Storm open Commissioner’s Cup play vs. Mercury. Here’s what to know about the tournament. (2024)

For the next two weeks, the chase for a WNBA championship becomes secondary in a sense, and it’s all about the cup — as in Commissioner’s Cup.

The Storm (5-3), who won the inaugural Cup championship in 2021 and have a four-game winning streak, begin their quest for a second in-season tournament title when they host the Phoenix Mercury (4-5) at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Climate Pledge Arena.

Here’s everything you need to know about the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup in 2024.

What’s different?

Rather than 10 Commissioner’s Cup games, all 12 teams will now play five qualifying games between June 1-13. Each team will play once against an in-conference opponent.

Each team will have two games at home and three on the road or vice versa.

The team from each conference with the top record in the Commissioner’s Cup games will advance to play in the Commissioner’s Cup Championship on Tuesday, June 25, at the home arena of the team with the best record in Cup play.

What’s the same?

All Commissioner’s Cup games, with the exception of the championship game, will count toward teams’ overall records.

What if there’s a tie atop the Cup standings?

If two or more teams have the same record, the following tiebreak procedure shall be usedto break ties between teams within the same conference to determine the finalistfor the Commissioner’s Cup Championship game:

— Two-way ties will be determined by head-to-head records.

— When more than two teams are tied, the first tiebreaking scenario is the head-to-head record in Cup games among the tied teams. Point differential in Cup games among the tied teams is the second tie-breaking scenario.

The third tiebreaker is total points scored in Cup games among the tied teams and the fourth tiebreaker is the higher winning percentage in conference games played ending on the night of the last Cup game.

If there’s still a tie, then there will be a random draw to determine who advances to the Cup Championship.

In case of a tie between Cup finalists, home court goes to the team that A) has the higher winning percentage in all games played, B) has the higher average point differential in all games and C) has the better head-to-head record.

All three scenarios include games ending onthe night of the last Commissioner’s Cup game. A coin flip is the last tiebreaker.

What’s at stake?

The winning team receives a $500,000 prize pool. For teams like the Storm with 11 players on the roster, that equates to around $45,000 per player. The championship game MVP also gets a $5,000 bonus.

The players on the losing team earn $10,000 each.

The coaches on the winning team each receive $3,000 while those on the losing team get $1,000.

For context, players are given a merit bonus of $11,356 for winning a WNBA title and $5,678 for a Finals appearance.

Each team will play for a nonprofit charity and will raise money for that organization depending on their performance. The Storm’s charity is Pro-Choice Washington, an independent reproductive freedom advocacy organization in Washington state.

What teams do the Storm play in Cup games?

By changing the Commissioner’s Cup format, the WNBA brought back the importance of East and West conference rivalries, which is a non-factor in the league title race considering the top eight teams advance to the playoffs.

Following the Mercury, the Storm have a critical two-game road trip this week that starts with the Las Vegas Aces on Friday and ends with the Minnesota Lynx on Sunday.

Seattle, which plays its final four Cup games in seven days, hosts the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday and wraps up with a road game versus the Dallas Wings on June 13.

What’s this about a new ball?

The WNBA is swapping its iconic orange and white basketball that it’s been using since 2013 for a distinctive black and white version for Commissioner’s Cup games.

The new ball, which is made by Wilson, also has rose gold lettering and logos.

The WNBA doesn’t have the resources of its counterpart NBA, which showcased boldly designed basketball courts and coordinated special jerseys for all 30 teams when it debuted its in-season tournament this season.

Changing basketballs is a low-cost option for the WNBA that wants fans to immediately differentiate Cup games from regular-season games.

Which teams have won the Commissioner’s Cup?

Breanna Stewart led the Storm to a 79-57 blowout win over the Connecticut Sun in 2021 and took home the first Cup MVP trophy.

The Las Vegas Aces beat the Chicago Sky 93-83 in 2022 and Chelsea Gray was the MVP.

The New York Liberty toppled the Aces 82-63 in the Cup Championship last year while Jonquel Jones claimed MVP honors.