2026 WNBA season
Sports season
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 2026 WNBA season is the 30th and current season of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The league expanded from 13 to 15 teams with the addition of the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo, first announced in 2024.[1] This followed the addition of the Golden State Valkyries in 2025.
| 2026 WNBA season | |
|---|---|
| League | Women's National Basketball Association |
| Sport | Basketball |
| Duration | May 8 – September 24, 2026 |
| Teams | 15 |
| TV partner(s) | ABC/ESPN NBC/NBC Sports USA Network Ion CBS NBA TV |
| Streaming partner(s) | ESPN DTC Prime Video Peacock Paramount+ |
| Draft | |
| Top draft pick |  Azzi Fudd |
| Picked by | Dallas Wings |
| Regular season | |
| Playoffs | |
In October 2025, the WNBA announced that the Chicago Sky will host the 2026 WNBA All-Star Game and related events for the second time in franchise history. The All-Star game will be played at the United Center on Saturday, July 25, while the three-point contest and Skills Challenge will take place on Friday, July 24, at Wintrust Arena.[2][3]
This will be the last season for the Connecticut Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut after Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta purchased the franchise with the intention to relocate the team to Houston to revive the Houston Comets.[4]
Offseason
Collective bargaining agreement
The current WNBA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), signed in 2020, was originally to run through 2027, but the Women's National Basketball Player's Association (WNBPA) opted out in October 2024, accelerating its termination to October 31, 2025.[5]
The previous CBA was signed in January 2020, covering the 2020–2027 seasons. The agreement introduced increased salaries, maternity and family benefits, and improved travel conditions.
Timeline
- October 2024: The WNBPA officially notified the league of its intent to opt-out of the existing CBA.[5]
- Spring 2025: Preliminary discussions began between league representatives and the union.[6]
- July 2025: The WNBPA issued a public statement claiming that the league has "failed to meet players' priorities" in the early stages of negotiations.[7]
- October 2025: Tensions escalated after Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier criticized league leadership, prompting WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert to respond that she will "do better" in rebuilding trust with players.[8]
- October 30: It was announced that the WNBA and WNBPA had reached an agreement for a 30-day extension to continue negotiations.[9]
- November 30: It was announced that the WNBA and WNBPA had reached an agreement to a 6-week extension pushing back the expiration deadline for the current CBA until January 9, 2026.[10]
- December 18: The WNBPA announced that the union had authorized the executive committee to "call a strike when necessary" as players continue negotiations with the league over a new CBA.[11]
- February 23, 2026: The WNBA told the WNBPA and its teams that a new CBA must be agreed to by March 10 for the 2026 schedule not to be impacted.[12]
- March 18: The WNBA and WNBPA reached a verbal agreement on the terms of a new CBA.[13]
- March 23: WNBA players unanimously approved the new CBA.[14]
- March 24: The WNBA Board of Governors ratified the new CBA.[15]
The regular season is set to begin as scheduled on May 8.[13]
Drafts
Draft lottery
On November 7, 2025, the WNBA announced that the 2026 draft lottery will be broadcast on Sunday, November 23, on ESPN.[16]
The Dallas Wings won the first overall pick in the draft lottery for the second consecutive year.[17]
Expansion draft
An expansion draft was held on April 3. The Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo selected players for their respective debut rosters. The Fire and Tempo took turns picking one player from each of the thirteen existing teams except for the Chicago Sky. However, Portland chose not to pick a player from the Las Vegas Aces nor did Toronto draft anyone from the Seattle Storm.[18]
Transactions
Coaching changes
| Off-season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | 2025 season | 2026 season | Ref. |
| Dallas Wings | Chris Koclanes |
Jose Fernandez |
[19][20] |
| New York Liberty |  Sandy Brondello |
Chris DeMarco |
[21][22] |
| Portland Fire | Did not exist |  Alex Sarama |
[23] |
| Seattle Storm | Noelle Quinn |
Sonia Raman |
[24][25] |
| Toronto Tempo | Did not exist | Sandy Brondello |
[26] |
Preseason
Schedule
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Preseason
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Regular season
Standings
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Conf. | Home | Road | Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chicago Sky | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | – | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| 2 | Atlanta Dream | 2 | 0 | 1.000 | – | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| 3 | New York Liberty | 2 | 1 | .667 | 0.5 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| 4 | Las Vegas Aces | 2 | 1 | .667 | 0.5 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| 5 | Golden State Valkyries | 2 | 1 | .667 | 0.5 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| 6 | Dallas Wings | 1 | 1 | .500 | 1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| 7 | Washington Mystics | 1 | 1 | .500 | 1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| 8 | Portland Fire | 1 | 1 | .500 | 1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| 9 | Toronto Tempo | 1 | 1 | .500 | 1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| 10 | Indiana Fever | 1 | 1 | .500 | 1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| 11 | Minnesota Lynx | 1 | 1 | .500 | 1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| 12 | Phoenix Mercury | 1 | 2 | .333 | 1.5 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| 13 | Seattle Storm | 1 | 2 | .333 | 1.5 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| 14 | Los Angeles Sparks | 0 | 2 | .000 | 2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| 15 | Connecticut Sun | 0 | 3 | .000 | 2.5 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
Notes
- (#) – League Standing
- c – Commissioner's Cup winners
- y – Regular Season Champion
- x – Clinched playoff berth
- e – Eliminated from playoff contention
- Source: Overall standings and Commissioner's Cup Standings
Schedule
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May
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Media coverage
United States
This is the first season of new 11-year media rights agreements with the ESPN family of networks, NBC Sports, Amazon Prime Video.[27] At a combined value of approximately $2.2 billion over the length of these three agreements, it is a substantial increase from the league's previous broadcast contracts.[28]
Due to NBC's deal being signed in 2024 before NBCUniversal spun-off most of its domestic cable networks to Versant in January 2026, the league signed a separate 11-year agreement for expanded coverage on the USA Network.[29][30]
This is also the first season of new multi-year deals with CBS Sports and Scripps Sports.[31][32][33]
- ESPN networks will air 30 games (with all 30 games available to stream on ESPN DTC) . Twelve games will air on ABC on Saturday or Sunday afternoons, while 18 games will air on ESPN on Tuesday and Sunday nights, in addition to Saturday and Sunday afternoons. ABC will air the 2026 WNBA All-Star Game in primetime, while ESPN will air the Skills Challenge and 3-Point Contest.[34] In the playoffs, ESPN Networks will air two first round series and one semifinal series.[33]
- NBC Sports will air 22 games. Seven games will air on the main NBC broadcast network, all on Sundays, with two games in primetime and the rest in the afternoon. Fifteen games will air on NBCSN and Peacock, primarily on Monday nights, Peacock will also air all games airing on the main NBC Broadcast network. During the playoffs, NBC Sports will air one semifinal series. Peacock will stream all games of the 2026 WNBA Finals, with Games 1 and 4 also on NBC.[35][33]
- USA Network will air 48 regular season games, primarily on Monday and Wednesday nights. In addition, to end the regular season, USA Network will air nine games over the season's final eight days.[36] During the playoffs, USA Network will broadcast one first round series and all games except 1 and 4 of the WNBA Finals. Select games on USA Network will stream on Peacock.[33]
- Amazon Prime Video will air 30 regular season games, primarily on Thursday nights, as well as the championship game of the WNBA Commissioner's Cup.[37] During the playoffs, Prime Video will air one first round series.[33]
- CBS Sports will air 20 regular season games on CBS and Paramount+. Unlike the previous agreement, CBS Sports Network will no longer air games. On CBS, eight games will air in primetime on Saturday nights. The remaining games will air on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.[31]
- Ion Television will air 50 Friday night games. Select games will air in regional windows with out-of-market games on WNBA League Pass.[32][33]
- NBA TV will air 15 games.[33]
Canada
- This will be the first season of a multi-year deal for Bell Media to air games on TSN and CTV in Canada, including almost all Toronto Tempo games and almost all other major WNBA events.[38][39]
- Unlike the WNBA's other US media rights agreements, its deal with Amazon Prime Video is a global deal and the streaming service will also air games in Canada.[40]
- As in past seasons, NBA TV Canada continues to carry selected games not covered by the Bell Media and Prime Video deals.[40]
Local
- The Minnesota Lynx announced a new agreement with the free Victory+ streaming service to make the platform the teams new local broadcast partner.[41]
- The Portland Fire, in their inaugural season, announced an agreement with Gray Media to make KPDX the teams local broadcast partner.[42]
- The Atlanta Dream also announced an agreement with Victory+ for free streaming. Unlike the Lynx, games will continue to air on TV through an agreement with Gray Media.[43]