The WNBA is back for the 2026 season, and the opening night buzz comes with a new collective bargaining agreement, a new media rights deal and a league packed with talent. The Dallas Wings host the Minnesota Lynx on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, while the defending champion Las Vegas Aces begin the year chasing a fourth title in five seasons.
The season starts with a rookie class that already has attention around it, led by Dallas Wings top pick Azzi Fudd, Minnesota's Olivia Miles and Washington's Lauren Betts. The game between Dallas and Minnesota is scheduled for Thursday, May 14, 2026, and all times were listed as Eastern and accurate as of 6:08 a.m. that morning.
That timing matters because the league is trying to turn a strong opening into a bigger year. A new labor agreement and fresh broadcast money give the WNBA a different kind of momentum than it had a year ago, and the first week of the season is built to show off the depth that has changed the conversation around the league.
Dallas gets one of the first chances to put that on display at home against a Minnesota team that arrives with its own headline rookie, Miles. The Wings' first night is also part of a broader league narrative: top young players are landing on teams already expected to matter, which makes almost every early matchup feel like more than a simple calendar date.
The tension in the season is easy to see. Las Vegas enters as the standard, but the list of challengers is deeper, the rookie class is stronger and the schedule begins immediately with meaningful games. The league has the contracts, the media attention and the star power it wanted; now it has to prove the basketball matches the moment.
