Throughout her press convention forward of Recreation 1 of the 2024 WNBA Finals between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx on Thursday evening, commissioner Cathy Engelbert introduced main modifications to the league’s playoff format beginning with the 2025 season.
Most notably, the Finals shall be a best-of-seven collection beginning subsequent season, and can have a 2-2-1-1-1 construction. “This can give our followers a championship collection format that they’re accustomed to seeing in different sports activities,” Engelbert stated.
Moreover, the best-of-three first spherical will change from the controversial 2-1 format to a 1-1-1 format. That ensures that every group that makes the playoffs hosts at the very least one recreation, stopping a situation during which the decrease seed will get a winner-take-all Recreation 3 at house.
“Now we have contemplated each these modifications because the pandemic, and we might have finished it within the present yr, however with the Olympic break this yr it wasn’t doable,” Engelbert added. “Now that we now have constitution [flights] all through the season and playoffs, it is possible.”
As well as, Engelbert confirmed the league will certainly enhance the common season to a report 44 video games, one thing she first mentioned in July throughout All-Star Weekend.
“The league’s progress and elevated demand for WNBA basketball wil make this the best time to increase the schedule, lengthen the Finals and supply followers extra alternatives to see one of the best gamers on the earth compete on the highest stage,” Engelbert stated.
The WNBA has a historical past of altering its playoff format on a reasonably common foundation, and that is the newest adaptation.
Within the league’s inagural 1997 season, there have been simply two playoff rounds, and each the semifinals and Finals had been one-game occasions. Greatest-of-three collection had been launched for the semifinals and Finals in 1998, and best-of-five collection first got here into use in 2005. That was initially only for the Finals, nevertheless, and the semifinals weren’t expanded to best-of-five till 2016.
