The playoff format has evolved in the WNBA in recent years. The first direct elimination rounds and higher ranked teams which reached the playoffs from the semi-final between 2016 and 2021. Then a particular format with series where the highest ranked team in the regular season plays at home the first two matches, before a potential decisive Game 3 on the floor of the lowest ranked team.
A 2-1 scheme in the first round certainly practical to avoid plane travel, but not ideal for fairness or for creating surprises. But as a system of private flights was put in place, perhaps it was time to change things…
The question of returning to a 1-1-1 scheme was thus in the air and Cathy Engelbert has just confirmed it. Before Game 1 of the Finals between the Liberty and the Lynx, the boss of the WNBA spoke and announced that the first round playoff series would be played with this 1-1-1 format from 2025.
A longer season
Furthermore, if the semi-final format will not change (best of five matches), that of the Finals, currently also played in the best of five matches, will now be the same as in the NBA, i.e. say best of seven matches (2-2-1-1-1). “For the Finals, it will give fans a format they are used to in other sports”, explains Cathy Engelbert.
The WNBA teams will therefore have to win one more game in the Finals to win the title and this additional victory is added to four additional games in the regular season. Here too, things are moving with 44 games in 2025, and no longer 40 as since 2023.
Therefore, with a longer regular season and Finals (not forgetting new teams arriving in 2025 and 2026), it is a calendar that will lengthen. “The growth of the league and the growing demand for WNBA basketball made this time the perfect time to provide even more opportunities for our fans to see the best players in the world,” believes the boss of the women's league.
