Toronto’s newest professional sports team has a name.
The unveiling came earlier than anticipated, due to a leak earlier this week, but the new Women’s National Basketball Association squad will be known as the Toronto Tempo, the franchise announced Thursday morning.
The first Canadian WNBA franchise was granted in May and a search process for a name — “Name Your Team” — immediately followed, with more than 10,000 people submitting ideas.
“This new brand identity was inspired by the rhythm of our city, our country, and the game of basketball,” the Tempo said in a media release. “In play and in life, it’s not just about how fast you move, but how you control the pulse of the world around you.”
The Tempo said the name was “informed by both the inputs of those contributions (from the contest and feedback and insights from a community council. The result is an identity designed to define the energy and spirit of both Canada’s newest sports franchise and its fans,” they said.
The team will begin play at Coca-Cola Coliseum in downtown Toronto in 2026. Golden State’s expansion team begins play this May.
As for Toronto’s name and branding, Tempo president Teresa Resch said: “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, and in the energy of the people who call Canada home.”
She added: “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.”
The franchise intentionally tried to find a name that would work in both French and English since it is Canada’s only WNBA team.
In the release the franchise also said the Tempo logo “similarly reflects the team’s values — its forward-leaning motion representing the team’s desire for progress; its sharp angles and round curves a nod to the dynamic nature of the team and the game; its six lines representing the five players on the court and the sixth player in the game: the fans.
“Tempo reflects what fans can expect from this team – including, of course, the in-game experience at the arena,” Resch said. “The sounds of the court. The beat of the music. The passion of the fans around you and the intensity of the players on the floor. Capturing all that energy, excitement and feeling was crucial as we chose the name for Canada’s WNBA team.”
Team merchandise will be available soon and more information about that or tickets can be found at www.tempo.wnba.com.
The WNBA, which was founded in 1996 and began play in 1997 with eight teams, will use charter flights for every trip for the first time this season, a key demand from its players and a necessary step to expand to Canada.
The WNBA website accidentally leaked the Tempo name in a drop-down portion of its website and the logo also found its way onto the internet.
Toronto sold out Scotiabank Arena for a WNBA exhibition game last year, the league’s first in Canada, and a second game in Edmonton sold more than 16,000 tickets.