The 2024 WNBA Finals will feature a matchup between the Las Vegas Valkyries and the Atlanta Dream, marking a significant moment for both franchises. The Valkyries, an expansion team that made the playoffs in their inaugural season, have quickly advanced to the finals in just their second year. Their opponent, the Dream, is making its first finals appearance since 2013 after a steady rebuild over the past four seasons.
Neither team was favored to reach this stage in the preseason; the Las Vegas Aces entered as favorites, and the Minnesota Lynx led the regular season. However, the presence of the Valkyries and Dream in the finals highlights the increasing parity that the WNBA has cultivated in recent years. This season’s champion will become the eighth different team to win the title in the past 11 seasons, underscoring a competitive balance that many American sports leagues have sought to emulate.
Comparatively, the WNBA joins leagues like the NBA and Major League Soccer in producing a broad diversity of champions recently. The NBA has seen nine different title winners in the last 11 seasons, while MLS crowned eight unique champions over the past decade. By contrast, the NFL has had fewer unique champions over this period, with only six. Playoff structures vary widely among these leagues, with the WNBA allowing eight teams out of 15 to qualify for postseason play, a rate far higher than most other professional leagues.
Since 2016, every WNBA team aside from this year’s expansion squads has reached the playoffs at least once, with only the Fever and Wings not making a finals appearance. This competitive openness is mirrored in the NBA, where all teams have made the playoffs, and most have advanced deep into the postseason. Baseball and football show similar trends, though certain franchises still experience lengthy postseason droughts.
Home court scheduling has been adjusted to accommodate audience size and venue availability in the finals. The Atlanta Dream will host games 3 and 4 at State Farm Arena, which seats over 17,000 fans, rather than their usual Gateway Center Arena with a capacity of 3,500. To avoid conflicts with NBA Hawks games, game 3 has been rescheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 21, and game 4 will start earlier on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 1 p.m. The Valkyries have sold out every game at San Francisco’s Chase Center, which holds 18,064 spectators, demonstrating strong local support.
Individually, the season saw A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces earn her fifth WNBA Most Valuable Player award, setting a league record. Wilson’s dominance in the MVP voting has been pronounced across recent years, with overwhelming majorities of first-place votes, including a unanimous selection this season. Wilson’s achievements place her among an exclusive group of athletes across major American sports who have won five or more MVP honors. Despite Wilson’s personal success, the Aces were swept by the Valkyries in the semifinals, ending their title aspirations for the season.
As the WNBA Finals commence this weekend, the matchup between the rapidly rising Valkyries and the experienced Dream embodies the league’s commitment to parity and the growing competitiveness of women’s professional basketball.