WNBA’s Toronto Tempo unveil uniforms for inaugural season

TORONTO — Toronto Tempo fans finally know what their team will look like when they take the court in their inaugural WNBA season.

The Tempo unveiled two of their three uniforms early Tuesday after keeping the team’s look under wraps for more than a year. Based on classic basketball uniforms, one jersey is white and the other is Tempo Bordeaux — a red shade with purple undertones.

“We knew we wanted something that was really classic and that could live on for a long amount of time,” said Tempo chief marketing officer Whitney Bell of the uniforms that also have Borealis Blue outlining the lettering. “So with the colours and the design, we wanted to feel modern, bold, but also something that people would really enjoy wearing every day as a fashion statement.”

Toronto was awarded a new franchise in May 2024 and the Tempo name, logo and colour scheme were announced in December of that year. The uniforms were designed in November 2024 but mass production takes months, so the team’s jerseys stayed a well-kept secret until Tuesday.

“It’s tough to hold on to it for over a year, we see all the time that jerseys get leaked and people seem to know them, so that was a bit daunting,” said Bell. “And then from the time we designed them to when we saw the first physical samples was like half a year, so you almost forget.

“Then it’s like a pleasant surprise when you get to see them again.”

WNBA teams have three uniforms designed by Nike: the Heroine (white), Explorer (main colour) and Rebel (alternate). Toronto’s Explorer jersey will be available for fans to purchase beginning in January.

The WNBA doesn’t sell its Heroine jerseys, and the Rebel design hasn’t been revealed yet.

Both Toronto’s Heroine and Explorer jerseys have six speedlines down the sides of the jersey. That detail represents city’s six boroughs and the five players on the court supported by the sixth player in the game: the fans.

“(The speed lines were) are something that I think sets us apart. It’s really unique about our team,” said Bell. “It speaks to the word Tempo itself as well.

“Specifically on the Explorer, it’s on both of them, but I think having those bright blue lines on top of the Tempo Bordeaux is really beautiful, and just the change in the width and the flow of them speaks to that dynamic nature of our name and the game itself.”

The Tempo will make their WNBA debut in 2026 and play most of their home games at Coca-Cola Coliseum at Toronto’s Exhibition Place. The team has also committed to playing two regular-season home games in Vancouver and two in Montreal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 16, 2025.

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press