The stage is set for the league’s 30th season!
Following a historic 2025 season highlighted by the Golden State Valkyries’ debut, A’ja Wilson’s KIA MVP run and the Las Vegas Aces’ third WNBA title in four years, Season 30 is set to tip off on Friday, May 8, 2026.
With the 2026 WNBA Draft (tune in to ESPN on April 13 at 7:30 pm ET!) and the debut of two additional expansion teams on the horizon, the momentum is high. Check out some of the early storylines and key dates to look out for in the action-packed 2026 WNBA Schedule.
Season 30 Tips Off
The WNBA enters its landmark 30th season with WNBA Tip-Off 2026 presented by CarMax on Friday, May 8, with a three-game slate. The action continues through the weekend with an additional three games on Saturday, May 9 and five games on Sunday, May 10, to kick off the 44-game regular season.
Full weekend schedule:
Friday, May 8 (3 games)
- 7:30 pm ET: Connecticut Sun vs. New York Liberty
- 7:30 pm ET: Washington Mystics vs. Toronto Tempo
- 10 pm ET: Golden State Valkyries vs. Seattle Storm
Saturday, May 9 (3 games)
- 1 pm ET: Dallas Wings vs. Indiana Fever
- 3:30 pm ET: Phoenix Mercury vs. Las Vegas Aces
- 9 pm ET: Chicago Sky vs. Portland Fire
Sunday, May 10 (5 games)
- 1 PM ET: Seattle Storm vs. Connecticut Sun
- 3 PM ET: New York Liberty vs. Washington Mystics
- 7 PM ET: Las Vegas Aces vs. Los Angeles Sparks
- 7 PM ET: Atlanta Dream vs. Minnesota Lynx
- 8:30 PM ET: Phoenix Mercury vs. Golden State Valkyries
Season 30 is also highlighted with a rematch of the league’s inaugural game in 1997, with the Los Angeles Sparks hosting the New York Liberty on Sunday, June 21, on the anniversary of the original matchup.
Image Credit: WNBA
The Home Debuts: Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo
The league is expanding to a 15-team field with the highly anticipated debut of the Toronto Tempo and the Portland Fire. Each team will make their home debut during the weekend of WNBA Tip-Off 2026 presented by CarMax.
Toronto: Friday, May 8 at 7:30 pm ET vs. Washington Mystics
Portland: Saturday, May 9 at 9 pm ET vs. Chicago Sky
Aces Begin Back-to-Back Campaign, Revenge for the Mercury
The 2025 WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces will begin their campaign for another back-to-back title (previously taking home the chip in 2022 and 2023) with their first home game on Saturday, May 9, hosting a 2025 WNBA Finals rematch against the Phoenix Mercury.
Image Credit: WNBA
The teams will face-off four times this season:
Las Vegas Aces vs. Phoenix Mercury matchups:
- Saturday, May 9 at 3:30 pm ET (@ Las Vegas)
- Wednesday, June 17 at 10 pm ET (@ Phoenix)
- Saturday, July 11 at 4 pm ET (@ Las Vegas)
- Thursday, September 24 at 10 pm ET (@ Phoenix)
Battle of the No. 1 Picks
2023 and 2024 No. 1 overall picks Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark are the Indiana Fever’s dynamic duo. Soon, the newest top selection in the 2026 WNBA Draft will join the Dallas Wings and team up with the 2025 No. 1 overall pick, Paige Bueckers. The rookie duos will match up three times, with the first game coming Saturday, May 9.
Image Credit: WNBA
Dallas Wings vs. Indiana Fever matchups:
- Saturday, May 9 at 2 pm ET (@ Dallas)
- Friday, August 14 at 7:30 pm ET (@ Indiana)
- Thursday, August 20 at 8 pm ET (@ Dallas)
Commissioner’s Cup Presented by Coinbase
The sixth annual WNBA Commissioner’s Cup presented by Coinbase in-season tournament will take place Monday, June 1 through Wednesday, June 17.
Image Credit: WNBA
The Dallas Wings will kick off the two-game slate on opening night hosting the inaugural cup champions, the Seattle Storm. Following cup play, the top teams from the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference will go head-to-head in the 2026 WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship. Who will be crowned the next Cup champion?
AT&T WNBA All-Star 2026 takes Chicago
The W is heading back to the Windy City! AT&T WNBA All-Star 2026 will take place Friday, July 24 and Saturday, July 25, hosted by the Chicago Sky.
Image Credit: WNBA
Additional Key Dates:
Monday, September 1 – Wednesday, September 16: FIBA break
Thursday, September 24: Last day of regular season
Stay tuned for more updates around WNBA Rivals Week presented by Ally, the 2026 WNBA Playoffs presented by Google Pixel and WNBA Finals dates!
FIBA World Cup Break
The WNBA regular season will include a roughly two-week break when numerous WNBA players are expected to represent their respective nations in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026 from Sept. 4-13 in Germany.
Image Credit: WNBA
Race for the WNBA Playoffs presented by Google Pixel
With playoff berths and seedings potentially on the line, the regular season will resume after the World Cup break on Thursday, Sept. 17 and conclude with five games on Thursday, Sept. 24.
The WNBA Playoffs presented by Google Pixel will then tip off on Sunday, Sept. 27. The bracket-style postseason will have three rounds, beginning with a best-of-three First Round featuring the top eight teams regardless of conference.
Image Credit: WNBA
First Round winners will advance to the best-of-five Semifinals, which will be followed by the best-of-seven Finals.
Additional Schedule Details
- Two teams that closed the 2025 regular season on significant winning streaks – Las Vegas and Atlanta – will look to continue their streaks at the start of 2026.
- The Aces need three wins to open the season to surpass the 2001 Sparks’ WNBA record of 18 straight regular season wins. The Aces will look to build on their 16-game winning streak when they open their season by hosting Phoenix (Saturday, May 9) and then visiting Los Angeles (Sunday, May 10) and Connecticut (Wednesday, May 13).
- The Dream, whose six straight wins are two shy of the franchise record, will tip off at Minnesota (Saturday, May 10), visit Dallas (Tuesday, May 12), and host Las Vegas (Sunday, May 17) in its first three games.
- In addition to opening the season against one another on Saturday, May 9, the Aces and Mercury will meet three more times: Wednesday, June 17 in Phoenix, Saturday, July 11 in Las Vegas, and Thursday, Sept. 24 in Phoenix on the final day of the regular season.
- Indiana and Minnesota, the opponents in the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game last season, will clash three times. The Fever and Lynx will first meet on Sunday, Aug. 2 in Minneapolis before closing the regular season with consecutive matchups on Tuesday, Sept. 22 in Indiana and Thursday, Sept. 24 in Minnesota.
- Indiana and Las Vegas, whose 2025 WNBA Semifinals series went to a decisive Game 5, will meet three times. The Fever will visit the Aces on Sunday, July 5 and Sunday, July 12, and host them on Thursday, Aug. 6.
- New York, which met Las Vegas in the 2023 WNBA Finals and Minnesota in the 2024 Finals, will face those two teams a total of six times. The Liberty will host the Lynx on Friday, July 3 and the Aces on Sunday, Aug. 9. New York will visit Las Vegas on Tuesday, June 23 and Thursday, July 30, and will be in Minnesota on Saturday, July 11 and Friday, Sept. 18.
- Six teams will host a total of 19 games at special venues that accommodate larger crowds than their normal home arenas.
- The Tempo, which will play a majority of its home games at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, will host three games at the nearby Scotiabank Arena and two games each at the Bell Centre in Montreal and Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
- The Aces will host three contests at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, including games against Phoenix (May 9), Chicago (July 3) and Indiana (July 5).
- The Mystics will play their regular-season finale against the Sky at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. (Thursday, Sept. 24).
- The Sky will face Las Vegas (Sunday, June 28) and Indiana (Saturday, Aug. 8) at United Center.
- The Sun will take on Los Angeles (Saturday, May 30) and Dallas (Thursday, July 2) at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, Conn., and the Sparks at TD Garden in Boston (Tuesday, Aug. 18).
- The Wings will host Chicago (Sunday, July 12), Golden State (Friday, Aug. 7), and Indiana at American Airlines Arena in Dallas (Thursday, Aug. 20).
- During the regular season, each team will play three games against every cross-conference opponent and either three or four games, including Commissioner’s Cup play, against in-conference opponents. The Eastern Conference comprises Atlanta, Chicago, Connecticut, Indiana, New York, Toronto and Washington. The Western Conference is composed of Dallas, Golden State, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Phoenix, Portland and Seattle.
Information Courtesy of Women’s National Basketball Association
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