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The WNBA’s present continues this afternoon with Game 2 of the 2024 WNBA Finals. The league, however, also has an eye on its future, as indicated by major news from the past week:

WNBA announces playoff format changes for 2025

When addressing the media before Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that next year’s WNBA Finals will be, for the first time in league history, a best-of-seven series. On the change, Engelbert said, “This will give our fans a championship-series format they are accustomed to seeing in other sports.”

While the first round will remain a best-of-three series, the format will change from the current set up, where the higher-seeded team hosts Games 1 and 2, to an alternating structure, with the higher-seeded team hosting Games 1 and 3 and the lower seed hosting Game 2. This 1-1-1 format would guarantee that all playoff participants host at least one home game.

Engelbert also confirmed that the 2025 regular season will be 44 games, after the league has played 40 games in 2023 and 2024.

So, the 2025 WNBA champion will play at least 53 games, with 44 regular-season contests plus nine playoff wins. Most likely, the eventual champion will play more than the minimum nine playoff games; that team could also compete in the Commissioner’s Cup Championship. That means that the 2025 WNBA champion could approach 60 total games played—quite the gauntlet to capture the league’s ultimate prize.

2025 WNBA Draft Lottery is set

Engelbert also announced that the 2025 WNBA Draft Lottery will be Nov. 17 at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN. The Los Angeles Sparks (44.2 percent chance of the No. 1 pick), Dallas Wings (27.6 percent chance), Chicago Sky (17.8 percent chance, but Dallas has swap rights) and Washington Mystics (10.4 percent chance) will be hoping for lottery luck, while the expansion Golden State Valkyries will have the No. 5 overall pick in the 2025 draft.

WNBA viewership keeps growing

It’s appropriate that Game 1 of the 2024 WNBA Finals, possibly one of the most thrilling games in WNBA playoff history, scored record viewership, with an average of 1.1 million viewers making it the largest audience ever for a Finals Game 1.

Overall, the 2024 WNBA Playoffs have been the most-viewed postseason across ESPN’s platforms.