The second-annual WNBA Commissioner’s Cup returns this season and will be presented by Coinbase. Five games taking place from May 6-8 during WNBA Tip-Off presented by CarMax will count towards the in-season tournament.
The 2022 Commissioner's Cup will include 61 total games and culminate at the home arena of the team with the highest winning percentage. The prize pool is $500,000 in the Championship Game. Players from the winning team will earn upwards of $30,000 per player. The runners-up team will earn up to $10,000 per player. The Commissioner's Cup MVP will earn $5,000.
This year, the Commissioner’s Cup will also be a platform for the WNBA, its teams, and the WNBPA to promote voting rights advocacy & education, as well as voter registration. This comes on the heels of the announcement that the WNBPA and Rock the Vote have released an NFT series where 50% of the proceeds will be donated back to the players and voting education.
For each of the 61 Commissioner's Cup games, the WNBA will donate $2,000 to the winning team’s chosen organization and an additional $500 to the losing team’s chosen organization. After the Championship Game, the league will also donate $10,000 to the winning team’s organization and $5,000 to the organization of the runner-up. This is an additional $165,000 and will be presented to each organization at the conclusion of the Commissioner’s Cup presented by Coinbase.
Each market has selected the organizations that will benefit from their Commissioner's Cup success. The organizations include:
o Atlanta Dream: The King Center
o Chicago Sky: My Block. My Hood. My City.
o Connecticut Sun: League of Women Voters of Connecticut
o Dallas Wings: This Is Project Texas
o Indiana Fever: Indiana Black Expo
o Las Vegas Aces: ACLU of Nevada
o Los Angeles Sparks: Human Rights Campaign
o Minnesota Lynx: ACLU of Minnesota
o New York Liberty: A Little Piece of Light
o Phoenix Mercury: Black Mothers Forum
o Seattle Storm: ACLU of Washington
o Washington Mystics: Alliance for Youth Action
These organizations will be spotlighted in-arena and across the league’s social media platforms throughout Commissioner’s Cup play. The Commissioner's Cup Championship will be streamed on Prime Video on Tuesday, July 26.