2026 WNBA Odds: Toronto Tempo officially name Sandy Brondello franchise’s first-ever head coach
The Toronto Tempo officially named Sandy Brondello the first head coach in franchise history on Tuesday.
Here’s what you need to know.
Toronto Tempo
The Tempo will join the Portland Fire as the WNBA’s newest expansion franchises, with the league growing from 13 to 15 teams for the 2026 season.
Brondello brings a wealth of knowledge behind the bench to Toronto. The Australian native has 13 years experience as a WNBA head coach, leading the Phoenix Mercury to a championship in 2014 and the New York Liberty to a title in 2024.
Brondello finished her tenure in New York with a 107-53 record over four seasons, the most wins in franchise history. She led the Liberty to a second place finish in the Eastern Conference in 2025, but her contract wasn’t renewed after the team was bounced by Phoenix in the first round of the playoffs.
Brondello will be tasked with leading the WNBA’s first team outside of the United States.
Toronto will begin to fill out the roster in the December 2025 expansion draft. Free agency will go through Winter 2026, followed by the WNBA draft in the spring of 2026.
2026 WNBA championship
Without rosters, the Tempo and Fire expansion franchise’s are obviously opening as +25,000 long shots to win the 2026 WNBA championship. The defending champion Las Vegas Aces and the Minnesota Lynx are +300 co-favourites for the 2026 title.
WNBA expansion history
| Year | Franchise | First season record | First season result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Detroit Shock/Tulsa Shock/Dallas Wings | 17-13 | Missed playoffs |
| 1998 | Washington Mystics | 3-27 | Missed playoffs |
| 1999 | Minnesota Lynx | 15-17 | Missed playoffs |
| 1999 | Orlando Miracle/Connecticut Sun | 15-17 | Missed playoffs |
| 2000 | Indiana Fever | 9-23 | Missed playoffs |
| 2000 | Seattle Storm | 6-26 | Missed playoffs |
| 2000 | Miami Sol | 13-19 | Missed playoffs |
| 2006 | Chicago Sky | 5-29 | Missed playoffs |
| 2008 | Atlanta Dream | 4-30 | Missed playoffs |
| 2025 | Golden State Valkyries | 23-21 | Lost 0-2 in first round of playoffs |
The table above doesn’t exactly do a lot to boost confidence for Toronto and Portland’s inaugural seasons, but there is a little hope thanks to last year’s expansion Golden State Valkyries.
In 2025, Golden State became just the second of 10 expansion teams in WNBA history to finish with a record above .500 and they were the first-ever franchise to make the playoffs in their inaugural season.
