What to know
- The Toronto Tempo is getting a four-part original docuseries on ESPN documenting the creation of the WNBA newest franchise titled Setting the Tempo.
- The show was filmed as the Toronto Tempo was gearing up for their inaugural season and will give women’s basketball fans a behind the scenes look into the budding team.
- The show will premiere on ESPN and TSN Sunday, Sept. 20 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m and will also be available on demand on the ESPN app and Disney+
The Toronto Tempo will be getting a four-part series documenting the creation and launch of Canada’s first Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) team.
The docuseries, titled Setting the Tempo, was announced on Tuesday by ESPN and will premiere this Sunday, Sept. 20 on TSN from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET. The episodes will also be available on the ESPN app and Disney+.
Setting the Tempo was filmed as the Toronto Tempo was gearing up for their inaugural season earlier this year and will give women’s basketball fans a behind the scenes look into “the people, decisions and defining moments that brought the franchise to life.”
“What makes Setting the Tempo so special is that it captures a moment when so much of what the Toronto Tempo would become existed only as an idea,” Tempo President Terea Resch says in a press release.
“Every decision carried enormous possibility, and this series gives fans a window into the people, conviction and care behind those choices. To now see this team take the floor, represent Toronto and Canada, and begin building its own history makes looking back at those early days incredibly meaningful.”
Each of the four episodes will give fans insight into the process of building the physical space needed for operations and practice, drafting and acquiring players, establishing a team culture, and getting ready to take the court at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
The Tempo selected Vancouver-based sports documentary filmmaker Kathleen Jayme to direct Setting the Tempo. Her previous work include Finding Big Country and The Grizzlie Truth — deep dives into the Vancouver’s former National Basketball Association (NBA) team the Grizzlies, as well as Naomi Osaka: The Second Set, which follows tennis great Naomi Osaka’s career post-motherhood.
Executive producers of the series include Serena Williams and Masai Ujiri, principal owners of the Tempo, and Lilly Singh, the Tempo’s Chief Hype Officer.
