Toronto Tempo Built WNBA Franchise in Just 16 Days

When Teresa Resch sat down for an interview in mid-March, she didn't know if her team would even play this season. The Toronto Tempo, the WNBA's newest franchise, faced a crisis that would have crushed most startups before they could launch.

The league and players union hadn't agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement. Without a deal, there would be no season, no fans in seats, and no chance to prove that Toronto was ready for professional women's basketball.

Then everything changed at once. The CBA passed with the largest salary increase in professional sports history, lifting minimum player salaries from around $80,000 to $270,000 and maximum salaries to $1.5 million. It was transformative news for women's sports, but it created an impossible timeline for Resch.

Her team had just 16 days to do what normally takes six months: build a complete roster, negotiate contracts under new budget constraints, and prepare for their inaugural season. And they had to do it all in a new country with systems and regulations they were navigating for the first time.

The Tempo didn't just survive the chaos. They arrived with record-breaking attendance and immediate impact, with star player Marina Mabrey delivering a stunning 53-point performance. Though injuries have kept them from fielding the same starting lineup through their first 20 games, the team's resilience mirrors the sprint that brought them to life.

Why This Inspires

Building something meaningful rarely happens on a comfortable timeline. Resch's team faced compressed deadlines, uncertain budgets, and the pressure of representing an entire country's entry into the WNBA. They chose to see it as an opportunity rather than an obstacle.

The Tempo's story shows what's possible when preparation meets urgency. Those two years of groundwork before the season made the impossible 16-day sprint achievable. The team turned chaos into momentum, and now they're writing history as part of the most significant moment in women's professional sports.

Women athletes are finally getting the recognition and compensation they've always deserved, one Toronto team at a time.