More than10,000 people submitted name suggestions for Canada’s first-ever WNBA team and now the official moniker has been revealed – the Toronto Tempo.
“Tempo is pace. It’s speed. It’s a heartbeat. And it’s what you feel when you step into the streets of this city,” Teresa Resch, the team’s president, said in a press release.
The reveal comes some six months after the Women’s National Basketball Association announced it was expanding into Canada, creating the first WNBA team not based in the US.
The 2024 season of the WNBA was its most-watched regular season in over two decades, driven by emerging stars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
The name reveal came earlier than planned, after it was spotted prematurely added to a dropdown menu on the league’s website.
With the addition of the Toronto Tempo, the WNBA now has 14 professional teams.
The creation of the Toronto franchise is part of a larger expansion by the league, which is hoping to grow to a total of 16 teams by 2028.
“As Canada’s WNBA team, I know the Tempo will set our own pace, move at a championship cadence, and inspire people across this country,” Ms Resch said.
The logo for the Tempo, which was created to reflect the team’s values, according to the franchise, shows a basketball with a “T” in the centre.
Extending from the logo’s ball are six sharp lines “representing the five players on the court and the sixth player in the game: the fans”, the press released said, as well as the city’s six boroughs.
The Toronto Tempo will begin playing at Toronto’s Coca-Cola Coliseum in 2026.
The team is owned and operated by Kilmer Sports Ventures, whose chairman is Larry Tanenbaum.
Mr Tanenbaum is a minority owner and chairman of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, which owns several other Toronto sports franchises including the ice hockey team the Toronto Maple Leafs, the men’s basketball team the Toronto Raptors, and the Major League Soccer team Toronto FC.
The Toronto Tempo’s arrival, considering basketball was invented by a Canadian, is seen as a significant moment for women’s sports in country.