Toronto’s new WNBA team’s rollout did not go according to plan

Torontos new WNBA team officially has a name: the Toronto Tempo .

Toronto one of two expansion teams that will join the league in 2026 underwent a public engagement program that engaged more than 10,000 people in an open call-for-inspiration from across Canada and around the world.

Tempo, which means the same thing in both English and French, was the end result.

Tempo is pace.

Its speed.

Its a heartbeat.

And its what you feel when you step into the streets of this city, and in the energy of the people who call Canada home, said Teresa Resch , President of the Toronto Tempo.

As Canadas WNBA team, I know the Tempo will set our own pace, move at a championship cadence, and inspire people across this country.

Its official: Canadas newest WNBA team is the Toronto Tempo! pic.twitter.com/uc5IXDOBEB Its really the first team name to talk about the game itself, Resch told the Canadian Press .

Tempo is not about going fast or slow, its about control.

And truly, as Canadians, were not playing your game, were defining ours through that control.

How a leak accelerated the Tempos roll-out process While the name was officially announced on Thursday morning, it had been circulating the internet for a couple of days.

It first leaked on Tuesday night, when WNBA fans noticed the Toronto Tempo was listed as part of a dropdown menu on the WNBAs website that featured 14 teams.

Screenshots of the menu circulated social media, and speculation was further fueled when the name was pulled within a few minutes.

While some speculated that Tempo stood for Temporary and not the franchises actual team name Thursdays announcement confirmed otherwise.

The W releasing the Toronto Tempo team name on the site is very on brand.

We need to demand better! pic.twitter.com/pQdh3MomvU The leak put an undeniable dent in the franchises roll-out plans.

Well, nothing ever goes as planned, Resch told the Canadian Press .

But yeah, we would have loved to have our merchandise ready and be able to roll that all out at once.

But were still really excited to share the name and logo and colours.

Resch told the Canadian Press that the Tempos colors will be light blue and red: a modern take on a very familiar Canadian colour palate.

Toronto was awarded a WNBA franchise in May, making it the first city outside of the U.S.

to have a WNBA team.

The team will be owned by Kilmer Sports Ventures, chaired by Larry Tanenbaum who owns several other Toronto professional sports teams like the NBAs Raptors, the NHLs Maple Leafs and the MLSs Toronto FC.

The Tempo will join the league in May of 2026 and play home games at the Coca-Cola Coliseum.

Portland will be the 15th WNBA team, and is also set to join the league in 2026 but its official logo and branding has yet to be released.

The league will certainly hope that the Portland franchise can release its official branding and logo on their own terms rather than prematurely due to an inadvertent like.

Still, it appears that the Tempo have taken their roll-out hiccups in stride..

This article has been shared from the original article on sbnation, here is the link to the original article:

https://www.sbnation.com/wnba/2024/12/5/24313952/toronto-tempo-new-wnba-team-name-rollout-leak-expansion-canada