Women's National Basketball Association

Women's National Basketball Association

Founded	April 24, 1996; 28 years ago (1996-04-24)
First season	1997
Country	United States
Number of teams	13 (15 in 2026)
Domestic cup(s)	Commissioner's Cup
Current champions	New York Liberty (1st title)
Most championships	Houston Comets Minnesota Lynx Seattle Storm (4 titles each)[1]
Commissioner	Cathy Engelbert
TV partners	United States: ABC/ESPN NBA TV Amazon Prime Video Ion CBS/CBSSN Canada: TSN Sportsnet NBA TV Canada International: see list
Website	wnba.com
2025 WNBA season

The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). It is considered the premier professional women's basketball league in the world.^{[citation needed]} The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan.

The WNBA was founded on April 24, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the National Basketball Association (NBA); league play began in 1997. The regular season runs from May to September, with each team playing 44 games. The top eight teams (regardless of conference) qualify for the playoffs, culminating in the WNBA Finals, which is played in October.

The All-Star Game occurs midway through the season in July. The league hosts an annual mid-season competition, the Commissioner's Cup. The WNBA is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB),^[2] which is recognized by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) as the governing body for basketball in the United States.