WNBA: Reasons for excitement heading into WNBA season

Believe it or not, the WNBA season is almost here. Training camp will begin on April 27, and regular season action will commence on May 16.

With that in mind, here are three things to be excited about heading into this year of WNBA action:

Ratings are going through the roof

By every metric you look at, it’s clear the WNBA is on its way up.

ESPN’s broadcast of this year’s draft averaged 1.25 million viewers. That makes it the second-most viewed draft behind only 2024’s Caitlin Clark-fueled draft.

One day it’ll be old news, but for now, it’s great to see the WNBA Draft reaching highs, national TV games breaking records and attendance on the rise. Fans should expect more of that for 2025.

Rivals Week intrigues—and confuses

This one comes with positives and negatives, but I’m optimistic about the WNBA’s first-ever Rivals Week. This is a way to spice up the season’s grind, and while it’s not perfect, it’s a start.

Some of these matchups are great, like the Chicago Sky taking on the Indiana Fever. The Clark fans and Angel Reese supporters make this contest interesting. Mix in the fact that both teams play in the Midwest and are fighting to be contenders, and this is one of the best games on the schedule.

Liberty-Aces can be fun, but it’s a stretch to call it a rivalry because of last year’s WNBA Finals. Another head-scratcher is the Golden State Valkyries taking on the Sky. The Valkyries are an expansion team, so they don’t have a true rival, but even so, why not make them play their in-state competition, the Los Angeles Sparks? It seems odd that they set up Golden State and Chicago instead.

Still, Rivals Week is a good idea, and a lot of the matchups seem interesting, even if the rationales behind them don’t make as much sense. As the years pass and rivalries continue to build, this week and the games scheduled can only improve.

All-Star Weekend

This year, All-Star Weekend will take place in Indianapolis. With Clark’s Fever hosting, it should be an exciting event. The 3-Point Contest and Skills Challenge will also have an uptick in intrigue with a combined total of $115,000 in prize money. The 3-Point Contest will distribute $60,000, while the Skills Challenge prize pool will be $55,000.

The payouts will now be equal to what NBA players receive, making it a great step towards equality and prosperity for the WNBA.

Now, what’s going to be interesting is whether Clark will keep her word and participate. She declined an invite by the NBA to participate in a special 3-point event at their All-Star Weekend, indicating she wanted her 3-point contest debut to come in Indiana for the WNBA. In all likelihood, that will happen, and with the Fever superstar competing in front of home fans in Indy, it will be a match made in hoops heaven.

Ultimately, there are a lot of things to be excited about at the start of this season. With ratings rising, rivalries building and a great All-Star Weekend on the horizon, 2025 is set up to be one of the biggest and best years of WNBA basketball in recent memory.