The WNBA will expand from 44 games to 50 games for the 2027 season, the league announced this week. The 50-game schedule is music to the ears of fans who are hungry for as many games as possible, but it could also give coaches and players pause.
“Demand for the WNBA has never been greater, and expanding to a 50-game regular season reflects the extraordinary momentum we are seeing across the league,” WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. “This move reflects our commitment to growing the game and creating more opportunities for fans to watch the best players in the world and experience the extraordinary talent and competition that define the WNBA.”
The league noted that additional information, including a proposed schedule for the 2027 regular season, will be shared in the future.
The terms of the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) state that the 2027 season can end no later than Nov. 21 and the 2028 season can end as late as Nov. 30.
Here’s how players and coaches around the league feel about this change.
Player health and performance is a concern
While Portland Fire head coach Alex Sarama noted that lengthening the season is a strong sign the WNBA is healthy in terms of exposure and fans, he also raised concerns about players’ health.
“There’s two, kind of two sides to this. I think the first one is I always want what’s best for the players, and … the exposure for this incredible league, yes, we want that,” Sarama told reporters on Wednesday. “It’s a great thing for the league.
“But then the other side to me is I’m always so concerned about performance and health. And that’s … such a focus of ours and keeping the players healthy. We want to sustain and extend their careers. And I think it’s really hard to do that when it’s an even more condensed schedule.”
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Washington Mystics head coach Sydney Johnson raised similar concerns on Friday ahead of the team’s game against the New York Liberty. Johnson acknowledged that more basketball is a good thing, but he also wondered how the calendar would work.
“I’m very, very sensitive to how we’ll fit those games in, in terms of the calendar, however that looks, because I want as much as anything for players to be safe and be able to give their best and not get worn down,” he told reporters. “So that’s something that I think is in the works, and I know that our league is very, very mindful of that. So that’s the one thing that’s really important to me.”
International players have more to consider
The new schedule will have an impact on international players who compete for their national teams during the WNBA offseason, Fire center Luisa Geiselsöder told reporters on Friday.
“It’s going to be tough. I’m going to be honest,” she said. “… I play the main [WNBA] season and the winter season. I play [for my] national team. So we will not have a break.”
Playing for her national team is important to Geiselsöder. “I love playing overseas, too,” she added. “I mean, America for me is overseas, but playing back in Europe, that is a big, big thing for me because I like European basketball a lot. So I’m definitely going to play as long as I can. As long as my body does it, I will be doing that.”
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Fans will get even more WNBA
Geiselsöder also acknowledged that the new schedule is a win for fans. “It is going to be really fun for the people, for the fans to see more games, to see their players more often. … I think that’s a good part,” she said. “It has a good part and a not-so-good part.”
Johnson and Atlanta Dream head coach Karl Smesko also spoke about the impact on crowds and fans.
“The league is unbelievable,” Johnson said. “It’s so, so competitive, so many good players, so many good coaches. So adding a few more games and giving that to the public, I think, is a bonus.”
“I think a 50-game schedule’s a good thing with the expansion and more teams,” Smesko told reporters on Thursday. “… Fans are going to want to see their favorite teams and their favorite players. And I think there’s a necessity to play some more games with the expansion that’s coming still.”
For some players, work is work
Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson succinctly addressed the proposed change when she told reporters this week, “I am cool with it, man.”
She shrugged and continued, “I got nothing to do. This is my job. Come on now, granted, that’s gonna be a lot, but we will get through it.”
Connecticut Sun forward Aaliyah Edwards referenced that viral moment from Wilson while speaking with The IX Basketball on Friday.
“It’s part of our job. I think A’ja said it best. So what we signed up for, we understand that the game is growing, visibility is growing, so embracing that and not seeing it as something that we’re running away from,” Edwards said. “We love more games, we love more opportunities to play basketball and more opportunities for the next generation, whether that’s visibility or an actual spot on the roster.”
Sun center Brittney Griner told The IX Basketball that managing the change will require balance.
“[With] more games, there’s more times we’re going to be on TV, more time in front of fans, there’s more time to put our product out there. So I think that’s good, especially with more teams coming in,” Griner said. “I think our season should be longer, but that’s just me personally, with all the games, so they’re not crammed and … injuries don’t start happening with people.
“But I think our league is growing, [and] we have to have more games. So, I mean, I think the talk of spanning our season out … should be talked about.”
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New schedule, new opportunities?
Some players and coaches hope that adding more games will lead to more opportunities for players who aren’t in the WNBA right now. Phoenix Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts raised the possibility ahead of the team’s game against the Aces on Wednesday.
“I think financially getting all these games on TV is great, for sure, but the more games you play, the less practices you have, so there’s a balance there, and finding the rhythm of that,” Tibbetts told reporters. “I mean, I think it’s great for our league, it’s great for our fans. Our league is continuing to expand, more people are seeing it, so I think more games is good. But there’s going to be some challenges as far as the scheduling in that window … that we’ve played in over the last couple years.”
When asked if he has any concerns about schedule expansion, Tibbetts said yes — but also that the change doesn’t have to be a negative one.
“For me, the hope is that more players just play in the W, right?” he said. “The more games, the more money, the [calendar] window hopefully expanding, less pressure for our players to play overseas and play year-round. I think that’s one of the beauties of the NBA is the offseason and players getting better through being in the weight room and the mental break. … I still can’t wrap around my head around the pressures and the grind that some of our players have to do year-round.”
Aces head coach Becky Hammon also cited the possibility of more games leading to expanded roster opportunities.
“It’s good. I mean, it is what it is. It’s the growth of the league, and so when you look at it at that lens, it’s good,” she told reporters on Wednesday. “We’ll have to see if they allow even some more roster spots and stuff like that, because that’s a lot of wear and tear on a group, especially when you start mixing in World Cup and all this other stuff. But more money, more games, that’s the way it works.”
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The IX Basketball’s Gabby Alfveby and Emily Adler contributed reporting for this story.
