WNBA new schedule, explained: League introduces new 44-game season, refreshed playoff format in 2025

The WNBA is making big changes ahead of the 2025 season.

The 29-year-old institution has changed its approach more times than one can count since its inception. Some of those alterations were essential, while others served as window dressing.

Regardless, the story of the W is one of timely amendments, particularly during times of growth. And it's hard to imagine there being a more prosperous time to be a WNBA supporter than now when the names, faces, and personalities behind them stay longer in our psyches than ever before.

The league, valued at $1.16 billion, per Sports Illustrated, is hoping to capitalize on its growth. Its schedule, rugged and weathered as could be, became the ideal entity to modify in the hopes of achieving just that.

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With that, here's what you need to know about the league's new-look 44-game regular season and seven-game WNBA Finals schedules in 2025.

WNBA new schedule, explained

The WNBA has made its desire to expand very clear in recent years. Golden State was added into its grasps in 2025, while Toronto and Portland are slated to receive WNBA sides in 2026.

As the league grows, so, too, does its schedule. The W announced its intention to increase its annual run time to 44 games last season, codifying the move into law in December. It's not a surprising change. The W tacked on two matches to its yearly 34-game tally in 2022, then added four more ahead of the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has been vocal about her hope to push the season beyond its 44-game constraints in the future.

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For now, though, we sit at 44, the most allowed under the current collective bargaining agreement. The WNBPA's current CBA expires upon the conclusion of the 2025 season, so that maximum very well could change in the future.

With media contracts growing more lucrative — the W inked an 11-year, $2.2 billion media rights deal with Disney, Amazon Prime, and NBCUniversal in 2024 —  and franchise values skyrocketing, there's plenty of incentive for league executives to craft a more prolific regular season.

The WNBPA has secured some notable wins in recent years, including full-time charter flights. With no international basketball event on the docket for 2025, the extra four games aren't expected to be too difficult to accommodate. Whether that will be the case when an international tournament occurs — think the Olympics or FIBA Women's World Cup — remains to be seen.

The regular season isn't the only aspect of the WNBA slate that's getting a facelift. The W will also implement a new postseason format that draws similarities to a number of American sports, including the NBA and the NHL.

In 2025, the WNBA's first round will be contested over three games, per usual. However, those matchups will go in 1-1-1 order, ensuring every team that takes part in postseason play receives at least one home game.

Meanwhile, the WNBA Finals will be a best-of-7, not the typical five. The league invoked men's basketball and hockey for its methodology, ruling the 2-2-1-1-1 formula the most effective for crowing a champion.