With the WNBA slowly but surely hitting the mainstream in the past few years, those who run the show have realized fans want more of it. So, what initially started as a 28-game season was increased to 36 games in 2022, 40 games the next year, and 44 games in 2025.
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More games, of course, mean more TV time, more advertising, and more money for the league. The financial benefits will consequently trickle down and benefit everyone involved. But since it’s the players who have to carry that extra workload, how are they coping?
Debates now rage since the league has increased the number of games without really increasing the number of days involved. This past season, we witnessed the league’s biggest star, Caitlin Clark, dropping out mid-season due to a groin strain and a bone bruise. And it’s not just her. Every team has had multiple cases of players suffering from mild to serious injuries.
These are, of course, athletes at their physical peak. So they will recover soon enough to play as contracted. However, does the increase in workload cause more injuries, which in turn shorten their careers? At this point, it is too soon to tell. But that doesn’t mean the players aren’t worried.
Seattle Storm star Nneka Ogwumike recently joined Sue Bird on Bird’s Eye View, where she talked about her experience playing the 44-game season. “Something that I like to talk to people about is, it’s not just that fact that we played 44 games,” she began.
“I went back and did a very rudimentary research … For the span of maybe like 8 to 10 years, we were playing 36 games, I think. And then we went one year to 22 ( the COVID year), and then we went 38, 40, 44 real quick,” added Ogwumike, who wants people to understand that when players complain about playing 44 games, it’s not just about the number of games, it’s how quickly they have been forced to adapt.
“In a span of four years, we have gone from playing 36 games to 44 games. And now, they have a game tonight. In the past, [if] they win tonight, they would have won. [But] they still got to win 2 more games. Phoenix still got to win 5 more games,” explained Ogwumike
“I am not going to lie, it is a lot. Even with charters, even with the facility, because we just haven’t had enough of a sample size to know long-term, what it means to play that many games. And I just really want us to be healthy,” the Storm star asserted.
Hopefully, the league is listening. You can’t simply keep increasing the number of games without extending the length of the season by a considerable amount. As the season goes on, the fatigue compounds, and that can result in players getting injured and dropping out. That’s not a sensible approach for the teams or the league, financially and otherwise.
