Canadians will be able to watch Kiki Rice (left) and the Toronto Tempo on TSN this season, as the team and network announced their broadcast partnership on Tuesday.David Berding/Getty Images
The Women’s National Basketball Association and Bell Media announced Tuesday a multiyear deal to broadcast and stream WNBA games in Canada, timed to the inaugural Toronto Tempo season.
Bell Media becomes the official media partner of the Canadian expansion franchise, with TSN delivering live coverage of the team, additional regular-season matchups from across the league, and big events like the all-star game, the postseason and the draft.
Some Tempo games will also air on CTV and stream on Crave. Prime Video’s slate of Tempo and other WNBA games available in Canada were previously announced.
Tempo, fans, get a feel for things in first preseason game
The agreement coincides with the WNBA’s 30th season, Canadian expansion, and the first year of a transformational new collective agreement struck recently between the league and its players.
“The Tempo is Canada’s team, and it is incredibly important that as many people as possible are able to watch our games and feel part of the Tempo community,” said Tempo president Teresa Resch.
“This league-wide agreement delivers consistent, high-quality coverage from one of the country’s biggest broadcasters, and it reflects the biggest broadcast deal the WNBA has ever had outside of the United States.”
The season tips off May 8 – including Toronto’s first-ever game, against the Washington Mystics.
The regular season runs through Sept. 24, with each team playing 44 games.
Interest in women’s basketball has increased in Canada. The WNBA said Canadian viewership of its 2026 entry draft last month on TSN increased 172 per cent compared to the previous year.
Three-time Canadian Olympian Kia Nurse will suit up for the Toronto Tempo in the team's inaugural season.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
The league held sold-out preseason games in Toronto (2023) and Edmonton (2024), as well as the first regular-season WNBA game played outside the U.S in Vancouver in 2025.
“With a generation of exciting new stars, the growth of the WNBA continues to be simply phenomenal,” said Shawn Redmond, vice president, Bell Media Sports. “As the home of basketball in Canada with a wide-ranging portfolio of women’s sports coverage, this partnership is an ideal fit for the TSN audience.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, nor were the names of the broadcast talent who will fill the play-by-play, colour analysis and sideline reporting duties for Tempo games.
The team did announce that Instacart is its first-ever presenting broadcast sponsor.