WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert told reporters Saturday during her All-Star press conference the league may increase the regular season schedule to 44 games for the 2025 season. That is the maximum allowable games under the current collective bargaining agreement.
Here are Engelbert's full comments on the matter:
"As far as the number of games we play under our current collective bargaining agreement, we can play up to 44 games, so we're looking at the footprint for next year. One of the reasons we're looking at that footprint so hard is we don't have an international competition like the FIBA World Cup or the Olympics next year, so we'll be able to look at our footprint without any interruption or break like this year, and for the World Cup we generally accomodate that to help grow the game.
"So yeah, we're certainly looking at playing the max games up to 44. Also looking at playoffs and what we can do with our playoffs. So we'll be back to you on some of the decisions around that that we're working through with our teams and our owners."
When the WNBA began back in 1997, the season was 28 games long. Over the past two decades-plus, the number of games has steadily increased aside from the COVID-shortened 2020 and 2021 seasons. In 2023, the league jumped to 40 games for the first time, which is also the number this season.
Here's a look at the number of games per season throughout league history:
| Season | Games |
|---|---|
1997 | 28 |
1998 | 30 |
1999-2002 | 32 |
2003-2019 | 34 |
2020 | 22 |
2021 | 32 |
2022 | 36 |
2023-24 | 40 |
With the league skyrocketing in popularity, it only makes sense to play more games, which will in turn lead to more revenue. That is especially true now that teams are able to fly charter every night, which eliminates some of the logistical issues.
However, as long as the WNBA remains a summer league that operates between May and October, there is an upper threshold. As Engelbert noted, one of the reasons they're looking at 44 games for next season is because there will not be a FIBA World Cup or Olympics to contend with. Whether the league could pull off that many games in a season with a major international competition remains to be seen.
The WNBA typically releases the schedule for the upcoming season in November or December, so we should know by then what the 2025 schedule will entail.
