Canadian media group Bell Media has announced a multi-year agreement with the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) to broadcast and stream games in the territory beginning with the upcoming 2026 season.
As part of the deal, Bell Media becomes the official media partner of the Toronto Tempo, the new WNBA expansion franchise that will make its debut this season.
Bell’s TSN sports networks will deliver live coverage of the team, additional regular-season matchups from across the league, and most marquee events such as the WNBA All-Star Game, playoffs, WNBA Finals, and the draft.
A select number of Tempo games will also air on CTV, the Canadian free-to-air commercial network, and stream on Crave through the live CTV channel.
Colie Edison, WNBA chief growth officer, said: “The momentum around the WNBA in Canada is at an all-time high, and this partnership represents an important step in providing fans in Canada with unprecedented access to their favorite teams and players at a historic time of the first-ever Canadian team in the WNBA.
“TSN shares our commitment to providing fans with best-in-class coverage that will elevate the WNBA and women’s basketball in Canada.”
The Tempo are the first WNBA team based outside the US and will play their inaugural game on Friday against the Washington Mystics.
The Amazon Prime Video streaming service also holds rights to WNBA games in Canada and will show some Tempo games.
The WNBA’s 30th regular season will tip off on Friday and conclude on September 24, with each team playing 44 games. The season-ending playoffs will begin on September 27, culminating with the best-of-seven WNBA Finals.
In the US, a record 216 WNBA games will be broadcast across multiple platforms throughout the 2026 regular season as the league begins the first year of its new rights agreement.
The WNBA’s media rights deals include renewed partnerships with Disney (ABC/ESPN), Prime Video, CBS Sports/Paramount+, and Scripps (ION), new partners NBCUniversal (NBC/Peacock/NBCSN) and USA Sports (USA Network), and the continuation of distribution of games on NBA TV.
