As the Toronto Tempo prepare for their inaugural season in 2026, they’ve made one thing abundantly clear: they’re Canada’s team.
As the Toronto Tempo prepare for their inaugural season in 2026, they’ve made one thing abundantly clear: they’re Canada’s team.
The lone WNBA franchise north of the border announced on Friday that come next year, they’ll be playing two games in Vancouver.
News that came directly from Tempo president Teresa Resch and general manager Monica Wright Rogers. The leadership duo made the announcement while standing at midcourt in front of a roaring crowd of fans at Rogers Arena for the WNBA Canada Game between the Seattle Storm and Atlanta Dream on Friday night.
The contest marked the first regular-season WNBA game to be played outside of the United States. The league previously held pre-season contests in Toronto (2023) and Edmonton (2022) and other international destinations like England (2011) and Mexico (2004).
When it was first announced that a WNBA franchise was coming up north, Larry Tanenbaum, chairman of the Tempo’s majority ownership group, said “this is Canada’s team,” even though the ball club will primarily be playing out of the Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto.
“It’s important that the fans are from coast to coast, and really can feel part of this community,” Resch echoed.
“We know that not everybody’s going to be able to attend a game, whether they live in Toronto, or in British Columbia, or in Halifax, but they can all be part of this fan club and be part of the community. We will look to play regular-season games outside of Toronto, which I think will be very unique to us as a professional sports team.”
And although the Tempo’s debut remains a ways away, it hasn’t stopped Canada’s team from setting lofty expectations.
“The Tempo can really be a gateway to globalizing this league in a way that hasn’t been able to be done before,” Resch said. “So, we look forward to really leading that charge for the league.”
