The stage is set for the league\u2019s 30th\u00a0season!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Following a historic 2025 season highlighted by the Golden State Valkyries\u2019 debut,\u00a0A\u2019ja\u00a0Wilson\u2019s\u00a0KIA\u00a0MVP\u00a0run and the Las Vegas Aces\u2019 third WNBA title in four years, Season 30 is set to tip off on Friday, May 8, 2026.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
With\u00a0the\u00a02026 WNBA Draft\u00a0(tune in\u00a0to ESPN on April 13\u00a0at 7:30\u00a0pm\u00a0ET!)\u00a0and the debut of two\u00a0additional\u00a0expansion teams\u00a0on the horizon,\u00a0the momentum\u00a0is high.\u00a0Check out some of the\u00a0early\u00a0storylines\u00a0and key dates\u00a0to look out for in the action-packed 2026 WNBA Schedule.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Season 30 Tips Off\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The WNBA enters its landmark 30th season\u00a0with WNBA Tip-Off\u00a02026\u00a0presented by CarMax\u00a0on\u00a0Friday, May 8,\u00a0with a three-game slate. The action\u00a0continues\u00a0through the weekend with\u00a0an\u00a0additional\u00a0three games on\u00a0Saturday, May 9\u00a0and five games on\u00a0Sunday, May 10, to kick off\u00a0the 44-game regular season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Full weekend schedule:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Friday, May 8 (3 games)\u00a0<\/p>\n
7:30 pm ET:\u00a0Connecticut Sun vs. New York Liberty\u00a0
\n7:30 pm ET:\u00a0Washington Mystics vs. Toronto Tempo\u00a0
\n10 pm ET:\u00a0Golden State\u00a0Valkyries vs. Seattle Storm\u00a0<\/p>\n
Saturday, May 9 (3 games)\u00a0<\/p>\n
1 pm ET: Dallas\u00a0Wings vs.\u00a0Indiana\u00a0Fever\u00a0
\n3:30 pm ET: Phoenix\u00a0Mercury vs.\u00a0Las Vegas\u00a0Aces\u00a0
\n9 pm ET: Chicago\u00a0Sky vs.\u00a0Portland\u00a0Fire\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sunday, May 10\u00a0(5 games)\u00a0<\/p>\n
1 PM ET:\u00a0Seattle Storm vs. Connecticut Sun\u00a0
\n3 PM ET: New York\u00a0Liberty vs.\u00a0Washington\u00a0Mystics\u00a0
\n7 PM ET: Las Vegas\u00a0Aces vs.\u00a0Los Angeles\u00a0Sparks\u00a0
\n7 PM ET:\u00a0Atlanta\u00a0Dream vs.\u00a0Minnesota\u00a0Lynx\u00a0
\n8:30 PM ET:\u00a0Phoenix\u00a0Mercury vs.\u00a0Golden State\u00a0Valkyries\u00a0<\/p>\n
Season 30 is also highlighted with a rematch of the league\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
The Home Debuts: Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo\u00a0<\/p>\n
The league is expanding to a 15-team field with the highly\u00a0anticipated\u00a0debut of the Toronto Tempo and the Portland Fire.\u00a0Each team will make their home debut during\u00a0the weekend of WNBA\u00a0Tip-Off\u00a02026 presented by CarMax.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Toronto:\u00a0Friday, May 8 at 7:30 pm ET\u00a0vs. Washington Mystics\u00a0<\/p>\n
Portland:\u00a0Saturday,\u00a0May 9 at 9 pm ET\u00a0vs. Chicago Sky\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aces\u00a0Begin Back-to-Back Campaign, Revenge for the Mercury\u00a0<\/p>\n
The\u00a02025 WNBA Champion\u00a0Las Vegas\u00a0Aces\u00a0will\u00a0begin their campaign for another back-to-back title (previously taking home the chip in 2022 and 2023) with their first home game\u00a0on\u00a0Saturday, May 9,\u00a0hosting a 2025 WNBA Finals rematch against\u00a0the Phoenix Mercury. The teams will face-off four times this season:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Las Vegas Aces\u00a0vs.\u00a0Phoenix Mercury\u00a0matchups:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Saturday, May 9 at 3:30 pm ET\u00a0(@ Las Vegas)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wednesday, June 17 at 10 pm ET\u00a0(@ Phoenix)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Saturday, July 11 at 4 pm ET\u00a0(@ Las Vegas)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thursday, September 24 at 10 pm ET\u00a0(@ Phoenix)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Battle of the\u00a0No. 1\u00a0Picks\u00a0<\/p>\n
2023 and 2024 No. 1 overall picks\u00a0Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark\u00a0are the Indiana Fever\u2019s dynamic duo. Soon,\u00a0the\u00a0newest top\u00a0selection\u00a0in the 2026 WNBA Draft\u00a0will\u00a0join\u00a0the Dallas Wings\u00a0and\u00a0team up with\u00a0the\u00a02025\u00a0No. 1\u00a0overall\u00a0pick, Paige Bueckers.\u00a0The\u00a0rookie\u00a0duos\u00a0will\u00a0match up\u00a0three times, with the first game coming\u00a0Saturday, May 9.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dallas Wings vs. Indiana Fever matchups:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Saturday, May 9 at\u00a02\u00a0pm ET\u00a0(@\u00a0Dallas)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Friday, August 14\u00a0at 7:30 pm ET\u00a0(@ Indiana)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thursday, August 20 at 8 pm ET\u00a0(@ Dallas)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Commissioner\u2019s Cup Presented by Coinbase<\/p>\n
The\u00a0sixth\u00a0annual WNBA Commissioner\u2019s Cup\u00a0presented by Coinbase\u00a0in-season tournament\u00a0will take place\u00a0Monday, June 1\u00a0through\u00a0Wednesday, June 17.\u00a0The\u00a0Dallas Wings will kick off the two-game slate on opening night hosting the\u00a0inaugural cup champions, the\u00a0Seattle Storm.\u00a0Following cup play, the top teams\u00a0from the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference will go head-to-head in the 2026 WNBA Commissioner\u2019s Cup Championship.\u00a0Who will be crowned the next Cup champion?\u00a0<\/p>\n
AT&T WNBA All-Star 2026\u00a0takes Chicago\u00a0<\/p>\n
The W is heading back to the Windy City!\u00a0AT&T\u00a0WNBA All-Star\u00a02026\u00a0will take place\u00a0Friday, July\u00a024\u00a0and\u00a0Saturday, July 25, hosted by the Chicago Sky.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Additional\u00a0Key\u00a0Dates:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Monday, September 1\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Wednesday, September 16:\u00a0FIBA break\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thursday, September 24:\u00a0Last day of regular season\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stay tuned for more updates\u00a0around\u00a0WNBA Rivals Week presented by Ally,\u00a0the 2026 WNBA\u00a0Playoffs\u00a0presented by Google\u00a0Pixel\u00a0and\u00a0WNBA\u00a0Finals\u00a0dates!\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The stage is set for the league\u2019s 30th\u00a0season!\u00a0 Following a historic 2025 season highlighted by the Golden State…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":434130,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,82,630],"class_list":["post-434129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=434129"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/434129\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/434130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=434129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=434129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=434129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}