The Toronto Tempo will make their inaugural visit to Montreal this weekend, hosting two home games at the Bell Centre in an effort to engage a new audience and potentially set an attendance record for women’s professional basketball. The games are scheduled for Friday and Sunday, with the Tempo facing the Dallas Wings and New York Liberty, respectively—two teams featuring high-profile players such as Paige Bueckers, Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, and Sabrina Ionescu.
As Canada’s newest expansion team in the WNBA, the Tempo aim to leverage the Bell Centre’s capacity of over 22,000 to surpass existing attendance benchmarks. The current WNBA regular-season record stands at 20,711, set by the Washington Mystics in 2024 at the Capital One Arena. Additionally, the franchise looks to challenge the broader playoff attendance record of 22,076, established in two separate WNBA Finals Game 5 matchups at the Palace of Auburn Hills in 2003 and 2007.
Beyond the WNBA, the overall regular-season attendance record for professional women’s basketball was recently set in January 2026, when the Unrivaled 3x3 league, featuring WNBA stars, drew 21,490 fans to Philadelphia’s Xfinity Mobile Arena. The Montreal stop marks a similar effort to connect with markets eager to witness live women’s basketball, following Montreal’s demonstrated enthusiasm for women’s sports. Notably, the city hosted a women’s professional hockey game in 2024 that set the world attendance record for the sport, with 21,105 fans at the Bell Centre.
In conjunction with the games, the Tempo will host “Tempo Live,” a free, daylong fan festival on Saturday at the Bell Centre. The event will include basketball clinics, a 3x3 tournament, opportunities to meet the team’s coach, general manager, and select players, as well as additional entertainment. The team’s broader “Cross Canada Series” will continue in late August with two more games at Vancouver’s Rogers Arena against the Portland Fire and the reigning WNBA champions, the Las Vegas Aces.
Tempo guard Kia Nurse, a Canadian native, emphasized the significance of establishing a sense of belonging for fans across Canada. “This organization, being the first international team for the WNBA and the first in Canada, goes into these cities and creates this place of belonging,” Nurse said. She added that seeing players who reflect the community helps foster connection and inspiration.
The visit to Montreal comes amid a challenging stretch for the Tempo, who hold a 9-12 record and are grappling with several key injuries. Standout rookie Kiki Rice is sidelined with an ankle injury, while captain Brittney Sykes is out with a left foot issue. Centre Temi Fagbenle is currently in concussion protocol, and Nyara Sabally exited a recent game due to a knee injury. These absences have contributed to the team losing four of their last five games.
To address their depleted roster, the Tempo signed centre Kayla Alexander to a seven-day hardship contract on Thursday. Alexander, a two-time Canadian Olympian who has spent eight seasons in the WNBA and recently played in Europe, is expected to provide much-needed rim protection, rebounding, and interior presence.