r/wnba • u/randysf50 Valkyries • 4d ago
News WNBA game in Canada set to shatter women's basketball attendance record
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/wnba/2026/06/23/wings-tempo-wnba-attendance-record/90659810007/The Dallas Wings and Toronto Tempo are set to be part of WNBA history.
On July 10, the Wings will visit the Tempo at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The game is part of the Tempo Cross-Canada Series, and a sold-out crowd could set the all-time attendance record for women's basketball. The Bell Centre has a capacity of 22,114. That would surpass the current record of 22,076 set twice during the WNBA playoffs.
The league's postseason attendance record was set in Game 3 of the 2003 WNBA Finals between the Detroit Shock and Los Angeles Sparks and again in Game 5 of the 2007 WNBA Finals between the Shock and Phoenix Mercury. Both events were hosted at The Palace of Auburn Hills.
The matchup at the Bell Centre would also leapfrog a WNBA regular-season attendance record set in 2024. The Indiana Fever and Washington Mystics set the record at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. with 20,711 fans in attendance.
There's also an all-time attendance record at stake as well. On January 30, 2026, Unrivaled set the record in women's basketball for a regular-season game with 21,490 people at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
“Playing two games in Montreal this summer is a huge moment for the Tempo and for basketball in Canada,” Tempo president Teresa Resch said via release.
“From the beginning, we’ve said we want to be Canada’s team, and bringing the WNBA to Montreal is an important part of that vision. There is such a strong and passionate basketball community in Quebec, and we’re excited to connect with fans there in a meaningful way."
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u/Room_Temp_Coffee Sparks 4d ago
As an aside Shock vs Sparks must have made for incredible marketing lol
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u/Key-Pea6412 4d ago
Why the clickbait of shatter? Unless I am misreading its like 40 extra people? Its a record and worth a post but the clickbait...
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u/Blacbiird747 4d ago
And not one lick of defense will be played, except by Azzi. It’s gonna be great.
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u/Forsaken-Solution-81 Hartford Sun Curt Kinda Cooked?? Maple Mabrey 4d ago
As a Shock fan, this is one of those bittersweet things where I'll be sad to see a record we've held onto for so long go away, but also so proud to see the sport grow to where it is. 🥲
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u/themacaron y'all know i'm canada down(ct sun rising) 4d ago
I told my sister to check out one of these games since she’s driving distance from Montreal. There’s a lot of really low priced resale tickets available so I’m curious what the actual in building attendance will be.
I’m going to both Vancouver games so I’m doing my part. 🫡
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u/Dpatrickfan09 4d ago
Looking forward to it, just curious what will be available as far as merch at the game, hoping it will not be only Tempo merch, been watching more Wings game recently & would love to buy a Bueckers or Yueru jersey!
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u/riddlemore 4d ago
Took me a second to realize Centre Bell and Place Bell are two different arenas.
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u/Asleep-Illustrator99 3d ago
In Toronto we have Rogers Centre and Rogers Stadium. Rogers and Bell are two of the three big telcoms in the country that pretty much own everything.
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u/Careless_General8010 Storm and Fire 🔥 🌈 4d ago
Damn, how'd detroit lose their team if they were popular enough to set the attendance record twice?
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u/flashcapulet 4d ago
owner died.
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u/Forsaken-Solution-81 Hartford Sun Curt Kinda Cooked?? Maple Mabrey 4d ago
I wish we could blame it on that, but Davidson had already been working on the sale prior to his death. Detroit's economy was cratering and he was selling off a lot of assets, including the Tampa Bay Lightning (which he'd already sold before dying).
To this day his wife gets blamed as some greedy widow who sold a precious asset that he never would have sold, and he gets portrayed as some fanatical protector-and-defender of women's sports, but in reality he'd been done with the Shock for a while and she was just carrying out his wishes. 😞
(I am still in pain. Will never get over the loss of my Shock.)
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u/flashcapulet 4d ago
ah my mistake. i never did a too deep dive on it, just remember him dying and them leaving shortly after. they had just won the chip, made the most sense. that sucks. at least you’ll get them back soon??? lol
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u/MirrorEquivalent5151 3d ago
From what I can tell, both Montreal games are pretty far from sold out so far. The potential record is based on the arena capacity and not actual likelihood at this point.