From the window-wrapped 68th-floor lounge atop Scotia Plaza, the view is the entire point. Some visitors come for the coffee or the halibut with lemon risotto, but most are there to gaze upon the sprawling concrete of Toronto and the distant, shimmering horizon of Lake Ontario. It is a place designed for quiet contemplation and high-level strategy.
Then there is Monica Wright Rogers. She arrives with her phone pinned to her ear, coordinating a photo shoot across town, moving with the urgency of someone who has spent the last several weeks operating in a permanent state of crisis management. As the first-ever general manager for the Toronto Tempo, Wright Rogers isn’t just building a basketball team; she is launching the first WNBA franchise in Canadian history.
On a Wednesday in late April, she finally takes a seat and exhales. The timing is precarious. Less than three weeks prior, her roster was a blank sheet of paper. Meanwhile, the calendar was ticking toward May 8—the date of the team’s first-ever home game. The mandate was as simple as it was daunting: assemble a professional, competitive, and marketable squad to represent a nation of 41 million people in just 35 days.
The Tempo are not alone in this frantic sprint. Across the border, the resurrected Portland Fire is operating on a similar timeline. Together, these franchises serve as a litmus test for the WNBA’s aggressive growth strategy, which aims to add three more clubs by 2030 and generate an estimated $750 million in expansion fees. But for Toronto, the stakes feel distinct. To be the sole representative of an entire country is to be a magnet for national curiosity and a symbol of the league’s global ambitions.
The Strategic Gamble of the Expansion Draft
While the final push felt like a “log flume ride,” the foundation was laid months in advance. On Dec. 4, 2024, after a $50 million entry fee, the franchise became official under the ownership of billionaire Larry Tanenbaum and his wife Judy. Tanenbaum, chairman of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, brought the institutional weight of the Maple Leafs and Raptors to the project.
Wright Rogers, a former national defensive player of the year at Virginia and former assistant GM for the Phoenix Mercury, was brought in to steer the ship. By July 2025, the basketball operations group was scouting internationally. Head coach Sandy Brondello, a two-time WNBA champion, took the helm in November, and by December, the front office was canvassing Spain, France, and Turkey to identify talent that might slip through the cracks of the expansion draft.
Despite the preparation, the reality of the draft process was volatile. A March 27 coin toss gave Toronto the sixth pick in the college draft and the second pick in the expansion draft. Wright Rogers had gambled on the second spot, theorizing that certain teams would leave valuable players unprotected. However, the draft provided a sharp lesson in the unpredictability of expansion. The Tempo had targeted Bridget Carleton, a native of Chatham, Ontario, to bring a local hero to the roster. Portland took her first overall.
“A tough pill to swallow,” Wright Rogers concedes.
The redemption came in the college draft. After the Chicago Sky took Gabriela Jaquez fifth, the Tempo landed UCLA point guard Kiki Rice. For Wright Rogers, Rice was the ideal fit—a player with the size and explosiveness required to anchor the backcourt. “My prerequisite is that guards need to be able to score one-on-one at their position consistently,” Wright Rogers says. “They need to have one thing that they can go to… And we’re gonna get a bucket.”
The Tempo’s Road to Opening Night
| Date | Key Milestone | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Dec. 4, 2024 | Franchise Official | $50M entry fee paid; MLSE ownership confirmed. |
| March 27, 2025 | Coin Toss | Secured 2nd expansion pick and 6th college pick. |
| April 3, 2025 | Expansion Draft | Acquired 11 players, including Marina Mabrey. |
| April 14, 2025 | Kia Nurse Signs | Added critical Canadian veteran leadership. |
| April 29, 2025 | Exhibition Game | Sold-out debut at Coca-Cola Coliseum vs. Connecticut Sun. |
| May 8, 2025 | Regular Season Opener | First official home game against Washington Mystics. |
Logistics, Visas, and the ‘Canadian Group Chat’
Once the roster was finalized, the challenge shifted from basketball strategy to international bureaucracy. The team had to assimilate a group of American and European players into a foreign country in roughly five days. For veteran guard Brittney Sykes, the transition began with a red-eye flight from Los Angeles and a grueling sequence of customs, immigration, and work permit payments before she could even reach baggage claim.
To soften the landing, the Tempo leaned on Kia Nurse. A Hamilton, Ontario native and WNBA veteran, Nurse stepped into the role of unofficial cultural ambassador. She started a team group chat to explain the nuances of life north of the border: that TSN is the equivalent of ESPN, that Crave is the essential streaming service, and that Target does not exist in Canada.
Still, the culture shock persisted in small, frustrating ways. Rookie Kiki Rice found herself searching for a CVS, only to discover that Shoppers Drug Mart was the local staple. Marina Mabrey struggled with the technical hurdles of accessing U.S. Sports networks via VPNs and Canadian Amazon accounts. “That TV is going to piss me off soon,” Mabrey joked during the first week of camp.
Building Chemistry in a Vacuum
Coach Sandy Brondello knows that a disjointed team will hit a wall quickly. With no time for a traditional preseason, she has focused on “microwaving” team chemistry. Her approach blends rigorous tactical drills—such as perfecting hook-screen angles—with mandatory social integration. Players are encouraged to learn one new thing about a teammate every day, whether it is a conversation about communication on a botched handoff or discovering that forward Nyara Sabally loves coconut ice cream.
The external validation of the project arrived during a team outing to a Toronto Sceptres PHWL game. When the Tempo players appeared on the jumbotron, the crowd erupted in a standing ovation. The reaction was a wake-up call for the players, who realized they were entering a market with a pre-existing appetite for women’s sports.
This enthusiasm is reflected in the numbers. The team sold all 8,210 seats at Coca-Cola Coliseum for their April 29 exhibition against the Connecticut Sun. Corporate interest has been equally aggressive, with Sephora Canada serving as a cornerstone partner. For veteran Isabelle Harrison, the partnership was a full-circle moment; she had previously applied to work with the brand independently. Now, she is the face of it for the Tempo.
The Long Game
The Tempo’s rapid ascent is backed by a level of financial security rarely seen in expansion. Beyond the current operations, You’ll see already plans for a $100 million dedicated training facility. This investment suggests that the Tanenbaums are not looking for a quick win, but are building a permanent institution.
As the team prepares for their regular-season home opener against the Washington Mystics, the pressure is palpable. Marina Mabrey acknowledges the weight of the moment: “We don’t want to be the first expansion team to be getting our asses kicked. Nobody wants to be that.”
The 35-day dash was a breathless beginning, but for the Toronto Tempo, it was merely the foundation. The true test begins when the first whistle blows on May 8.
For official tickets, roster updates, and schedule changes, fans can visit the WNBA official website.
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