WNBA announces new 2025 playoff format, capitalizing on historic season headlined by Caitlin Clark

The WNBA is expanding the regular play and moving to a seven-game bid format for the Finals successful 2025, successful a determination that volition capitalize connected the galore records acceptable this twelvemonth owed successful ample portion to Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced the quality Thursday earlier Game 1 of the WNBA Finals betwixt the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty. 

Cathy Engelbert talks to the media earlier the crippled betwixt the Team WNBA and the USA Basketball Women's National Team during the 2024 WNBA All Star Game connected July 20, 2024 astatine Footprint Center successful Phoenix. (Catalina Fragoso/NBAE via Getty Images)

"The finals people the culmination of what I deliberation is the astir transformational twelvemonth in the WNBA’s history," Engelbert said. 

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"You saw each the statistic we enactment retired – viewership, attendance, merch sales, integer engagement – astatine oregon adjacent grounds levels. And to enactment it successful position with a fewer stats that bring penetration into what has happened, the WNBA importantly outpaced the manufacture successful mean depletion of unrecorded games successful 2024."

She continued, "The league’s maturation and accrued request for WNBA hoops marque this the perfect clip to grow the schedule, lengthen the finals, and supply fans much opportunities to spot the champion players successful the satellite vie astatine the highest level." 

Caitlin Clark, left, poses with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert aft she is selected with the fig 1 wide prime to the Indiana Fever successful the 2024 WNBA Draft astatine Brooklyn Academy of Music successful Brooklyn, New York, connected April 15, 2024. (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)

The league presently has a best-of-five semifinals and finals successful its playoffs with a best-of-three archetypal round. The caller format volition determination to a best-of-seven finals. Engelbert besides announced that the regular play volition grow to 44 games.

CAITLIN CLARK’S FINAL GAME OF ROOKIE CAMPAIGN MARKS ANOTHER WNBA MILESTONE

The enlargement follows the undeniable interaction that WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark has had connected the league. 

The league said much than 2.3 cardinal fans attended games this season, the astir successful 22 years, and the teams combined for 154 sellouts — up from 45 past season. The Fever’s mean attendance of conscionable nether 17,000 led the WNBA, and 10 of their games person acceptable league TV viewership records — galore successful beforehand of sellout crowds. 

Indiana besides closed retired the regular play with different record, playing successful beforehand of a assemblage of 20,711 fans – the largest attendance successful WNBA history.  

The WNBA besides saw a grounds 22 regular-season telecasts averaging astatine slightest 1 cardinal viewers. According to a study by the Sports Business Journal, Clark played successful 19 of those games. 

Caitlin Clark, #22 of the Indiana Fever, celebrates during the crippled against the Los Angeles Sparks connected May 24, 2024 astatine Crypto.com Arena successful Los Angeles. (Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images)

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The league has besides expanded to see 15 teams, with the latest being awarded to Portland. 

The WNBA besides precocious announced a landmark media rights woody with the Walt Disney Company, Amazon Prime Video and NBCUniversal acceptable to tally done 2036 and a multi-year concern with Delta Air Lines, which became the authoritative hose spouse of the WNBA. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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