In less than a year, the WNBA will no longer be a one-country league.
In Toronto, fan excitement for the Tempo, who tip off their inaugural season in May 2026, is already brimming, with the team hosting community events and providing open courts for local players to get to know the game. But if you ask Tempo team president Teresa Resch, her organization is determined to build a community that reaches far beyond the borders of the city it officially represents.
“It’s important that the fans are from coast-to-coast, and really can feel part of this community,” Resch says.
That goal has been central for this new franchise from its earliest days. As Larry Tanenbaum, chairman of the Tempo’s majority ownership group, said on the morning the franchise was first announced in May 2024: “This team is Canada’s team.”
Now, more than a year later, the WNBA is taking a major step toward making good on that promise when the Seattle Storm and Atlanta Dream take to the court at Rogers Arena in Vancouver on Friday night for the league’s first-ever regular-season game outside of the United States.
Resch is extremely excited about the momentum this opportunity will create for the W in Canada. And although the primary focus will remain on the Dream and Storm, her team refuses to miss out on such a huge opportunity to connect with WNBA fans on the West Coast. Members of the Tempo front office will be at the game, and the team will host a pop-up booth outside the concourse where fans can join the official Tempo fan club and purchase merch.
Of course, one game in the Pacific time zone isn’t enough to singlehandedly activate a vibrant cross-province fanbase. Resch notes her group is “just getting started” and the Tempo are looking at other ways to engage Canadians, encouraged by early responses like the more than 10,000 fans from across the country who contributed ideas for the team’s name.
“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,” Resch says. “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.”
As they consider how to expand their reach, the Tempo have investigated what’s worked for the Toronto Raptors. The situations aren’t identical since the Raptors initially shared the national fanbase with the Vancouver Grizzlies, but the Tempo can still look at what the Raptors have done since becoming Canada’s lone NBA club in 2001. What helps in this process is Resch’s 11 years of experience working with the Raptors as vice president of basketball operations. She remembers their 2019 run to the NBA Championship and all the ‘Jurassic Park’ viewing parties that popped up in different provinces.
“We've definitely taken cues and learnings from what (the Raptors) have done most recently,” she says. “But we also think that it's really unique that we get to be Canada's team from the very start, and that’s something that we're really leaning into.”
The Tempo join the WNBA during a time of unprecedented fan engagement and success for the league.
“What's great is the product has always been wonderful, so it's just more eyeballs on it,” Resch says. “And, you know, the fact that we are the very first team ever outside of the U.S. is a huge untapped market for the league. So, we look forward to really being the catalyst for this.
“The Tempo can really be a gateway to globalizing this league in a way that hasn't been able to be done before,” she continues. “So, we look forward to really leading that charge for the league.”
Last fall, Resch attended an event put on by Canadian Women in Sport at which Kia Nurse joined a panel with three young basketball players. The conversation that day, which focused on what a team in Toronto means to different levels of hoopers, really impacted Resch. Afterward, she had the chance to meet one of the young girls who spoke on the panel. Eleven-year-old Precious shook Resch’s hand and looked up at her with wide eyes, the president recalls.
“Are you going to remember me?” Precious asked. To which Resch replied, “How could I forget you?”
The young player smiled and responded, “Oh good, because I’m going to play in the WNBA someday. I’m going to play for Toronto.”
It’s young athletes like Precious who will continue to inspire and drive the Tempo’s reach across the country. As Resch puts it: “We're just scratching the surface.”
