{"id":44314,"date":"2026-05-14T01:50:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T01:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/44314\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T01:50:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T01:50:06","slug":"season-ticket-holders-reflect-on-what-the-tempo-mean-to-toronto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/44314\/","title":{"rendered":"Season-ticket holders reflect on what the Tempo mean to Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Kiki Rice of the Toronto Tempo steps to the basket against Zia Cooke of the Seattle Storm at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto on Wednesday.Michael Chisholm\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Sitting courtside in an orange WNBA<\/a>-branded hoodie with her shoes inches away from the Tempo Bordeaux-coloured hardwood court at Coca-Cola Coliseum, Carlee Rogers remembered a statement she made outside Scotiabank Arena in May, 2023. <\/p>\n

The statement came after the WNBA\u2019s first-ever game in Canada. <\/p>\n

During an on-camera TV interview, Rogers said she looked forward to snagging season tickets for a prospective Canada-based franchise once they became available. <\/p>\n

As season-ticket purchasing for the Toronto Tempo\u2019s inaugural campaign opened, Rogers raced to fulfill her self-set prophecy. Now she\u2019s the proud owner of a pair of courtside north row B seats, which cost her roughly $12,000 for the two. <\/p>\n

\u201cI love the game of basketball; I\u2019ve played it since I was a child,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cSo having our own team in Canada was something I was super excited about.\u201d <\/p>\n

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

Carlee Rogers\u2019s commemorative ticket acknowledging her status as a Toronto Tempo season-ticket holder. She said that growing up, she would have loved to attend a WNBA game without having to travel to the United States to make it happen.Supplied<\/p>\n

Each holder received a framed ticket with their seat location. Rogers\u2019s commemorative stub rests on a shelf at her home next to other WNBA paraphernalia she\u2019s collected over the years. She also plans to pick up other collectibles throughout the season. <\/p>\n

Kirsten Ohanian is also the owner of those commemorative tickets. According to the Tempo, Ohanian was \u201cvery high up on the list\u201d of first-ever season ticket holders among the inaugural bunch. <\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up playing sports. It\u2019s always been a part of my life,\u201d Ohanian said. \u201cI work in the sports industry, so having Toronto have its first WNBA team, I wanted to be part of that in some way.\u201d <\/p>\n

But pole position goes to Canadian Lilly Singh. Toronto said the Canadian YouTuber and actress is its \u201cfirst official fan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Standing courtside moments before tip-off on the Tempo\u2019s Wednesday night game against Seattle, Singh said she\u2019s always loved sports but never felt she could see herself in a game. <\/p>\n

Get to know the Toronto Tempo: A fan guide for the team\u2019s Friday season-opener<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI think when you\u2019re born into a situation where you feel like a minority for whatever reasons \u2013 a person of colour, woman \u2013 there\u2019s a scarcity mindset where you feel like it\u2019s just me, I have to protect my own,\u201d Singh said. \u201cBut I\u2019ve always believed in the power of supporting, I\u2019ve always felt there\u2019s room for everyone to be recognized.\u201d <\/p>\n

Singh, who\u2019s the team\u2019s chief hype officer and a part of the Tempo ownership group, said she\u2019s glad that the women of the Tempo \u2013 and WNBA as a whole \u2013 are getting their well-deserved recognition. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important for these women to be on this court, but it\u2019s so important for us to be like, \u2018No, we can actually support other women,\u2019\u201d Singh said. \u201cIt\u2019s not [only] one woman can win, not one person of colour can win, we\u2019re changing the game so that all of us can win together.\u201d <\/p>\n

Rogers said it\u2019s great to have someone like Singh spread the WNBA\u2019s visibility to people who may otherwise miss it. <\/p>\n

\u201cOftentimes in the past, you had to make an active effort to find it,\u201d Rogers said. <\/p>\n

Tempo\u2019s historic first game ends in narrow 68-65 loss to Mystics<\/a><\/p>\n

The Kingston native said before the Tempo came to Toronto, she\u2019d used her summer vacations to travel to New York or Connecticut to catch WNBA action. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the only way it was somewhat accessible to me,\u201d Rogers said. <\/p>\n

Now, she\u2019s looking forward to sunnier destinations, but the temptation to catch a Storm game in Seattle or an Aces match in Las Vegas persists. <\/p>\n

Rogers\u2019s dad, who plans to attend games with her regularly, would always join her WNBA excursions. That father-daughter tradition dates back three years, but their basketball ties run far deeper. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe would always take me to our club games, and every weekend I would have practice, so he would come with me, watch me, bring me to my games,\u201d Rogers said. \u201cWe developed a close bond through basketball, so now we get to watch it on the professional stage.\u201d <\/p>\n

Century-old arena gets makeover for new era as Toronto Tempo\u2019s home court<\/a><\/p>\n

Ohanian and her mother have a similar love for basketball. Both Ohanians played basketball and attended each other\u2019s games.<\/p>\n

Growing up, the younger Ohanian \u2013 if no babysitters were available \u2013 would sit on the bench and watch as her mother coached high-school basketball. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m now realizing that basketball is actually a big part of our relationship,\u201d Ohanian said. <\/p>\n

At the Tempo\u2019s home opener, Ohanian noticed the two were yelling the same things, like \u201ctake the lane,\u201d \u201cdrive to the basket,\u201d or \u201cshoot,\u201d given she learned the women\u2019s game from her mother. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt one point, I looked over [to her], and I got emotional,\u201d Ohanian said. \u201cI was like, \u2018Thanks for doing this with me,\u2019 and she\u2019s like, \u2018Thanks for doing this with me.\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really special to experience that together and have that shared passion point.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Kiki Rice of the Toronto Tempo steps to the basket against Zia Cooke…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[164,224,238,214,212,239,17,211,230,231,227,213,210,235,171,234,143,222,249,215,216,229,225,226,219,240,220,244,245,247,242,246,94,243,217,142,233,113,232,241,223,236,48,237,228,221,218,248],"class_list":{"0":"post-44314","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-canada-news","16":"tag-canada-sports","17":"tag-canada-sports-news","18":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","19":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","20":"tag-canadian-news","21":"tag-economy","22":"tag-education","23":"tag-environment","24":"tag-federal-government","25":"tag-foreign-news","26":"tag-globe-and-mail","27":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","29":"tag-government","30":"tag-life-news","31":"tag-lifestyle","32":"tag-local-news","33":"tag-manitoba","34":"tag-national-news","35":"tag-new-brunswick","36":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","37":"tag-northwest-territories","38":"tag-nova-scotia","39":"tag-nunavut","40":"tag-ontario","41":"tag-pei","42":"tag-photos","43":"tag-political-news","44":"tag-political-opinion","45":"tag-politics","46":"tag-politics-news","47":"tag-quebec","48":"tag-sports-news","49":"tag-technology","50":"tag-toronto","51":"tag-travel","52":"tag-trudeau","53":"tag-us-news","54":"tag-world-news","55":"tag-yukon"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44314","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=44314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}