The WNBA Commissioner’s Cup returns in 2025 with a tighter schedule, expanded discipline, and larger aggressive significance. Launched in 2021 as a part of a broader effort to spice up participant compensation and visibility, the Cup has advanced right into a defining characteristic of the league’s early season and a proving floor for championship contenders.
A Event Constructed Into the Common Season
The Minnesota Lynx are your 2024 Commissioner Cup Champions
Ultimate rating 94-89#wnba pic.twitter.com/KeSuGOsKSH
— Sara Jane Gamelli (@SaraJGamelli) June 26, 2024
Not like a standard bracketed occasion, the Commissioner’s Cup is absolutely built-in into the WNBA’s regular-season calendar. Choose early-season matchups are designated as Cup video games, every carrying added weight in figuring out which groups advance to the championship recreation.
This season, Jap Convention groups will every play 5 Cup video games, whereas groups within the Western Convention will play six because of the addition of the Golden State Valkyries. All Cup video games happen between June 1 and June 17, offering the event with a transparent window of focus with out disrupting the general season’s rhythm.
There isn’t any separate schedule—these video games are regular-season contests however flagged for Cup functions. Groups obtain both three residence video games and two highway video games or vice versa, relying on the draw.
Path to the Ultimate
On the conclusion of the Cup window, the workforce in every convention with the most effective Cup recreation document qualifies for the Commissioner’s Cup Ultimate, scheduled for July 1. If needed, tiebreakers are utilized based mostly on head-to-head outcomes, level differential, and complete factors scored.
The championship can be hosted by the finalist with the very best general successful proportion on the finish of the Cup window—a distinction that displays general season power, not simply Cup success.
Monetary and Aggressive Incentives
What units the Cup aside is the substantial prize pool: $500,000 awarded to the successful workforce. Given the WNBA’s wage cap construction, these payouts can considerably affect participant earnings, significantly for these on lower-tier contracts.
As well as, gamers collaborating within the Cup Ultimate obtain a bonus in cryptocurrency, totaling $120,000 league-wide. A social justice element additionally ties into the Cup, with charitable donations made to nonprofit organizations chosen by the gamers.
Aggressive Tendencies and Historic Significance
Cheryl Reeve on the significance of the Commissioners Cup and the Minnesota Lynx on the prime of the West.
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— Sara Jane Gamelli (@SaraJGamelli) June 25, 2024
Whereas the Cup started as a brand new experiment in 2021, it has since emerged as a constant indicator of Finals-level efficiency. In recent times, the 2 groups that superior to the Cup Ultimate have typically met once more within the WNBA Finals later that season.
Even when the Cup winner has fallen in need of a championship, the event has offered an early-season benchmark for figuring out severe title threats. In that sense, it features as extra than simply an in-season money prize—it’s now a part of the league’s aggressive ecosystem.
The Cup has seen 4 totally different winners by means of its first 4 editions:
| Yr | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Seattle Storm | Connecticut Solar |
| 2022 | Las Vegas Aces | Chicago Sky |
| 2023 | New York Liberty | Las Vegas Aces |
| 2024 | Minnesota Lynx | New York Liberty |
No workforce has repeated as Cup champion, and in three of the final 4 years, the Cup Ultimate has served as a preview of the WNBA Finals.
Up to date Format Improves Readability
The league initially launched the Cup with a wider footprint and scattered recreation schedule. That model typically confused gamers and followers alike, with restricted visibility into which video games counted.
The present streamlined mannequin, with a hard and fast two-week window and simplified construction, has made it simpler for everybody to trace standings and perceive the stakes.
2025 Opening Commissioner Cup Video games
| Date | Recreation | Time (ET) | Broadcast |
|---|---|---|---|
| June 1 | Solar at Liberty | 3:00 PM | WNBA League Move |
| June 1 | Mercury at Sparks | 6:00 PM | WNBA League Move |
| June 1 | Aces at Storm | 6:00 PM | WNBA League Move |
| June 1 | Lynx at Valkyries | 8:30 PM | WNBA League Move |
| June 3 | Mystics at Fever | 7:00 PM | NBA TV, Sling |
| June 3 | Mercury at Lynx | 8:00 PM | ESPN3, Sling |
| June 3 | Wings at Storm | 9:30 PM | ESPN, Sling |
| June 5 | Liberty at Mystics | 7:30 PM | Prime Video |
The total Cup schedule continues by means of June 17, with video games obtainable on quite a lot of platforms, together with ESPN, NBA TV, Prime Video, WNBA League Move, and Sling.
A Rising Custom
Now coming into its fifth yr, the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup has turn into greater than an experimental idea. It’s a structured, high-stakes alternative to earn earnings, help neighborhood causes, and take a look at early-season chemistry in a significant method.
With visibility rising and previous Cup contenders proving their playoff credentials, the 2025 version could as soon as once more level the best way to October.
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