With a new CBA finally in place, the WNBA can finally look ahead to the 2026 season
By Jack Maloney Mar 18, 2026 at 2:47 pm ET • 6 min read 
Getty Images After more than a year of negotiations, a new WNBA collective bargaining agreement is finally in place, which means the 2026 season will go ahead as scheduled. Opening night is set for May 8, and each team will play 44 games before the end of the regular season on Sept. 24 and the start of the playoffs on Sept. 27.
Here's a look at all of the key dates between now and then, including information on the double expansion draft and free agency, which will be crammed in ahead of the start of training camps.
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Expansion draft: April 6?
Two new expansion teams will join the WNBA this season, the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo. Before any other offseason agenda items can take place, the double expansion draft for the Fire and Tempo has to take place.
No official date has been announced, but ESPN reported that teams in February were given a tentative timeline of April 1-6 for the process. That would include the coin flip to decide which team -- the Fire or Tempo -- drafts first, the protection decisions for the 13 current teams and the actual expansion draft.
The exact rules for the draft are also unclear at this time. Each of the current 13 teams will be allowed to protect a certain number of players on their rosters that will be ineligible for selection by the Fire or Tempo. Those two teams will then fill out their rosters from the remaining pool of unprotected players.
Free agency: April 7-18?
Normally, free agency begins in January and lasts until mid-February, depending on when the last stragglers sign their deals. Due to time constraints, the entire process will be shrunk into 12 days this year. No official dates have been announced, but ESPN reported that teams were given a tentative timeline in February:
- Free agency designations: April 7-8
- Free agency negotiations: April 9-11
- Free agency signing period: April 12-18
This year's free agency class is massive. Aside from Kalani Brown and Lexie Brown, every player not on a rookie scale arranged their contract to become a free agent this year in anticipation of a major pay rise. And based on the CBA numbers, they're all going to get one.
Notably, the minimum salary increased from $66,079 to more than $300,000 -- a figure higher than last year's supermax of $249,244. The new supermax, meanwhile, is $1.4 million.
How will all of that affect this year's free agency process? We'll soon find out. The entire league could look completely different, or a majority of the players could return to their previous teams due to the time constraints to make a decision.
2026 WNBA Draft: April 13
The 2026 WNBA Draft is set for April 13 in New York City.
Unlike the past few years, there is no consensus No. 1 overall pick. Spanish center Awa Fam and UConn guard Azzi Fudd appear to be the two leading candidates, but UCLA center Lauren Betts cannot be ruled out. Dallas Wings general manager Curt Miller will have a difficult decision to make in a few weeks.
The Wings will pick first for the second consecutive year, and will be followed in the lottery by the Minnesota Lynx, Seattle Storm, Washington Mystics and Chicago Sky.
In addition to Fam, Fudd and Betts, other top prospects in this year's class include TCU guard Olivia Miles, LSU guard Flau'jae Johnson and UCLA guard Kiki Rice.
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Training camps open: April 19
Teams will be allowed to officially begin practicing together on April 19 when training camps open. This year's training camps could be somewhat chaotic, especially early on, given the rushed free agency period.
Preseason games begin: April 25
WNBA preseason schedules are haphazard. Teams are responsible for arranging their own games and can play as many or as few games as they'd like. As we saw last season, some teams only played one preseason game, while others played three.
As of now, only six preseason games are officially on the league's schedule. The first two are scheduled for April 25 and will feature the Indiana Fever against the New York Liberty and the Seattle Storm against the Golden State Valkyries.
Opening night: May 8
The league announced the 2026 schedule back in January, but as the negotiations over a new CBA stretched into the middle of March, there was concern that opening night would have to be pushed back. Those fears have now been assuaged, and the 2026 season will tip off on May 8 as planned.
There are three games scheduled for that Friday:
- Connecticut Sun at New York Liberty, 7:30 p.m. ET
- Washington Mystics at Toronto Tempo, 7:30 p.m. ET
- Golden State Valkyries at Seattle Storm, 10 p.m. ET
The opening weekend festivities will continue on May 9 and 10 with another eight matchups, with all 15 teams taking the court at least once. The reigning champion Las Vegas Aces will open their title defense at home against the Phoenix Mercury in a Finals rematch on Saturday, May 9.
Commissioner's Cup: June 1-17, June 30 (championship)
The Commissioner's Cup is back for a sixth consecutive season. This year's competition will run from June 1-17, with the championship game scheduled for June 30.
Each team will play every other team in its conference once during the group stage. The conferences are currently imbalanced, so Eastern Conference teams will play six games, while Western Conference teams will play seven games. The team from each conference with the best winning percentage in group stage games will qualify for the championship. The team with the best overall winning percentage will host the championship.
All-Star Weekend: July 24-25
The Chicago Sky will host All-Star Weekend from July 24-25. This is the second time that the Sky will play host, having also done so in 2022.
All-Star Friday Night, featuring the Skills Challenge and 3-Point Contest, is set for July 24 at Wintrust Arena (home of the Sky). The All-Star Game will follow on Saturday, July 25, at the United Center (home of the NBA's Chicago Bulls).
World Cup break: Aug. 30-Sept. 16
The 2026 FIBA Women's World Cup will take place this fall in Berlin, Germany, from Sept. 4-13.
The WNBA will take a late-season break from Aug. 30 through Sept. 16 so that dozens of WNBA stars can represent their countries. Team USA, which just completed a perfect 5-0 run in the World Cup Qualifying Tournament in Puerto Rico, will look to win a fifth consecutive World Cup title, matching the Soviet Union's all-time record.
The WNBA regular season will then resume on Sept. 17.
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Regular season ends: Sept. 24
The regular season will come to an end on Sept. 24, just a week after play resumes following the World Cup break.
In past years, every team would play on the final day of the season, but that is no longer possible due to the odd number of teams. There are five games scheduled for the final day this time around:
- Toronto Tempo at Connecticut Sun, 7 p.m. ET
- Chicago Sky at Washington Mystics, 7:30 p.m. ET
- Indiana Fever at Minnesota Lynx, 8 p.m. ET
- Golden State Valkyries at Los Angeles Sparks, 10 p.m. ET
- Las Vegas Aces at Phoenix Mercury, 10 p.m. ET
Playoffs begin: Sept. 27
The playoffs will get underway on Sept. 27.
No further details regarding the playoff format or schedule have been made available.
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