{"id":35483,"date":"2026-05-07T10:29:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T10:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/35483\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T10:29:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T10:29:09","slug":"toronto-tempos-home-court-is-a-grand-old-arena-with-a-new-rhythm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/35483\/","title":{"rendered":"Toronto Tempo\u2019s home court is a grand old arena with a new rhythm"},"content":{"rendered":"

Their franchise will debut in the WNBA\u2019s<\/a> 30th season, a transformational point in league history. Its players just secured a landmark new collective bargaining agreement<\/a> featuring significant boosts in compensation, revenue sharing, and a US$7-million team salary cap.<\/p>\n

The 8,000-seat arena situated at Exhibition Place is becoming a hot spot for women\u2019s sports. The Tempo join the Toronto Sceptres of the Professional Women\u2019s Hockey League in making it home. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe building has a great intimacy to it,\u201d said Don Boyle, chief executive officer of Exhibition Place. \u201cThe energy is great. Being at the first Sceptres games, it felt like a bonding experience for people, so many girls and women in hockey jackets and sweaters. It\u2019s going to work really well for basketball, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a>Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Coca-Cola Coliseum is home to the Toronto Tempo for basketball, and the Sceptres for PWHL hockey.Sammy Kogan and Galit Rodan\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

The Tempo\u2019s custom-court is the most front-facing of the upgrades this new team needed to make within the stadium they lease from Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment before WNBA basketball arrives in Toronto.<\/p>\n

The team got creative with some of the floor seating behind the baskets, adding in some booth-style tables. <\/p>\n

Many of the team\u2019s changes to the building \u2013 made over the past 18 months \u2013 are in areas fans won\u2019t see. Like the specially built climate-controlled storage system for the basketball court, to keep the flooring tucked away while disassembled during hockey games at Coca-Cola Coliseum. <\/p>\n

The Tempo also had their own state-of-the art locker room created to make the arena home, designed by women for women. Plus, their own weight room, too. They added another team room that will adapt for player needs \u2013 as a nursing room if required, a nail salon, or for other recovery and wellness needs. The team said its new locker room sets a new benchmark for athlete-first design in women\u2019s pro sports.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Monica Wright Rogers, left, is the Tempo’s general manager, and Teresa Resch is the team’s president.Cole Burston\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

\u201cShout out to our president, Teresa Resch \u2013 it was her brainchild and she just did a phenomenal job of turning something that was an idea into reality,\u201d said Tempo general manager Monica Wright Rogers. \u201cTo see it in person blows me away. … It has taken so much to get the actual players here in a Tempo jersey, so having them in that space, enjoying it for the first time, there\u2019s really no words to express the emotion.\u201d<\/p>\n

A new industrial kitchen was added ahead of the Tempo\u2019s debut, where food will be prepared for players and to service the suites. Telecommunications in the building needed to be upgraded as well to enable the WNBA game broadcasts. <\/p>\n

Those who use the stadium, including MLSE and the Royal Winter Fair, spared some of their operational space to make sure the Tempo could have what they needed to move in. \u201cEverybody came together and said, \u2018We\u2019re going to make space to make this happen. It\u2019s the right thing to do,\u2019\u201d said Boyle. \u201cSo everybody gave up some space.\u201d <\/p>\n

Fast forward to 2012, and the Coliseum hosted the Lingerie Football League\u2019s Toronto Triumph; a lacklustre franchise that lasted a single season. <\/p>\n

Canadian women had golden moments on the grounds at the 2015 Pan Am Games. The Canadian women\u2019s rugby sevens team became champs at BMO Field, while inside the coliseum, gymnast Ellie Black and trampolinist Rosie McLennan each earned gold medals.<\/p>\n

The grounds have hosted the Canadian women\u2019s soccer team many times, including a rematch with the U.S. after their bronze medal run at the 2012 London Olympics. Then BMO Field also played host to Toronto\u2019s first-ever pro women\u2019s soccer match, when the Northern Super League came into existence in April, 2025. It hosted its inaugural final as well, when the Vancouver Rise celebrated the league\u2019s first championship.<\/p>\n

During the coming Tempo games, Russell Kovshoff will be the director of gameday presentation, overseeing the entertainment aspects inside the arena. He\u2019s produced live in-game elements for teams, including the Toronto Raptors, Saskatchewan Roughriders, Los Angeles Clippers and San Francisco 49ers. Colleagues were pressing the Toronto native to return home and go after the Tempo opportunity. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou have an opportunity to create something for the first time ever from a blank canvas,\u201d said Kovshoff. \u201cHow we develop our traditions, to how we create our chants and the music you hear at certain moments to the look and feel of our court, it will have a unique feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sporting scene: More from The Globe and MailThe Decibel podcast<\/p>\n

Vancouver and Toronto will soon be in World Cup mode, along with 14 other cities across North America. While you\u2019re waiting, you can relive the dramatic conclusion of the last World Cup in Qatar with The Globe\u2019s limited-series podcast<\/a> from 2022.<\/p>\n

Toronto sports in depth<\/p>\n

See how Blue Jays mascot ACE tends to the flock on game day<\/a><\/p>\n

Raptors young guns and coach see much to work on over off-season<\/a><\/p>\n

Cathal Kelly: John Chayka\u2019s tenure with the Maple Leafs begins under intense scrutiny<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Their franchise will debut in the WNBA\u2019s 30th season, a transformational point in league history. Its players just…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35484,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[136,2996,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-35483","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto","8":"tag-appwebview","9":"tag-topstory","10":"tag-toronto"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}