ANALYSIS – The Toronto Tempo will be the first-ever Canadian WNBA franchise and will be the only professional women’s basketball team in Canada. They will also join the Toronto Sceptres and AFC Toronto and become the third pro women’s sports team to represent Toronto.
Toronto Tempo Origins: Logo, Name, and Venue Overview
How The Team Came to Be
It all started with the 2019 NBA Finals between the Toronto Raptors and the Golden State Warriors. That support of the Raptors championship run started interest of the league in the city. There was then the sold-out crowd at Scotiabank Arena in 2023, in a pre-season game between the Chicago Sky and the Minnesota Lynx. This is what the WNBA commissioner, Cathy Englebert, said about attending Game 6 of the NBA Finals in 2019 (Source: WNBA YouTube Account):
However, as mentioned by Richard Warnica of the Toronto Star later that year, the two higher-ups of Rogers were not in favour of having a WNBA team in Toronto, which would have likely played at Scotiabank Arena. All seemed to be lost until Larry Tanenbaum, and his company, Kilmer Sports Inc., found a way to bring a WNBA team to Canada as originally reported by Shireen Ahmed of CBC Sports. As the saying goes, the rest is history.
Toronto Tempo Logo
The Toronto Tempo logo as seen above has a basketball with six waves. The six waves, represents the “Six.” For those who do not know the significance of the “Six.” Since 1998, the six municipalities of Toronto (Scarborough, Old Toronto, Etobicoke, East York, North York, and York) all make up what is present-day Toronto. Additionally, Drake, the famous music artist and global ambassador of the Toronto Raptors, popularized the term, the Six (Source: Ahmed Mezil of Hella Maid).
The six waves also have a different meaning as Teresa Resch, president of the Toronto Tempo, said this (Source: WNBA Press Release):
Looking at the colours of the Toronto Tempo logo, it is a very dark red colour, which almost looks purple. In the Myles Ditcher of CBC Sports article, Resch said this:
“It is kind of a modern twist on the colour palette that exists within the Toronto sports scene. You have the very regal blue, you also have the very strong red, and this is just a version of that, but our own way. So we’re really excited,” Resch said.
The colours look fine, but maybe they could have added one more colour to the logo to make the logo stand out more.
Toronto Tempo Name
As for the name, Resch said this about the name of the word “Tempo” (Source: Myles Dichter of CBC Sports):
“It can be fast; it can be slow. Ultimately, it’s about control. … People operate at different places and things like that, but ultimately when you’re all aligned and you’re in the same tempo and the same rhythm, it’s something powerful that cannot be stopped,” Resch said.
This can also be applied to a game. Sometimes announcers and head coaches will say to keep the tempo of the game slow or fast, which is perfect for a Toronto WNBA team name.
There is also one aspect of the name that represents all of Canada. It is the fact that the word “Tempo” translates in both English and French, which was stated in WNBA’s Press Release:
This meant that many names that fans had submitted in the vote contest like “Towers” for example could not be used as it translates to “Tours” in French. Other names they could have used include Six, Zero, and Elite. Zero is translated as Zéro.
The name of the logo had a lot of thought to it. The name does seem unique and distinct, much like the Sceptres name is for Toronto’s PWHL team. When people think of the “Tempo” as a sports team name, they will think of Toronto’s WNBA team name. That is an aspect of the name to appreciate for any big sports fan in the Greater Toronto Area, and by in large extension, Canada.
Toronto Tempo Playing at Coca-Cola Coliseum
The Tempo will be playing at Coca-Cola Coliseum, which is also home to the Toronto Sceptres of the PWHL and the Toronto Marlies. However, the Tempo will be the only team to play in the summer months at the Coca-Cola Coliseum as mentioned by Emma Sullivan of The Ice Garden:
“We are excited to be calling Coca-Cola Coliseum our home for the upcoming season,” said PWHL Toronto general manager Gina Kingsbury in the press release. “We look forward to creating an atmosphere that will be a unique and special sporting experience unlike anything else in Toronto. Our incredible fans sold out this historic venue during our playoff games last season and now we can’t wait to see and hear their infectious excitement again when we hit the ice for the 2024-2025 season.”
Coca-Cola Coliseum most notably hosted the Toronto Marlies game 7 Calder Cup Final playoffs game against the Texas Stars, which was won by the Marlies. To this day, that Calder Cup championship remains as the only championship won by the AHL team. It also hosted three of the five 2024 PWHL playoff games between the Sceptres and the Minnesota Frost.
What This Means for 2026 and Beyond
More importantly, Coca-Cola Coliseum is located in downtown Toronto. It is very close to Exhibition Go Train Station as well as the Exhibition Loop street car station. Also, for those who do not know, there is a streetcar station connected to Union subway station, that allows fans to use the streetcar to go to the Exhibition Loop station.
READ MORE: FIFA World Cup 26 Toronto – Significance to the City of Toronto
Also, when looking at Exhibition Place, where Coca-Cola Coliseum is located, there is also BMO Field. BMO Field is the bigger venue and it hosts both Toronto FC and the Toronto Argonauts. This outdoor venue will also host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. This affects the Tempo, who will be playing at Coca-Cola Coliseum when the FIFA World Cup takes place at BMO Field.
READ MORE: A WNBA Toronto Team: What It Means for Canadian Basketball?
One way to deal with this is to play games in Montreal and Vancouver. This is what Larry Tanenbaum, a founder of the Toronto Tempo team, said about playing outside of Toronto (Source: The Canadian Press on May 23, 2024):
“This franchise will be Canada’s team,” Tanenbaum said. “While our home base will be at Exhibition Place in Toronto, we will play games in Vancouver and Montreal throughout the season, uniting the country behind our franchise and inspiring pride and passion in fans from coast to coast.”
It is unclear whether that is for the 2026 season or for 2026 and beyond. For Montreal, the two arenas that come to mind are the Place Bell in Laval and the Bell Centre. This is while with Vancouver, the main option for 2026 will likely be Pacific Coliseum. This is because Rogers Place, Vancouver’s most well-known arena, is quite close to BC Place, which is also hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Additionally, there could be some select home games hosted at Scotiabank Arena in downtown Toronto. The Sceptres played at Scotiabank Arena for example once in front of a sell-out crowd.
What This Means for Canada
This means that Canada will finally have a professional women’s basketball team. It is also Canada’s first major women’s basketball team since the Edmonton Grads existed from 1915-40. Also, like in the NBA, expect the WNBA players to increase in Canada because of the Tempo, but it will take time.
A second WNBA team in Canada for now seems unlikely, although that case should not be ruled out. However, what Canadians should hope for is a professional women’s basketball league. There are groups trying to bring a professional women’s basketball league in Canada, as seen in the Myles Dichter’s CBC Sports article. This includes the Maritime Women’s Basketball League, which has six teams in the Maritimes. There is also Fabienne Blizzard, who wants to have a pro league play in the summer. Having a pro league would (1) allow other markets outside of Toronto to host a pro women’s basketball team and (2) it could help increase the number of Canadian WNBA players.
Mike Morreale, the commissioner of the CEBL, Canada’s biggest and most well-known professional men’s basketball league in Canada, is also open to the idea of potentially having a professional women’s basketball league in this country (Source: Canadian Elite Basketball League YouTube Account):
“I’ve always believed because of the infrastructure we created here that operating a women’s league would be not going to be easy, but it would not be hard to start,” Morreale said. “I would put my hand up 100 percent of the time and say from an infrastructure point of view, the CEBL can play a huge role in that.”
The Tempo will begin play in 2026 and have already have an online store for their merchandise.
Photo Credit: WNBA Toronto X Account on December 5, 2024.
