Las Vegas Aces to open season with WNBA Finals rematch

The Las Vegas Aces are going big for their 2026 season opener.

That is, of course, if the WNBA and the players’ union come to an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement before the start date that the league announced Wednesday.

If all goes according to plan, the first day of league action will be May 8. The Aces then will open their title defense against the Phoenix Mercury on May 9 at T-Mobile Arena.

The venue set to host the Aces’ third banner-raising ceremony in four years is substantially larger than their usual Michelob Ultra Arena home, holding a capacity of about 20,000.

It’s a fitting stage for a rematch of the series that saw the Aces sweep the Mercury in the WNBA’s first best-of-seven finals.

The Aces will then embark on a four-game road trip before welcoming the Los Angeles Sparks to Michelob Ultra Arena on May 21. That game stands to be the Aces’ 50th straight sellout at the arena.

The season will feature 44 games for the second year. Each team will play 22 home games and 22 road games.

Last season brought complaints from players and coaches about the condensed nature of the expanded schedule taking a physical toll.

The WNBA seems to have made adjustments, but the Aces won’t reap any benefits from them.

Overall, the average of back-to-back games is down this season to 1.6 per team compared with 2.4 in 2025.

All but two teams are slated to play on consecutive days at least once this season. The Aces are scheduled for three back-to-backs.

One of those tight turnarounds will happen immediately, with the Aces following their season opener with a quick trip to face Los Angeles on May 10.

The Aces won’t enjoy their first homestand of the season until after a month of play, when they host the Golden State Valkyries on June 21, the New York Liberty on June 23 and the Dallas Wings on June 25.

Two teams will make their WNBA debuts: the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo.

Because of the current stalemate between the league and players in labor negotiations, nothing has been scheduled for the new teams to begin building their rosters from the league’s existing teams.

The league will have a lot of catching up to do for an early May start given that an expansion draft, a free-agency period and the WNBA draft still need to take place after a CBA agreement, assuming there is one.

Still, the league is moving forward in a potential show of good faith — or a tactic to put pressure on a resolution to negotiations that began 15 months ago.

“Releasing the 2026 schedule is a key step as we prepare for the WNBA’s 30th season and allows teams, partners, broadcasters and fans to begin the essential planning for the year ahead,” a WNBA spokesperson told The Associated Press.

Some other notable scheduled events include:

— The Commissioner’s Cup, an annual in-season tournament that will pit the Aces against every team in the Western Conference from June 2 to 17.

— A break in league play from Aug. 21 until Sept. 16 for the FIBA World Cup, which will be played in Berlin.

— The playoffs will begin Sept. 27.

The WNBA will release its TV and streaming schedule at a later date.

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Callie__Fin on X.