– Toronto Tempo Makes Franchise Debut May 8; Portland Fire Opens Season in Return to WNBA May 9 – 

– May 9 Includes Defending WNBA Champion Las Vegas Aces’ Finals Rematch vs. Phoenix Mercury, and Caitlin Clark and Indiana Fever Hosting Paige Bueckers and Dallas Wings – 

– Los Angeles Sparks Host New York Liberty on June 21 in Rematch of WNBA’s Inaugural Game,

on Anniversary of Original Matchup –

NEW YORK, Jan. 21, 2026 – The WNBA today released its game schedule for the 2026 regular season, the league’s 30^th, which will begin on Friday, May 8.  The regular season will conclude on Thursday, Sept. 24, followed by the WNBA Playoffs presented by Google Pixel.

The milestone season will feature two new teams – the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo – and 44 games per team, with each team playing 22 home games and 22 road games. Highlights include a rematch of the league’s 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.  In addition, the sixth annual WNBA Commissioner’s Cup presented by Coinbase will feature a 17-day period in June when the schedule will consist entirely of Cup games.

The WNBA will unveil its complete television and streaming schedule at a later date. That schedule is expected to include over 200 of 330 games being available through the league’s national broadcast and streaming partners.

“As we prepare to tip off the WNBA’s historic 30th season, this schedule reflects both how far the league has come and the momentum that continues to drive us forward,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “From welcoming two new organizations in Toronto and Portland, to honoring our history with marquee matchups that connect the league’s first game to today’s stars, the 2026 season will celebrate the WNBA’s past, present, and future. With a record number of games, growing global reach, and unprecedented momentum, this milestone season will help define the next chapter of the WNBA.”

All 15 teams will be in action during opening weekend as part of WNBA Tip-Off 2026 presented by CarMax.

WNBA Tip-Off 2026 presented by CarMax will begin with three games on Friday, May 8, including the Tempo’s debut when it hosts the Washington Mystics at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto (7:30 p.m. ET). In other opening night games, the New York Liberty will host the Connecticut Sun (7:30 p.m. ET), and the Golden State Valkyries, who last season became the first WNBA expansion team to reach the playoffs in its inaugural season, will visit the Seattle Storm (10:00 p.m. ET).

The action will continue on Saturday, May 9 with a matchup of the two most recent Kia WNBA Rookie of the Year winners, as Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings, who own the top pick in the upcoming WNBA Draft, visit Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever, champions of the 2025 WNBA Commissioner’s Cup presented by Coinbase (1:00 p.m. ET). Later, the defending WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces will host the Phoenix Mercury in a rematch of last season’s WNBA Finals (3:30 p.m. ET). The nightcap marks the Fire’s regular-season return to the league, as Portland hosts the Chicago Sky at Moda Center (9:00 p.m. ET).

The opening weekend concludes on Sunday, May 10 with five games, highlighted by the Minnesota Lynx hosting the Atlanta Dream in a matchup of last season’s No. 1 and No. 3 playoff seeds, respectively (7:00 p.m. ET).

Commissioner’s Cup presented by Coinbase

The WNBA Commissioner’s Cup presented by Coinbase will feature a 49-game schedule from June 1-17. Each team will play one game against every other team in its conference – a total of six games for each of the seven Eastern Conference teams and seven games for each of the eight Western Conference teams. All Cup games except the Championship will count toward regular-season win-loss records.

Eastern Conference teams will play three games each at home and on the road. Western Conference teams will play either four games at home and three on the road, or three at home and four on the road.

The title game will be played on Tuesday, June 30, featuring the Eastern and Western Conference teams with the best record in Commissioner’s Cup play and will be hosted by the conference winner that has the best winning percentage in all regular season games played from opening day through June 17, the final day of Commissioner’s Cup games.

AT&T WNBA All-Star 2026

The 2026 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game, the 22^nd All-Star Game in league history, will be played on Saturday, July 25 at United Center in Chicago. Additional All-Star activities will also include the 3-Point Contest and Kia WNBA Skills Challenge on Friday, July 24 at Wintrust Arena, home of the Chicago Sky. WNBA Live, the league’s interactive fan festival, will take place at McCormick Place.

FIBA World Cup Break

The WNBA regular season will include a roughly two-week break when numerous WNBA players are expected to represent their respective nations in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2026 from Sept. 4-13 in Germany.

Race for the WNBA Playoffs presented by Google Pixel

With playoff berths and seedings potentially on the line, the regular season will resume after the World Cup break on Thursday, Sept. 17 and conclude with five games on Thursday, Sept. 24.

The WNBA Playoffs presented by Google Pixel will then tip off on Sunday, Sept. 27. The bracket-style postseason will have three rounds, beginning with a best-of-three First Round featuring the top eight teams regardless of conference. First Round winners will advance to the best-of-five Semifinals, which will be followed by the best-of-seven Finals.

Additional Schedule Highlights

• Two teams that closed the 2025 regular season on significant winning streaks – Las Vegas and Atlanta – will look to continue their streaks at the start of 2026.
• The Aces need three wins to open the season to surpass the 2001 Sparks’ WNBA record of 18 straight regular season wins. The Aces will look to build on their 16-game winning streak when they open their season by hosting Phoenix (Saturday, May 9) and then visiting Los Angeles (Sunday, May 10) and Connecticut (Wednesday, May 13).
• The Dream, whose six straight wins are two shy of the franchise record, will tip off at Minnesota (Saturday, May 10), visit Dallas (Tuesday, May 12), and host Las Vegas (Sunday, May 17) in its first three games.
• In addition to opening the season against one another on Saturday, May 9, the Aces and Mercury will meet three more times: Wednesday, June 17 in Phoenix, Saturday, July 11 in Las Vegas, and Thursday, Sept. 24 in Phoenix on the final day of the regular season.
• Indiana and Minnesota, the opponents in the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game last season, will clash three times. The Fever and Lynx will first meet on Sunday, Aug. 2 in Minneapolis before closing the regular season with consecutive matchups on Tuesday, Sept. 22 in Indiana and Thursday, Sept. 24 in Minnesota.
• Indiana and Las Vegas, whose 2025 WNBA Semifinals series went to a decisive Game 5, will meet three times. The Fever will visit the Aces on Sunday, July 5 and Sunday, July 12, and host them on Thursday, Aug. 6.
• New York, which met Las Vegas in the 2023 WNBA Finals and Minnesota in the 2024 Finals, will face those two teams a total of six times. The Liberty will host the Lynx on Friday, July 3 and the Aces on Sunday, Aug. 9. New York will visit Las Vegas on Tuesday, June 23 and Thursday, July 30, and will be in Minnesota on Saturday, July 11 and Friday, Sept. 18.
• Six teams will host a total of 19 games at special venues that accommodate larger crowds than their normal home arenas.
• The Tempo, which will play a majority of its home games at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, will host three games at the nearby Scotiabank Arena and two games each at the Bell Centre in Montreal and Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
• The Aces will host three contests at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, including games against Phoenix (May 9), Chicago (July 3) and Indiana (July 5).
• The Mystics will play their regular-season finale against the Sky at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. (Thursday, Sept. 24).
• The Sky will face Las Vegas (Sunday, June 28) and Indiana (Saturday, Aug. 8) at United Center.
• The Sun will take on Los Angeles (Saturday, May 30) and Dallas (Thursday, July 2) at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, Conn., and the Sparks at TD Garden in Boston (Tuesday, Aug. 18).
• The Wings will host Chicago (Sunday, July 12), Golden State (Friday, Aug. 7), and Indiana at American Airlines Arena in Dallas (Thursday, Aug. 20).
• During the regular season, each team will play three games against every cross-conference opponent and either three or four games, including Commissioner’s Cup play, against in-conference opponents. The Eastern Conference comprises Atlanta, Chicago, Connecticut, Indiana, New York, Toronto and Washington. The Western Conference is composed of Dallas, Golden State, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Phoenix, Portland and Seattle.

Below is the game schedule for WNBA Tip-Off 2026 presented by CarMax.

2026 SCHEDULE: WNBA SEASON TIP-OFF PRESENTED BY CARMAX

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