The day of 19th September, 2025, will be remembered as a historic date in the history of the WNBA. The redesign of the league to a 1-1-1 best-of-three first round has surpassed expectations, adding back excitement, competitive equilibrium, and moments to the postseason.
The best remark was made by Cassandra Negley of Yahoo Sports, who said that the format was providing the excitement, the high stakes, and additional basketball that the league wanted. As a matter of fact, that has translated to all four of the first series being played out, topped by such highlights as the game-winning basket of the Las Vegas Aces, Jackie Young.
Why the 1-1-1 Format Works
The new model has made sure that every team hosts at least hosts game, unlike the old 2-1 system, which allowed higher seeds to host more games at home. It eliminates the strange generational dynamic, which is a decisive Game 3 being played on the court of the lower seed, and instead balances home-court advantage throughout the series.
More importantly, this change signifies the end of the era when the two top seeds of the league were simply given a semifinal bye-up- automatic – thus, in many cases, killing the suspense of the first round.
The enabler of this change that is critical? The move to league-wide flights in charter in 2024, which did away with the logistical challenges posed by which a series heavy on travel previously was inconceivable. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert acknowledged that the league was keen to make this change since the COVID-19 bubble season, and 2025, finally, offered the appropriate opportunity.
Expansion Demand: Best-of-Five Next?
The deafening success of the first round of the current year has brought about new discussions. Critics and fans can unanimously complain about one thing, and that is the length of the quarterfinals; it may not be long enough to support the intensity it currently has.
As reported by USA Today by Christine Brennan and Nancy Armour, the WNBA has since exceeded the best-of-three quarter-final format. Aces head coach Becky Hammon also expressed the same and demanded a series of five games, which would be more indicative of the quality and the stakes of postseason basketball.
It has been crazy, hectic, stressful, and a lot of fun, Hammon said. You play best-of-five, except you are going back to the old format.
An Overview: Stagnation- Drama.
It is even more dramatic in historical perspective. With the 2-1 format reintroduced by the WNBA in 2022, being heavily seed-biased, the 2-1 format increased three consecutive seasons where all top-4 seeds sailed to the finals without much difficulty. The result was an unsurprisingly dull series that exhausted the pace following exciting regular seasons.
Today, as it was noted by Lindsay Gibbs of CBS Sports, the league has been able to create a few magic moments in the process. The games on Tuesday night, she wrote, were pure magic.
The Next Round: Beyond the First Round.
The modifications this year did not just stop in the quarterfinals. The WNBA Finals were the first in league history to run a best-of-seven series, which was in line with other major sports leagues and provided stars with a greater platform to shine.
As five additional teams are expected to join by 2030, additional realignment of the playoffs is being considered, possibly returning to conference-based brackets. Nevertheless, the officials of the league are reserved about reversing the competitiveness gains realized by the existing structure.
My Take
WNBA playoff in the 1-1-1 format is one of the most intelligent structural innovations in recent sports memory. It represents a team that knows its product and its fan base and grows, but at the same time takes calculated risks, such as charter flights, to improve the experience of the players.
The postseason story of the league has been taken to a new level due to the higher parity, the number of decisive Game 3s, and the memorable plays we have already seen. Although it is only natural to consider the best-of-five expansion of the quarterfinals, the existing one has already provided the WNBA with the much-needed urgency, fairness, and must-watch basketball.
The WNBA is creating a postseason resembling the quality and the plot of its players, coupled with the Finals moving to seven games. The bar has been elevated, and to fans, this is still just the commencement.
