WNBA playoffs begin Sept. 27 with expanded seven-game Finals schedule
The 2026 WNBA postseason starts on Sept. 27 and could run through Oct. 31, featuring a best-of-three first round, five-game semifinals and a seven-game Finals.
The 2026 WNBA playoffs kick off on Sunday, Sept. 27, and may extend to Saturday, Oct. 31 if the championship series reaches seven games. This season marks the second year of the league's expanded Finals format, which follows a 2-2-1-1-1 home-court pattern, with the higher seed hosting Games 1, 2, 5 and 7.
Seeding was decided in the final moments of the regular season, setting the first-round matchups as follows: (1) Minnesota Lynx vs. (8) New York Liberty, (2) Golden State Valkyries vs. (7) Dallas Wings, (3) Las Vegas Aces vs. (6) Indiana Fever, and (4) Atlanta Dream vs. (5) Washington Mystics. The opening games are scheduled for Sept. 27, with the Liberty-Lynx and Fever-Aces contests on ABC, the Mystics-Dream game on Amazon Prime, and the Wings-Valkyries matchup on USA/CNBC.
Subsequent first-round games are slated for Sept. 29, Sept. 30 and, if necessary, early October, with broadcast partners including ABC, ESPN, NBC, Peacock, USA, and ESPN2. The semifinals will be five-game series beginning Oct. 4, with games split between ABC, NBC/Peacock, ESPN, and other network affiliates. The Finals open on Oct. 17 on NBC/Peacock, with the potential for up to seven games airing through Oct. 31 on various NBC and USA network platforms.