WNBA is more popular than ever. Here’s how it can get even better.
The offseason is about improvement and, even after a year of unprecedented popularity, the WNBA still has a lot to work on.
The league has never had more eyes or more media attention, largely due in 2024 to Caitlin Clark and a rookie class that more than lived up to the hype. Given the incoming talent and upcoming expansion ‒ the Golden State Valkyries will join the league in 2025, and franchises in Toronto and Portland will follow in 2026 ‒ the WNBA’s rise in recognition is likely to continue.
Some suggestions on how commissioner Cathy Engelbert & Co. can make the league better:
1. Fix the playoffs
Engelbert read our minds and announced two big, and long overdue, changes before the Finals began. The first is that the Finals are expanding to a seven-game format beginning next year, matching that of pretty much every other league that doesn’t have a one-game, winner-take-all championship.
The second is that the format of the first round will change to home-away-home, ensuring lower-seeded teams get to host a playoff game. This is big for growth because it gives both teams the financial benefit of hosting a playoff game and it allows their fans to experience the exhilaration of the playoffs in person.
That doesn’t mean we don’t still have beef, however!
The first round should be expanded to a best-of-five series. While the best-of-three series will be fairer now that the first two games will alternate between teams, a best-of-five series is still a better way to ensure the best team is advancing. Plus, who doesn’t want more basketball?
And can we please stop scheduling playoff games, the Finals in particular, against the NFL? It’s true that the WNBA’s summer schedule is challenging, especially when you throw in an Olympic break every four years and a looming World Cup some falls. But there has to be a better way than scheduling games on Sunday afternoons when the NFL overshadows everything.
Yes, the W has shown that it can hold its own. But imagine how much better it could do if it wasn’t going up against a slate of NFL games. At the very least, push the start time back to 7 p.m. ET, when CBS and Fox’s coverage is wrapping up and Sunday night’s game hasn’t started.
Or, better yet, if the Monday Night Football matchup is meh, schedule the W playoffs for Monday night. All of America would have rejoiced if there’d been an alternative to that Titans-Dolphins game a few weeks back.
2. Expand rosters
With 12 teams and 12 roster spots, the WNBA is widely considered the toughest league in the world to make. For the last decade-plus, there’s only been 144 total spots, and many teams only carry 11 because of the salary cap. This total will increase with expansion, but only 12 spots per roster puts teams in a bind if they suffer a rash of injuries (see the Dallas Wings and Phoenix Mercury).
There’s an obvious fix for this: Add two to three developmental players per roster. This gives younger, unpolished players an opportunity to play their way into the league and if a team suffers a significant injury, they won’t be left scrambling to sign someone – who likely doesn’t know their system – to a short-term contract.
We know this could be tough financially, but we’ve got a plan for that, too. Remember the Home Depot partnership with U.S. Olympians that ran for years, where the home improvement giant worked with athletes to give them full-time pay and benefits for part-time work? Why not partner with small businesses in each of the WNBA markets – like the companies that sponsor the jersey patches – and work out a similar setup, where athletes are given flexible jobs that would allow them to attend practices and home games. It would also help athletes feel more connected to the communities they’re playing in – and if the deal is good enough, it might entice athletes to stay in the city in the offseason, instead of going overseas.
3. Get bullish on globalization of the game
The WNBA is growing in popularity across the U.S., as evidenced by skyrocketing ratings, attendance and expansion. It’s time to spread that love across the world, both by enticing more foreign players to join the W and playing games overseas.
The prioritization rule, which players say forces them to pick between being paid well overseas and playing in the WNBA, needs to be revisited and revamped. That will allow some of the world’s best players to play in the WNBA every year, increasing viewership across the world. It is a downright shame that players like Emma Meesseman weren’t in the league this season ‒ and that’s an easy fix. (And yes, WNBA League Pass works in foreign countries.)
Additionally, the league should be playing preseason games overseas. The NBA already does it. So, too, do big-time college programs, with Notre Dame and South Carolina beginning their season in Paris last year. Why shouldn’t international fans get an up-close look at A’ja, Stewie, Sab and Caitlin, too?
Once again, Engelbert seems to have peeked at our to-do list, mentioning in her pre-Finals news conference the possibility of playing in Asia, Africa and South America. She also said Mexico City has expressed interest in hosting a game.
4. Adam Silver needs more of a presence around the WNBA
The NBA owns and operates the WNBA, and likes to say they’re partners. If that’s really true, NBA commissioner Adam Silver needs to be around more. He should at least be a regular presence at New York Liberty games ‒ Barclays Center is just a subway ride from his office, after all ‒ and travel with Engelbert more often.
More people are catching on to the fact that along with also boasting some of the best athletes in the world, who are more than worthy of watching, women’s sports is booming business. Silver needs to better understand this, to advocate for the WNBA as much as he does the NBA. Every WNBA player should feel comfortable walking up to Silver and talking to him ‒ that’s only done if he’s more visible.
5. Everyone needs a practice facility. Right now.
There’s nothing like a little public shaming to get the ball rolling.
Every WNBA team should have had a practice facility this season. It’s downright embarrassing that a team like the Connecticut Sun had to share their practice court with a community center event 24 hours before their first-round series vs. Indiana. Engelbert, Silver and the league need to publicly lean on ownership groups to move into the 21st century and provide their players with a state-of-the-art practice facility, somewhere players can train (and rehab) year-round.
No city should even be considered for expansion if the ownership group doesn’t just have a commitment but a plan ‒ like, design plans — for a practice facility. Established teams that don’t have one, like Los Angeles, an original WNBA franchise, need to be publicly pressured to fix this.
The days of owners being able to run their teams on the cheap are over. If teams aren’t willing to invest in their players, those players will go elsewhere. Just ask the Chicago Sky.
6. Get aggressive about saying you want expansion
Speaking of public shaming, it’s time for cities that haven’t invested in either a WNBA or NWSL franchise to be called out for it. Investing in women is trendy right now, and more cities ‒ and professional sports ownership groups — should want to be involved. There’s still one more expansion city to be named. Why not entice prospective sites to show how, and why, they deserve a team?
7. Expand the preseason
Again, the WNBA’s summer schedule is tough. But the league has got to find a way to expand the preseason to four full weeks. Players and coaches desperately want it, and rookies need it. (Somewhere, Clark is nodding her head.) It’s fine to keep preseason games at two or three, but players need more practice time together. There’s one easy way to do this …
8. Move up the WNBA draft
Right now, the draft is a week after the Final Four. Why not combine these huge events, when the women’s basketball community is already in one place ‒ including most of the top prospects, who are usually in town to collect awards — and in a celebratory mood? There’s no question it would be a challenge logistically, but it would ultimately result in more preseason practice. That’s a win for everyone.
Bonus suggestion: For the love of humanity, give us good mascots
Ellie the Elephant rules all, but she needs some company. Chicago finally got with the program this season, retiring “Sky Guy” and introducing “Skye the Lioness“. But all WNBA fans deserve better.
Let Ellie run some offseason training camps or something. There’s no question they’d be a sellout.
Email Lindsay Schnell at lschnell@usatoday.com and Nancy Armour at narmour@usatoday.com, and follow them on social media @Lindsay_Schnell and @nrarmour