Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark are set for a payday but not just in cash.
The WNBA Commissioner’s Cup will be back for its fifth season in 2025 and organisers have added another financial incentive to the tournament.
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Following the release of the schedule for the upcoming WNBA season, more games set to be played in what will likely be another historic season for the league with a record-breaking TV deal in place.
Much like the Emirates NBA Cup, The Commissioner’s Cup will count towards regular season games and run between June 1-17 before ending with a final on July 1.
Each team will play 44-games in total but there will be an added mid-season prize involved.
The WNBA have announced that Coinbase, the headline sponsor of the event, will award each player in the championship game $5000 worth of cryptocurrency.
This is on top of the $500,000 prize pool that has already been announced.
“Coinbase has committed an additional $120,000 in cryptocurrency to the prize pool, which includes $5,000 for each player in the championship game,” a statement reads on the WNBA website.
“The Commissioner’s Cup presented by Coinbase provides added incentive and increased interest for players and fans alike.”
The tournament was first introduced in 2020 but delayed because of COVID-19 and so the inaugural winners were Seattle Storm in 2021.
Previous winners of the tournament have included the Las Vegas Aces (2022), New York Liberty (2023) and Minnesota Lynx (2024)
In addition to the all the financial incentives, the WNBA have announced that as a result the tournament they will donate $165,000 to charitable organisations.
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Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark
However, despite new changes to the financials involved in the cup the league is still far from the seemingly minimum required prize fund.
As The Athletic have reported, the most recent CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement), ratified in 2020, says any in-season WNBA competition should have a minimum prize pool of $750,000.
“Special competitions or tournaments shall include a minimum aggregate player prize pool of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) for the 2020 season and seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars ($750,000) for each subsequent season hereunder,” the CBA rules read.
Since the Commissioner’s Cup is the only tournament of such type and it has a prize pool of $500,000, the league is $250,000 short in the prize pot.
Neither Angel Reese nor Caitlin Clark have played in the Cup’s championship game yet but will hoping 2025 will be their first.
The pair will face-off before any Commissioner Cup games as the Indiana Fever will head to Chicago for their season opener on May 17.
