2024 WNBA Basketball Season
January 16, 2024
2024 WNBA REGULAR SEASON TIPS OFF TUESDAY, MAY 14
– All 12 Teams Begin Quest for WNBA Championship During WNBA Tip-Off 2024 Presented by CarMax –
– Two-time Defending WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces Host Phoenix Mercury on Opening Night –
– Regular Season Features New Format to the Commissioner’s Cup Presented by Coinbase –
NEW YORK, Dec. 18, 2023 – The WNBA today released its game schedule for the 2024 regular season, which will begin on Tuesday, May 14. The league’s 28th regular season will conclude on Thursday, Sept. 19, followed by the WNBA Playoffs presented by Google.
The regular season will feature a record-high 40 games per team for the second consecutive season, with each team playing 20 home games and 20 road games. In addition, the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup presented by Coinbase will have a new format that includes a two-week stretch in June where the league’s schedule consists entirely of Commissioner’s Cup games.
The WNBA will unveil its complete television and streaming schedule at a later date.
“We eagerly anticipate tipping off the 2024 season and building on the success of last season, our most-watched in 21 years and a record-setter for social media engagement, digital consumption, All-Star merchandise sales and sports betting,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “Free agency and the 2024 WNBA Draft are sure to create excitement, and the new format to the Commissioner’s Cup will provide fans a great opportunity to see the best players in the world compete for bragging rights and prize money early in the season.”
All 12 teams will be in action during the opening week of the season as part of WNBA Tip-Off 2024 presented by CarMax. The new season will begin with four games on Tuesday, May 14, highlighted by the two-time defending champion Las Vegas Aces and their four 2023 All-Stars – Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum, A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young – hosting WNBA career points leader Diana Taurasi and the Phoenix Mercury (10 p.m. ET). Earlier that night, the 2024 season gets underway when the New York Liberty, which reached the WNBA Finals presented by YouTube TV last season behind 2023 Kia WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart, 2023 All-WNBA Second Team selection Sabrina Ionescu and seven-time WNBA assists leader Courtney Vandersloot, visit the Washington Mystics, led this past season by two-time Kia WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne and 2023 WNBA All-Defensive First Team selection Brittney Sykes (7 p.m. ET).
Also on opening night, 2023 Kia WNBA Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston and the Indiana Fever, which owns the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft presented by State Farm, will visit the Connecticut Sun, led by 2023 Kia WNBA MVP runner-up and all-time triple-doubles leader Alyssa Thomas (8 p.m. ET). In addition, the Seattle Storm, led by 2023 WNBA scoring leader and All-Star Game MVP Jewell Loyd and 2023 All-Defensive Second Team selection Ezi Magbegor, will host the Minnesota Lynx, led by 2023 All-WNBA First Team member Napheesa Collier and 2023 All-Rookie Team selections Dorka Juhász and Diamond Miller (10 p.m. ET).
Action continues on Wednesday, May 15, when the league’s four remaining teams tip off their 2024 seasons. Three-time WNBA All-Star Kahleah Copper and the Chicago Sky will visit the Dallas Wings, who reached the WNBA Semifinals last year behind 2023 Kia WNBA Most Improved Player Satou Sabally and three-time All-Star Arike Ogunbowale, who has ranked among the league’s top five scorers in each of her five seasons (8 p.m. ET). Also on Wednesday, 2023 All-Stars Allisha Gray, Rhyne Howard and Cheyenne Parker will lead the Atlanta Dream into Los Angeles to meet the Sparks, owners of the second overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft presented by State Farm, who were led last season by eight-time All-Star and 2023 All-WNBA Second Team selection Nneka Ogwumike and WNBA All-Defensive First Team pick Jordin Canada (10 p.m. ET).
Commissioner’s Cup Presented by Coinbase
As announced earlier today, the fourth annual Commissioner’s Cup presented by Coinbase will feature a new format in 2024. For this year’s in-season tournament, each team will play five Commissioner’s Cup games, one against each of its in-conference rivals.
All WNBA games played during the period from June 1-13 will be part of the Commissioner’s Cup. Teams will play either three Commissioner’s Cup games at home and two on the road, or two at home and three on the road. All intraconference Cup games will count toward a team’s regular-season win-loss record. The team from each conference with the top record in Commissioner’s Cup games will compete for a $500,000 prize pool in the Commissioner’s Cup Championship presented by Coinbase, which will be played on Tuesday, June 25 at the arena of the team with the best record in Cup play.
AT&T WNBA All-Star 2024
The 2024 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game, the 20th All-Star Game in league history, will be played on Saturday, July 20 at Footprint Center in Phoenix. More information about AT&T WNBA All-Star will be forthcoming.
Olympic Break
The regular season will include a break from July 21 through Aug. 14, when numerous WNBA stars will represent their respective countries at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. The U.S. Women’s National Team will be vying for its eighth consecutive gold medal at the Paris games. Regular-season action will resume on Thursday, Aug. 15, when Phoenix is at Chicago (8 p.m. ET), Washington visits Minnesota (8 p.m. ET) and Los Angeles hosts New York (10 p.m. ET).
All in for Regular-Season Finale
With playoff berths and seedings potentially on the line, the WNBA will conclude its regular-season schedule in style with all 12 teams in action on the final day, Thursday, Sept. 19.
Additional Schedule Highlights
Las Vegas and New York, the opponents in a memorable 2023 WNBA Finals presented by YouTube TV, will meet three times – Saturday, June 15 and Saturday, Aug. 17 in Las Vegas, and Sunday, Sept. 8 in New York.
Indiana and Los Angeles, owners of the No. 1 and No. 2 selections, respectively, in the 2024 WNBA Draft presented by State Farm, will also meet three times – Friday, May 24 in Los Angeles, and Tuesday, May 28 and Wednesday, Sept. 4 in Indiana.
Below is the game schedule for the opening weekend of WNBA Tip-Off 2024 presented by CarMax and the schedule for all 30 games of the Commissioner’s Cup presented by Coinbase.
2024 WNBA SCHEDULE: OPENING WEEK
2024 WNBA SCHEDULE: COMMISSIONER’S CUP GAMES
Additionally, WNBA teams can begin negotiating with free agents on Sunday, Jan. 21. Free agents can begin signing contracts with teams on Thursday, Feb. 1.