PHOENIX — The WNBA is considering expanding its regular season to 44 games for the 2025 campaign, commissioner Cathy Engelbert said Saturday before the league’s All-Star Game.
“We’re looking at the footprint for next year,” Engelbert said. “We don’t have an international competition like the FIBA World Cup or the Olympics next year, so we’ll be able to look at our footprint without any interruption or break, like we’re breaking this year.”
Forty-four games per team are the most allowed under the current collective bargaining agreement, although in the long term, Engelbert has discussed the vision for extending the season even longer. More total games also are on the horizon for the next two seasons with expansion franchises in Golden State (2025) and Toronto (2026) beginning play.
The regular season currently is 40 games per team.
The WNBA is amid one of its most memorable seasons, as it has witnessed its highest attendance in 26 years, has set new viewership records and has seen a surge in merchandise sales and intensified fan engagement.
“When I stood in front of you at this time last year, I knew we were poised for big things. We were preparing ourselves for big things,” Engelbert said. “But I’m just so thrilled with what we’ve been able to accomplish over the last year.”
Much of that growth has been spurred by the current rookie class, headlined by college-stars-turned-pros Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, both of whom came here as All-Stars.
“I’ve been so pleased with Caitlin and all of our rookies,” Engelbert said. “A number of new fans we’re able to bring into this league is exponential from my expectations of what we were going to do.
“I think this rookie class has brought a lot of attention and is lifting all of our games and all of our players.”
Engelbert touched on a variety of other topics during her media availability:
• She said she couldn’t comment on specifics of the league’s reported impending media deal, which is valued at $2.2 billion for 11 years but has not been finalized. But Engelbert did say: “I think we’re going to do something historic. I think once we’re able to finalize those media deals, everybody is going to understand that this is a historic time for women’s sports and the WNBA will be leading that … our next round of media deals will allow us to continue to transform this league.”
• The league continues to work on smoothing out the kinks of its new chartering program, which was implemented at the beginning of this season. “We continue to work on upgrading the experience for our players on that,” Engelbert said, “and I think when we come off the Olympic break, we’re hitting our stride more on this program, we’ll see some improvements”
• The league’s investigation into the Las Vegas Aces over sponsorship deals their players signed with the city’s tourism authority is ongoing, according to Engelbert. The league hired outside counsel to handle the investigation.
• To continue to globalize the game, the WNBA is looking at holding games around the world; Engelbert mentioned Europe, Asia, Mexico City and the Middle East specifically. The league previously has held exhibition games in Canada. It might also consider staging contests at neutral sites in the United States to test out expansion markets.
