately tried to attract but has had varying success in attaining.”

Drake has shown a willingness to spend on sports franchises before as he purchased the naming rights to the practice facility for the Raptors, which was renamed the OVO Athletic Centre in 2019.

While the running joke is that Drake is seen as a bit of a bandwagon fan, rooting for a franchise with some supportive posts on social media even before its inception is a great way to later cheer for a team without people accusing you of frontrunning.

But founding the team, even as a minority investor, is the most authentic way of proving you’re in it for the long haul.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01evcfkb10bw5a3nky image=https://ftw.usatoday.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

[lawrence-related id=831865]

[listicle id=1089804]