The WNBA’s current season continues today with Game 2 of the 2024 WNBA Finals. However, the league is also looking ahead to the future, as evidenced by significant news from the past week:
WNBA announces changes to playoff format for 2025
During a press conference before Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert revealed that next year’s WNBA Finals will be a best-of-seven series for the first time in league history. Engelbert stated, “This will give our fans a championship-series format they are used to seeing in other sports.”
While the first round will remain a best-of-three series, the format will change from the current setup. The higher-seeded team will now alternate hosting Games 1 and 3, with the lower seed hosting Game 2. This new 1-1-1 format ensures that all playoff participants will host at least one home game.
Engelbert also confirmed that the 2025 regular season will consist of 44 games, an increase from the 40 games played in 2023 and 2024.
Therefore, the 2025 WNBA champion will play a minimum of 53 games, including 44 regular-season games and nine playoff wins. It is likely that the eventual champion will play more than the minimum nine playoff games and may also compete in the Commissioner’s Cup Championship. This could mean that the 2025 WNBA champion could participate in close to 60 total games—a challenging journey to capture the league’s ultimate prize.
2025 WNBA Draft Lottery scheduled
Engelbert also announced that the 2025 WNBA Draft Lottery will take place on Nov. 17 at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN. The Los Angeles Sparks (44.2 percent chance of the No. 1 pick), Dallas Wings (27.6 percent chance), Chicago Sky (17.8 percent chance, with Dallas swap rights), and Washington Mystics (10.4 percent chance) will be hoping for good luck in the lottery. Additionally, the expansion Golden State Valkyries will have the No. 5 overall pick in the 2025 draft.
Growing viewership for the WNBA
Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Finals, potentially one of the most exciting games in WNBA playoff history, achieved record viewership with an average of 1.1 million viewers, making it the most-watched Finals Game 1 ever.
Overall, the 2024 WNBA Playoffs have been the highest-rated postseason across ESPN’s platforms.
