The Toronto Tempo haven’t even finished their first season yet, and they’re already rewriting the WNBA’s attendance record books. Friday night’s game against the Dallas Wings at the Bell Centre in Montreal drew over 20,000 fans, making it the most attended regular season game in league history.
This was also the first WNBA game ever played in Montreal, which explains the electric atmosphere. The league and team made the announcement official on social media, calling it a historic moment for women’s basketball. And honestly, it’s hard to argue with that. A crowd that size for a first-year franchise? That’s not nothing.
The game itself didn’t go Toronto’s way
The Tempo came into this one sitting at 9-12 and fighting for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They traded blows with Dallas through three quarters and actually led 85-84 heading into the fourth. But the Wings went on a 24-10 run in the final 10 minutes and walked away with a 108-95 win.
Marina Mabrey was the star for Toronto, dropping 34 points on 10-of-18 shooting. She hit 6 of 9 from three and knocked down all eight of her free throws. Laura Juskaite added 25 points and three boards, Isabelle Harrison put up 18 and eight, and Maria Conde chipped in 12 points with nine assists. That’s four players in double figures. Still wasn’t enough.
Dallas, led by Paige Bueckers, had answers every time Toronto tried to build momentum. The Wings are solidly in the playoff picture themselves, and it showed in how they closed the game.
Where the Tempo sit now
Toronto dropped to 9-13 with the loss, which is their fourth straight. They’re in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, ahead of Chicago and Connecticut but trailing Washington and Indiana. Not a terrible spot for an expansion team, but they need to stop the skid soon if they want to stay in the hunt.
They don’t get much time to dwell on it. Toronto stays home to face the New York Liberty on July 12 at 3 p.m. ET. Another tough matchup, another chance to turn things around.
The attendance record is the kind of story that matters beyond one game, though. A first-year team drawing 20,000 fans in a neutral-site game in Montreal says something about where the WNBA is right now. The league is growing, and Toronto is proving that appetite is real.
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