On Friday, the WNBA and Wilson revealed the official game ball of the fourth annual WNBA Commissioner’s Cup. The first game of the in-season tournament will be played on Saturday, June 1, as the Chicago Sky take on the Indiana Fever.
The ball uses Wilson’s Evo NXT construction, which is standard to other WNBA game balls, but will have a new look including black, white and rose gold. There are eight alternating black and white panels and stylized graphics, including WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert’s signature and an image of the Cup’s championship trophy.
“Introducing a new ball for the Commissioner’s Cup presented by Coinbase is a step forward in making our in-season tournament a distinct and recognizable WNBA tentpole,” Bethany Donaphin, head of WNBA league operations, said in a press release. “The fire orange and white WNBA ball remains iconic, but this new black, white, and rose gold color scheme makes it instantly clear to fans when they are watching a Commissioner’s Cup game.”
The Cup began in 2021 as an in-season competition during the first half of the WNBA season. This year’s fourth edition of the Cup will look slightly different as all 12 WNBA teams will play five games, one against each of the other teams in their conference (East and West), that count as Cup games.
The Cup’s championship game will feature the two teams from each conference (East and West) with the best record in Cup games. The championship will be played on Tuesday, June 25 at the home arena of the team with the best overall record in Cup games, with a $500,000 prize pool up for grabs.
In addition to the prize pool, Coinbase will contribute $120,000 in cryptocurrency which includes $5,000 for each player in the championship game.
Additionally, the league and players will make charitable contributions to non-profit organizations aligned with the players’ social justice work. For each game of the Cup, the winning team will receive a monetary donation of $3,000 for their chosen local organization and the losing teams will earn $1,000 for their selected organization.
In addition to the stated prize pool, a $10,000 donation will be made to the non-profit organization aligned with the winner of the Commissioner’s Cup Championship and $5,000 will be made to the organization of the runner-up. The donations will be presented to each organization at the conclusion of the Commissioner’s Cup Championship.