10 must-see WNBA games for the 2026 season

Editor's note: This story was originally published on Jan. 21, when the WNBA released its 2026 schedule.

The WNBA will tip off its 30th season on May 8.

The league's 2026 regular-season schedule features 44 games for every team and a 17-day break for the FIBA World Cup in September. All 15 teams will play during opening weekend, headlined by a WNBA Finals rematch between the Las Vegas Aces and Phoenix Mercury, which is part of a ABC doubleheader on May 9.

Here are 10 must-watch games of the 2026 regular season.

May 9: Dallas Wings at Indiana Fever

1 p.m. ET, ABC

The league's four most recent No. 1 picks match up as Indiana's Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston host Dallas' Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd. Clark played in just one of the four matchups between the two teams last season because of injury. But for their first game of the year, this will be a display of some of the league's brightest young talent. It also will provide a first look at some of the Wings' biggest free agency additions of Alanna Smith, Jessica Shepard and Alysha Clark.

May 9: Phoenix Mercury at Las Vegas Aces

3:30 p.m. ET, ABC

The reigning WNBA champion Aces will raise their banner and receive their rings in front of the team they swept for their third title in four years. The 2025 Finals rematch will set the tone for both teams this season, as A'ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young and Jewell Loyd face Phoenix's Alyssa Thomas and Kahleah Copper.

May 23: Portland Fire at Toronto Tempo

The league's two newest franchises will face off for the first time in Toronto, then play twice more in August -- including one contest in Vancouver. There are a lot of questions for these franchises, including which players will make up their rosters. But the Valkyries' historic inaugural season in 2025 has set a high bar for Portland and Toronto.

June 1: Minnesota Lynx at Phoenix Mercury

The Lynx were title favorites throughout the 2025 regular season, but their quest for a championship ended in the WNBA semifinals, despite winning the opening game of the series. Not only did Phoenix -- which was riddled with injuries most of the season -- upset Minnesota 3-1, but the series included a controversial play that resulted in Napheesa Collier tearing three ligaments in her left ankle and being sidelined for the series-deciding Game 4. Collier, who had offseason surgery on both ankles, is expected to be out until early June.

June 3: Toronto Tempo at New York Liberty

The Liberty fired Sandy Brondello after the team was eliminated in the first round of the 2025 playoffs, just one year after she led New York to a title. This game will mark her return to Brooklyn for the first time with her new team, Toronto.

June 21: New York Liberty at Los Angeles Sparks

8 p.m. ET, ESPN

This one marks the 30-year rematch of the league's inaugural game on June 21, 1997. Thirty years after the WNBA's inception, this game will offer matchups between Breanna Stewart, Jonquel Jones, Sabrina Ionescu and Satou Sabally for the Liberty, and Kelsey Plum, Nneka Ogwumike and Dearica Hamby for the Sparks. And, on the heels of a "transformative" CBA, it will be a moment of reflection of just how far the WNBA has come.

July 5: Indiana Fever at Las Vegas Aces

7 p.m. ET, ESPN

The Fever had an improbable postseason run last year, winning their first playoff series since 2015 and reaching the semifinals despite several season-ending injuries -- including to Clark and Sophie Cunningham. Still, they pushed the Aces to five games in the second round in one of the most exciting series of the postseason.

Aug. 8: Las Vegas Aces at Minnesota Lynx

Wilson won her second consecutive -- and fourth overall -- MVP last season, beating out Minnesota's Collier for the second year in a row. The teams first play on June 13, but Collier's status for that game is up in the air as she recovers from ankle surgery. This second matchup, however, likely sees her back on the court, giving us a showdown between the two stars. Things got chippy between the two teams in the playoffs last year, when Aces coach Becky Hammon said there was no comparison between the two players. "A white-tailed deer looks really good until an elk walks into the room," Hammon said, of comparing Smith to Wilson. The Aces and Lynx meet for a third and final time in the regular season in Las Vegas eight days later.

Aug. 18: Los Angeles Sparks at Connecticut Sun

This game will be played 108 miles north of Uncasville, Connecticut, in Boston -- a city that made a bid to relocate the Sun in 2025. Connecticut's future remains uncertain -- sources told ESPN last year that Houston has emerged as the potential new home for the Sun -- but a sellout crowd of 19,156 was on hand last July at TD Garden, where the Fever beat the Sun.

Sept. 24: Golden State Valkyries at Los Angeles Sparks

This will be the third and final matchup between the Valkyries and Sparks, the WNBA's only in-state rivalry. Golden State went 3-1 against Los Angeles last season, but this year could see the Sparks improve in their second season with Lynne Roberts as coach and Plum and Ogwumike as their centerpieces.