by Austin Hanson
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever and the WNBA released their schedules for the 2024 season on Monday.
According to a press release, the Fever are slated to open their season on May 14 with a road game against the Connecticut Sun. The Fever’s home-opener will follow on May 16, when the New York Liberty travel to Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
“Our entire franchise is committed to competing for a playoff spot this season,” Indiana Fever President Allison Barber said via release. “The best fans in the WNBA will make the 25th season of Indiana Fever basketball memorable every night our team takes the court at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.”
The WNBA has also changed the format of this year’s Commissioner’s Cup. Under the new format, teams will be required to play five in-season tournament games.
Contests held from June 1-13 will be considered Commissioner’s Cup qualifying games. Those matchups will be counted toward teams’ overall win-loss records.
When pool play concludes, the top Eastern Conference team will square off against the top Western Conference team for a $500,000 prize pool in the Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game. The Commissioner’s Cup Championship Game will be played on June 25. The team with the best cup-play record will host the contest.
Counting Commissioner’s Cup qualifying games, each WNBA team will play 40 regular season games in 2024.
“After crowning three Commissioner’s Cup champions since 2021, we believe it is time to introduce a new, streamlined format for the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup presented by Coinbase for the 2024 season,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert via press release. “The newly designed, concentrated structure for this in-season tournament adds an increased sense of urgency and excitement as we place a particular spotlight on Eastern and Western Conference Commissioner’s Cup play in a two-week window near the tip-off of our regular season.
“The focus is on making the Commissioner’s Cup presented by Coinbase even more engaging for all our stakeholders, including fans, teams, players and the community organizations that collaborate with our teams during the designated games.”
This year’s WNBA schedule will also feature a break for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The break will begin in July and end in mid-August, according to the Fever’s website.
The Fever have the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s WNBA Draft. Indiana is expected to take women’s college basketball’s reigning national player of the year, Iowa point guard Caitlin Clark. The West Des Moines, Iowa, native has yet to officially declare whether or not she will return to college for a fifth season in 2024-25 or turn pro.
Here is look at the Fever’s full 2024 schedule:
- @ Connecticut Sun, May 14 at 7 p.m.
- Vs. New York Liberty, May 16 at 7 p.m.
- @ New York Liberty, May 18 at 1 p.m.
- Vs. Connecticut Sun, May 20 at 12 p.m.
- @ Seattle Storm, May 22 at 10 p.m.
- @ Los Angeles Sparks, May 24 at 10 p.m.
- @ Las Vegas Aces, May 25 at 9 p.m.
- Vs. Los Angeles Sparks, May 28 at 7 p.m.
- Vs. Seattle Storm, May 30 at 7 p.m.
- Vs. Chicago Sky (Commissioner’s Cup), June 1 at 1 p.m.
- @ New York Liberty (Commissioner’s Cup), June 2 at 7 p.m.
- @ Washington Mystics (Commissioner’s Cup), June 7 at 7:30 p.m.
- @ Connecticut Sun (Commissioner’s Cup), June 10 at 7 p.m.
- Vs. Atlanta Dream (Commissioner’s Cup), June 13 at 7 p.m.
- Vs. Chicago Sky, June 16 at 12 p.m.
- Vs. Washington Mystics, June 19 at 7 p.m.
- @ Atlanta Dream, June 21 at 7:30 p.m.
- @ Chicago Sky, June 23 at 6 p.m.
- @ Seattle Storm, June 27 at 10 p.m.
- @ Phoenix Mercury, June 30 at 3 p.m.
- @ Las Vegas Aces, July 2 at 10 p.m.
- Vs. New York Liberty, July 6 at 1 p.m.
- Vs. Washington Mystics, July 10 at 12 p.m.
- Vs. Phoenix Mercury, July 12 at 7:30 p.m.
- @ Minnesota Lynx, July 14 at 7 p.m.
- @ Dallas Wings, July 17 at 8 p.m.
- Vs. Phoenix Mercury, Aug. 16 at 7:30 p.m.
- Vs. Seattle Storm, Aug. 18 at 4 p.m.
- @ Minnesota Lynx, Aug. 24 at 8 p.m.
- @ Atlanta Dream, Aug. 26 at 7:30 p.m.
- Vs. Connecticut Sun, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m.
- @ Chicago Sky, Aug. 30 at 7:30 p.m.
- @ Dallas Wings, Sept. 1 at 4 p.m.
- Vs. Los Angeles Sparks, Sept. 4 at 7 p.m.
- Vs. Minnesota Lynx, Sept. 6 at 7:30 p.m.
- Vs. Atlanta Dream, Sept. 8 at 4 p.m.
- Vs. Las Vegas Aces, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m.
- Vs. Las Vegas Aces, Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m.
- Vs. Dallas Wings, Sept. 15 at 3 p.m.
- @ Washington Mystics, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m.
Originally posted on fox59.com