The WNBA will play 40 games during the 2024 regular season, which kicks off on May 14 and includes the defending champion Las Vegas Aces facing the Phoenix Mercury.
The league released its 2024 season schedule Monday, unveiling changes to the Commissioner’s Cup format and a break for the Paris Olympics (July 21-Aug. 14). The 2024 season marks only the second time the WNBA has had 40 regular-season games. The league first did so in 2023, but faces a shorter timeframe in 2024 with the Olympic break.
The Commissioner’s Cup will become an In-Season Tournament, and all games will count toward each team’s regular-season win-loss record. The tournament’s championship will be played on June 25, 2024, with a prize pool of $500,000.
“The newly designed, concentrated structure for this In-Season Tournament adds an increased sense of urgency and excitement as we place a particular spotlight on Eastern and Western Conference Commissioner’s Cup play in a two-week window near the tip-off of our regular season,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement.
2024 opening night games
Schedule highlights
There are plenty of matchups worth making note of on the schedule, but here are some of the games we instantly circled:
- Aces vs. Mercury (May 14) — Unlike last season, when the Aces began the season on the road, Las Vegas opens its second consecutive title defense at home. It will face off against the Mercury, who are expected to again be led by Brittney Griner, Diana Taurasi and the No. 3 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft.
- Liberty vs. Fever (May 18) — In New York’s home opener in 2023 against Indiana, Liberty star Breanna Stewart scored a franchise-record 42 points. New York’s home opener this year is again against the Fever, and it could come in presumptive No. 1 pick Caitlin Clark and reigning Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston’s third WNBA contest test together with Indiana.
- Aces vs. Liberty (June 15) — The first of three scheduled matchups between the 2023 WNBA Finals participants. The other two are on Aug. 17 in Las Vegas and Sept. 8 in New York.
- Sun vs. Sparks (Aug. 20) — The Sun will host their first-ever regular season game at TD Garden, home of the Boston Celtics. Connecticut is looking to continue reaching the New England fan base and the contest will commemorate the first-ever WNBA regular-season game in Boston. It fittingly takes place against Los Angeles, who holds the No. 2 pick in the upcoming draft. — Sabreena Merchant and Ben Pickman, WNBA staff writers
The Commissioner’s Cup revamped format
The WNBA updated the schedule of the Commissioner’s Cup for its fourth iteration. Instead of each team playing 10 cup games, there will be five, with one game against every other team in the conference. That will lead to an imbalanced schedule where some teams will play three home and two road games in the group stage, and others will play two home and three road games.
Furthermore, in a new scheduling quirk, every WNBA game from June 1 through June 13 will be a Cup game, leading up to the final on June 25 between the winners of each conference group.
The condensed schedule of the Commissioner’s Cup might evoke the NBA’s scheduling of its In-Season Tournament, with a shorter group stage and specific nights featuring only cup games. These changes were probably motivated by the WNBA’s need to accommodate the Olympics in its schedule, however, rather than copying the NBA format.
Nevertheless, the new setup should serve to highlight the Cup games, which sometimes blend in with the rest of the regular season, and increase variance in the outcomes, so the league’s top two seeds aren’t guaranteed to meet in the final. — Merchant
How 2024’s schedule differs from 2023
The biggest wrinkle in this year’s schedule compared to the 2023 campaign is the 2024 WNBA season features a more than three-week Olympic break. The last night of regular-season WNBA action before the stoppage will be on July 17 (the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game is July 20) with the regular season resuming on Aug. 15.
Despite the hiatus, each team will play 40 games for the second consecutive year. To make the math (and dates) work, the WNBA regular season starts May 14, compared to a May 19 start in 2023. It will conclude, with all 12 teams in action, on Sept. 19. By comparison, last year’s season ended Sept. 10.
The schedule frequently features teams playing two games in three days, often with a travel day in between. The first of 22 total back-to-backs on the schedule will be May 19 and 20, when the Storm play in Washington on a Sunday afternoon, then travel to play the Liberty the following night. Three teams, the Mercury, Liberty and Sun, play three back-to-backs throughout the year, while the Dream don’t play any. — Pickman
Required reading
(Photo: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)
