FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

REGARDING THE MAKING OF THE WNBA SCHEDULE

Why are there multiple games on at the same time? Unless a specific game time is required for an allotted national broadcast/streaming window, each WNBA team selects the start time for their home games, taking into account the optimal start times for fans in their market. The WNBA is similar to other sports leagues that have a lot of regular season games start at the same time to accommodate fans who attend games (such as NFL Sundays, NBA, MLB, NHL, etc.).

Who is responsible for scheduling? The league office works with the teams and arenas, who submit to the league a list of dates on which the venues are available. The league then creates the schedule while factoring in additional elements such as, game density, travel, available windows provided by the broadcast networks and streaming partners, key matchups creating compelling national broadcast content, etc.

Why do some teams play games on consecutive days? While WNBA teams infrequently play games on back-to-back dates, “back-to-backs” do occur in the WNBA as teams play more games than those on the college level.  In scheduling games, the WNBA, teams, and our broadcast and streaming partners take into account such variables as arena availability, the maximization of weekend games, travel efficiency, etc. and work to minimize the number of back-to-backs or where possible, schedule them so that the team having the back-to-back has two home games in a row.

Why are there some dates with no games? Dates on which there are no games are a product of a variety of factors including the potential lack of arena availability, an effort to reduce back-to-back games for a team(s), scheduling for reasonable travel by teams, fan demand in attending games on weekends versus weeknights particularly during the school year, filling predetermined broadcast windows (such as scheduling a minimum of two games on Fridays for the standard ION doubleheader the next night, having teams available for predetermined CBS and/or ABC windows on Saturdays, etc.).

Why aren’t games being televised? There are no other sports televised today, and all these games are on League Pass. Not all games are intended to be nationally televised (similar to other sports with a number of games at or above that of the WNBA). The WNBA has a set number of national TV games as agreed upon with our broadcast and streaming partners, some games are purposely reserved for local/regional broadcast partners, and all non- nationally broadcast or streamed games are available on WNBA League Pass.