The WNBA’s rapid growth has taken another step.
The league announced Wednesday that it’s expanding its season from 44 games to 50 beginning in 2027.
“Demand for the WNBA has never been greater, and expanding to a 50-game regular season reflects the extraordinary momentum we are seeing across the league,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a press release.
“This move reflects our commitment to growing the game and creating more opportunities for fans to watch the best players in the world and experience the extraordinary talent and competition that define the WNBA.”
As interest and investment in the WNBA has grown, the number of regular-season games has steadily increased.
The league rolled out 36 games in 2022 before expanding to 40 for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. In 2025, the number of games per season increased to 44.
The league’s latest expansion comes almost three months after the WNBA and its players agreed to a landmark CBA deal.
The new deal includes the league’s first $1 million salaries and a new salary cap ($7 million per team, increase from $1.5 million in 2025), which is set to increase annually.
In addition, the deal guarantees housing for players through the first three years of the deal and provides an expanded benefits package.
While dates for the 2027 and subsequent seasons are still being determined, the new CBA outlines that the 2027 season can’t end later than Nov. 21. Additionally, there’s an option for the WNBA to expand to 52 games by 2029.
A six-game increase to the schedule is just one of many ways the WNBA continues to expand, as three expansion teams (Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia) will also join the league by 2030.
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