WNBA sets attendance record at Tempo-Wings game

Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

WNBA sets attendance record at Tempo-Wings game

By Adam Gretz | Last updated Jul 10, 2026 10:16 PM ET

The WNBA set a regular-season attendance record on Friday night when 20,966 fans packed the Bell Centre in Montreal for the Toronto Tempo-Dallas Wings game.

The Wings ended up winning, 108-95, behind a 34-point performance from Paige Bueckers.

Toronto Tempo-Dallas Wings set WNBA regular-season attendance record

This is the Tempo's inaugural season in the WNBA, and as part of their quest to unite fans across Canada are playing several neutral site games.

Along with Friday's game against the Wings, they will be back at the Bell Centre on Sunday for their game against the New York Liberty.

HISTORY. WITNESSED.

We marked another historic chapter in our story on Friday night, setting a new WNBA regular season attendance record as 20,996 fans packed the Bell Centre in Montreal. pic.twitter.com/uPz2lJSuJh
— Toronto Tempo (@TempoBasketball) July 11, 2026

Later in the season, they will be playing a pair of games at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

After Friday's loss, the Tempo are off to a 9-13 start to the season.

Friday's game broke the previous regular-season record of 20,711 fans between the Washington Mystics and Indiana Fever. That game saw Caitlin Clark playing in Washington during her rookie season.

The all-time attendance record for the league is 22,076, set twice by the now-defunct Detroit Shock during WNBA Finals appearances during the 2003 and 2007 seasons.

It's obviously a very unique situation given that the Tempo are the only WNBA team in Canada, and these games in Montreal and Vancouver are the only opportunity women's basketball fans in those cities are going to have to see a live game. It's their only opportunity to see a live professional game for men's or women's basketball. So it is understandable that fans would be flocking in to take advantage of the opportunity.

Either way, the league still has to be happy to see packed arena's like that as part of its quest to further cement itself in the North American sports landscape. The league is in the first year of an 11-year TV deal worth $3.1 billion, while attendance across the league is rising.

Adam Gretz

Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on X @AGretz

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