Women's basketball is having its loudest moment in a generation. Sold-out arenas, record TV numbers, and a draft class that moves the needle culturally as much as athletically. If you're new to the WNBA — or coming back after years away — this is the one page that gets you fully up to speed.
The WNBA is the top professional women's basketball league in the world. It's affiliated with the NBA and runs in the summer, which keeps it out of direct competition with the men's season and the college calendar. A game is 40 minutes — four 10-minute quarters — played on the same court dimensions as the NBA but with a slightly smaller ball.
The competitive structure is familiar to any sports fan: a regular season seeds teams into the playoffs, which culminate in the WNBA Finals. Layered on top is the Commissioner's Cup, an in-season tournament where designated early games count toward a separate title and prize pool — a way to make June matter before the playoff race heats up.
The league is split into an Eastern Conference and a Western Conference, and it is actively expanding — new franchises are joining as demand and investment surge. Golden State came aboard in 2025, with Toronto and Portland in the next wave. Cornerstone franchises include the Las Vegas Aces, New York Liberty, Seattle Storm, Minnesota Lynx, Phoenix Mercury, Indiana Fever, and Connecticut Sun, among others.
Because the map keeps changing, we keep a live standings page with the current full list of teams, their records, and the playoff race in both conferences.
Games are carried by national TV partners and broadcast networks, with out-of-market matchups streaming through WNBA League Pass. Marquee games — rivalry matchups, nationally televised showcases, and the Finals — land on the biggest networks. The simplest way to never miss a tip-off: our Scores & Schedule page lists each game's date, time, and broadcast.
Want to go in person? Tickets for regular-season and playoff games are widely available, and demand has climbed sharply, so popular matchups sell fast.
The modern WNBA is stacked with crossover stars — players who are MVP-caliber on the court and cultural figures off it. Names to know include A'ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Caitlin Clark, Sabrina Ionescu, Angel Reese, Kelsey Plum, and a deep bench of All-Stars and rising rookies. The pregame tunnel walks have become their own spectacle — fashion that trends nationally before the ball is even tipped.
We track who's playing well right now on the News and Videos pages — highlights, recaps, and the storylines moving the league.
The WNBA launched in 1996 and tipped off its first season in 1997, riding the momentum of a dominant USA Basketball program. For its first two decades it built a loyal core audience and produced legends. The last few years changed the scale entirely: a wave of generational college stars brought millions of new fans, TV ratings and attendance hit records, and expansion and investment followed. The women's game didn't suddenly get good — it's always been good. It finally got the spotlight it earned.