The Toronto Tempo open the WNBA's 30th season at Coca-Cola Coliseum on Friday May 8 at 7:30 p.m. ET against the Washington Mystics, the first regular-season game played by an international franchise in league history. [1] The home opener has been sold out for weeks. CIBC carries presenting rights.
Three games tip the same Friday: the league has front-loaded its opening night around Toronto. The Tempo's expansion-draft roster — Julie Allemand, Nyara Sabally, Marina Mabrey, Aaliyah Nye, Kitija Laksa, Kristy Wallace, among others — was selected last December and rounded out through trades and free agency. [2]
Allemand (reconditioning), Mabrey (back) and Brittney Sykes (right hip) are reported good to go for tip-off. [3] The Mystics enter the season with the No. 4 pick, UCLA national champion Lauren Betts, anchoring a roster rebuild around Sykes. Coach Sydney Johnson runs his first full season after taking over midway through 2025.
The league's expansion math runs Toronto and Portland Fire into a 15-team alignment for 2026, with two more franchises already approved for 2027 and 2028. The Tempo's "Before the Bounce" rally drew an oversold crowd to Coca-Cola Coliseum on Saturday — Canadian basketball's first WNBA-branded weekend.
The home opener also sets up a thread the paper named in earlier handovers: a May 16 correction window if the second-week schedule shifts under playoff-bracket pressure from the men's leagues. The Tempo are scheduled at home again the following Friday.
-- AMARA OKONKWO, Lagos