WNBA Finals are the Women's National Basketball Association's championship series and mark the end of the postseason for the league. The first WNBA Finals were held in 1997 and were played between the Houston Comets, under coach Van Chancellor, and the New York Liberty, under coach Nancy Darsch. The Houstons won the first championship.
In 1997, a total of eight teams participated from the Eastern and Western conferences, the Houston Comets, the Cleveland Rockers, the Charlotte Sting, the New York Liberty, and the Houston Comets in the Eastern Conference; the Los Angeles Sparks, the Phoenix Mercury, the Utah Starzz (now known as Las Vegas Aces), and the Sacramento Monarchs in the Western Conference. Until 2002, the WNBA Finals were known as the WNBA Championship.
WNBA Finals
The winners of the playoff semifinals square off in the series. The WNBA Finals champion receives the championship trophy at the end of the championship round. Since its inception in 1997, the WNBA Finals have been played at the end of each WNBA season.
Since 2005, a 2–2–1 format has been used to determine the WNBA Finals winner. The team with the best regular-season record gains home court advantage, and that team hosts the first, second, and fifth games of the series. The Finals will transition to a best-of-seven series in 2025, following the NBA Finals' format of 2–2–1–1–1. The higher seed will host the first two games, the lower seed hosts the following two, and the final three, if necessary, alternate.
Which teams have won the most WNBA Finals titles?
As of September 2025, the Minnesota Lynx, the Seattle Storm, and the Houston Comets, a former team, have won the most titles in the WNBA Finals, with each team securing four WNBA championships. The New York Liberty are the champions of the 2024 WNBA Finals, with Jonquel Jones of the Liberty named the WNBA Finals MVP.
WNBA Playoffs
The top eight teams in the regular season, regardless of conference, compete in a single-elimination bracket system under the current WNBA playoff format. The higher-seeded team (or the team with the better record) in each series receives homecourt advantage. The eight teams are ranked according to their regular-season records.
Procedures for tiebreakers
The following steps are taken in the event of ties:
1. A higher winning percentage in all head-to-head matches between clubs that are tied. 2. A higher winning percentage at the end of the season against every team with a record of .500 or higher. 3. A greater point difference in matches where two teams are tied. 4. Improved point difference across all contests. 5. Coin toss (or draw of lots, if the first four tiebreakers fail and at least three teams are still tied).
READ MORE: WNBA Finals TV Schedule
FAQs on WNBA Finals
A. WNBA Finals were earlier known as WNBA Championship.
A. WNBA is played in United States.
A. Houston Comets won the first WNBA Championship in 1997.
A. 8 teams participated in the first WNBA season.
