Eye On The Prize: WNBA Plans Reboot Of Playoff Picture For 2022 Campaign
Friday, November 19, 2021 at 05:01PM NYSJ Sports-Entertainment Business News Service
November 19, 2021: Coming off a successful celebration of its 25th Anniversary Season, the WNBA plans to hit the ground running for its 26th season.
The WNBA said its Board of Governors has approved changes to the league’s playoff format and post-season seeding, beginning with the 2022 season.
“We have been evaluating different playoff formats over the past 12 months,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said via the league.
“The new playoff format will enable fans to engage with all of the league’s best teams and top stars right from the start of the post-season, with all eight championship contenders immediately involved in exciting, first-round action.”
The reconfigured post-season structure will include three rounds of series-play using a best-of 3-5-5 format.
The eight teams with the highest winning percentages over a 36-game schedule regardless of conference will qualify for the playoffs and be seeded based on their record.
All eight playoff teams will participate in first-round, bracket-style play consisting of four best-of-three series.
The league said the new format would potentially add eight games to its playoff footprint.
The number of playoff rounds shifts from four to three and no teams will receive a bye to start the post-season. Teams will not be reseeded following the first round.
The semifinals and WNBA Finals will each remain unchanged as best-of-five series and follow the same 2-2-1.
The move comes as the WNBA had its most successful post-season in years. 
According to media partner ESPN, the WNBA Finals presneted by YouTube, won by the Chicago Sky over the Phoenix Mercury, averaged 548,000 viewers per game, up 23% from 2020 and up 42% from 2019. ESPN also said it was the most watched Finals series since 2017.
The WNBA’s 17 post-season games averaged 367,000 viewers per game, up 63% from last season and the most-viewed post-season the WNBA has had since 2014, according to ESPN.
The WNBA had 100 games broadcast on national TV in 2021 across media partners NBA TV, CBS Sports Network and ESPN platforms.
According to ESPN, the 2021 WNBA regular season averaged 306,000 viewers, a 49% increase over 2020 and up 24% over 2019.
The 2021 season also had the single most-viewed regular-season game since 2012, when the Seattle Storm faced the Chicago Sky (Aug. 15) on ABC, averaging 755,000 viewers. Four other ABC telecasts this past season were also the most-viewed regular-season games since 2012, per ESPN.
Now, the WNBA plans to up the ante in the post-season.
According to Engelbert, “Following significant discussions with our Competition Committee and a Playoff subcommittee we formed last year, it was clear that while the prior format’s single-elimination games created a win-and-advance level of excitement to the start of the post-season, the new best-of-three series format will provide added opportunities to create and showcase rivalries with all playoff-eligible teams participating.”
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