Welcome to the WNBA Commissioner's Cup, the league's annual in-season tournament that allows players to compete for charity, a prize pool, and bragging rights. The competition was initially announced in 2020 but was delayed a year and officially commenced with the 2021 season. The format has already evolved since the first year, with the W changing up the scheduling and number of regular-season games that count towards the Cup.

Now, with five matchups per team limited to a couple of weeks in June, the urgency and excitement surrounding the tournament are much higher for both players and fans. Let's find out about the process that will decide which team joins the Seattle Storm, Las Vegas Aces, New York Liberty, and Minnesota Lynx in the Commissioner's Cup Championship club.

Format and structure

This year's Commissioner's Cup takes place between June 1 and June 17, with the top side from each conference advancing to the championship game on July 1 based on the tournament record.

Eastern teams will play five games each within their conference, and the West will play six due to the expansion Golden State Valkyries. The total of 36 games will still count toward regular-season records.

Prize pool and incentives

Since the Commissioner's Cup was born out of the 2020 collective bargaining agreement that was meant to increase overall player compensation, it's no surprise that money is a motivating factor for players. And for good reason — the winning organization gets a $500,000 cash prize pool to split among themselves. As of 2024, Bitcoin has also committed to giving $5,000 in cryptocurrency (about $120,000) to each player in the title game.

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Besides the money, players compete for the right to trash-talk their opponents for the rest of the season — and to potentially preview the year's WNBA Finals matchup. Las Vegas and New York faced off in 2023, and the Liberty ran it back against Minnesota a year later.

Notable history

The Storm took the inaugural Commissioner's Cup title once play officially got underway in 2021. The Aces grabbed their first of their two championships in 2022 when they won the second annual tournament. The Liberty took it in 2023, while the Lynx are the current reigning champs.

Breanna Stewart was the Cup's first MVP, followed by A'ja Wilson, Sabrina Ionescu, and Napheesa Collier.

The WNBA will likely keep evolving the Commissioner's Cup in the future based on how the contest continues to go, but so far, its appeal and impact have added a fun aspect to the campaign for fans. The tournament represents the type of innovation the W can take more risks on now that it's in a season of growth and expansion.

The Storm, Aces, Liberty, and Lynx have paved the way and have the best chance of becoming the first team to two competition titles. However, there have been a handful of teams that have surprisingly emerged as challengers for frontrunner positions so far this season, meaning WNBA fans everywhere are in for a treat in the month of June.