Toronto Tempo

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

In May 2023, the WNBA held a preseason exhibition game between the Minnesota Lynx and Chicago Sky at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto; the sellout crowd and accompanying enthusiasm led to speculation on whether the city could host a women's team alongside the existing men's Toronto Raptors.^[4]

On May 10, 2024, reports emerged that the WNBA and Kilmer Group were negotiating for a Toronto-based expansion franchise.^[5][6] The WNBA officially announced the creation of the franchise on May 23.^[7][8] The team will become the 14th in the WNBA and the first to be based outside the United States. The team will be owned by Kilmer Sports Ventures, led by Toronto-based billionaire Larry Tanenbaum, who paid an expansion fee of $50 million USD for the franchise.^[9] Tanenbaum is a minority owner and chairman of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE), which owns fellow professional Toronto sports teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Toronto Raptors among others.^[6] Tanenbaum originally pursued the WNBA venture through MLSE, though other members of the board turned it down.^[5] CBC News reported a source stating the WNBA expansion franchise is expected to play at Coca-Cola Coliseum, an 8,500-seat arena at Exhibition Place that has hosted most Toronto Marlies AHL games since 2005.^[5][8][10]

When approving the team, the WNBA board of governors voted 13–0 and the NBA board of governors voted 29–1, with only the New York Knicks voting against the expansion; at the time, the Knicks were in the process of suing the Toronto Raptors due to "alleged theft of proprietary information".^[7]

Early stage team members included Teresa Resch, who was named president of the franchise,^[11] Patrick Lee (chief financial officer), Lisa Ferkul (chief revenue officer), and Whitney Bell (chief marketing officer).^[12]

On December 4, 2024, the "Toronto Tempo" nickname was accidentally posted to the dropdown menu of the WNBA website; later that day, the Tempo logo was leaked on SportsLogos.net courtesy of an anonymous WNBA source.^[13][14] The next day, the Tempo name, logo, and colour scheme were officially unveiled by the team.^[15]

In February 2025, Monica Wright Rogers was hired as the first general manager for the Toronto Tempo.^[16] In May 2025, Eli Horowitz was hired as the assistant general manager and senior vice president of basketball strategy.^[17]

On March 3, 2025, American former professional tennis player Serena Williams was announced as a joint-owner of the team.^[18] In May 2025, Sukhinder Singh Cassidy and Lilly Singh joined the ownership group for the Tempo.^[19][20] On September 23, 2025, Geoff Molson and France Margaret Bélanger from Groupe CH, the ownership group of the Montreal Canadiens were announced as additional members of the Tempo's ownership group.^[21] Former Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri joined the ownership group in March 2026.^[22]

In January 2025, the team announced its first founding partner Sephora.^[23] In April 2025, the Tempo announced their founding partnership with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce.^[24]

In August 2025, the team announced that during the 2026 season it would play two regular season games at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.^[25] In September 2025, the Tempo also announced that an additional two regular season games during the 2026 season would be played at Bell Centre in Montreal.^[26]

The Toronto Tempo took their first steps towards building a roster on April 3rd, 2026 by selecting 11 players as part of the expansion draft. They selected Julie Allemand (Los Angeles Sparks) as their first pick (the 2nd pick of the draft after the Portland Fire). On April 13th, 2026 as part of the 2026 WNBA Draft Toronto selected Kiki Rice (6th), Teonni Key (22nd), Saffron Shiels (26th), and Charlise Dunn (36th).

Media

Beginning with the 2026 season, Bell Media became the WNBA's primary media partner in Canada under a multi-year deal. All Tempo games not selected for global streaming on Prime Video (one game in the 2026 season) are scheduled to air on TSN, with some games simulcast on CTV and streaming on Crave.^[27][28]

Head coaches

On November 4, 2025, the Tempo announced the hiring of Sandy Brondello as the team’s first Head Coach.^[29]

Assistant coaches

• Olaf Lange, Associate Head Coach
• Ciara Carl, Assistant Coach
• Carly Clarke, Assistant Coach
• Brian Lankton, Assistant Coach
• Sadie Edwards, Assistant Coach & Head Video Coordinator
• Justina King, Assistant Video Coordinator & Team Operations Support

General managers

• Monica Wright Rogers (2025–present)

Current roster

More information Players, Coaches ...

Toronto Tempo roster v t e
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Nat. Name Height Weight DOB From Yrs G 22 Allemand, Julie 5' 8" (1.73m) 147 lb (67kg) 1996-07-07 Belgium 3 F 10 Conde, María 6' 1" (1.85m) 152 lb (69kg) 1997-01-14 Florida State – C 14 Fagbenle, Temi 6' 4" (1.93m) 180 lb (82kg) 1992-09-08 USC 4 C 34 Fasoula, Mariella 6' 4" (1.93m) 209 lb (95kg) 1997-09-02 Greece R F 21 Harrison, Isabelle 6' 3" (1.91m) 183 lb (83kg) 1993-09-27 Tennessee 7 G 12 Held, Lexi 5' 10" (1.78m) 150 lb (68kg) 1999-12-28 DePaul 2 F 2 Juškaitė, Laura 6' 2" (1.88m) 176 lb (80kg) 1997-09-22 Lithuania R F 7 Key, Teonni 6' 4" (1.93m) 170 lb (77kg) 2003-07-10 Kentucky R G 3 Mabrey, Marina 5' 11" (1.8m) 170 lb (77kg) 1996-09-14 Notre Dame 7 C 31 Milić, Nikolina 6' 3" (1.91m) 181 lb (82kg) 1994-04-12 Bosnia and Herzegovina 2 G 11 Nurse, Kia 6' 0" (1.83m) 181 lb (82kg) 1996-02-22 Connecticut 6 G 1 Rice, Kiki 5' 11" (1.8m) 2004-01-04 UCLA R C 8 Sabally, Nyara 6' 5" (1.96m) 204 lb (93kg) 2000-02-26 Oregon 3 G 20 Sykes, Brittney 5' 9" (1.75m) 154 lb (70kg) 1994-02-07 Syracuse 8	Head coach Sandy Brondello Assistant coaches Ciara Carl (North Texas) Carly Clarke Sadie Edwards (USC) Olaf Lange Brian Lankton (Phoenix College) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured   WNBA roster page
East ATL CHI CON IND NY TOR WAS West DAL GS LV LA MIN PHO POR SEA

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