Dear reader,
“I don’t buy Birkins, I buy sports teams,” trumpeted entertainer Lilly Singh on Instagram this past Tuesday, after the Toronto Tempo announced that she had joined the WNBA team’s ownership group. This isn’t Singh’s first foray into women’s sports—she’s already a co-owner of the National Women’s Soccer League’s Angel City FC. But it is the first time the digital content creator is being called to leverage her specific skill set: she has been named chief hype officer of the Tempo, which is set to tip off in 2026.
Cultivating fandom on and offline has been Singh’s singular focus since 2010, when she recorded her first YouTube video at the age of 22. What began as a series of comic sketches filmed under the pseudonym Superwoman expanded into a social media empire. Since amassing millions of subscribers and followers, Singh has hosted a late-night talk show and a quiz series, made it onto the New York Times bestseller list, and founded an entertainment company to champion women and girls.
As Emily Landau wrote in this 2017 profile, Singh always had a meticulous vision for her YouTube brand. That clarity of purpose has brought her fame, fortune and the chance to topple Drake as the leading champion of Toronto basketball.
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