WNBA Returns: Aces, Storm, and the New Season

The WNBA is back on center stage, armed with a new collective bargaining agreement, million‑dollar stars and a calendar stacked with intrigue. Money has gone up, expectations have followed, and on Sept. 18 the league offers a full slate that feels like a statement: this is no longer a niche product fighting for attention. It’s appointment viewing.

At the heart of it all sit the Las Vegas Aces, still the standard, still the target. A'ja Wilson, the reigning MVP and the league’s most imposing two‑way force, leads a champion looking to “run it back” in a league that has spent the offseason plotting ways to knock them off.

They won’t lack for resistance.

Aces’ crown, Storm’s challenge

The late window brings one of the marquee matchups: Las Vegas Aces at Seattle Storm, 10 p.m. Eastern, carried by KMCC - The Spot Vegas 34, KUNS - CW Seattle, USA Network and Amazon Prime Video Seattle.

Every team measures itself against Wilson and the Aces now. Every trip they make, especially into a building like Seattle’s, feels like a litmus test. The Aces arrive as the hunted, not the hunters, and that changes the temperature of nights like this. The Storm know it. The league knows it.

Liberty, Lynx and early adversity

New York’s superteam project never had a clean run at full health last season, and the new campaign already has a familiar sting. Sabrina Ionescu is on the sidelines after rolling her ankle in a preseason game against the Connecticut Sun, a reminder of how thin the margin can be for a contender built around star power.

Even so, the Liberty remain one of the Aces’ most credible threats. Their road begins with a trip to face the Minnesota Lynx at 7:30 p.m. on ion. No easing into things, no soft landing. New York will have to lean on depth, structure and defensive edge until Ionescu is back directing traffic.

Dream big: Atlanta’s bold move

If any team announced its ambition most loudly this offseason, it was the Atlanta Dream.

Fresh off a 30‑win season, they pushed their chips in and pulled off the trade of the offseason, landing Angel Reese from the Chicago Sky. Reese brings rebounding, edge and a competitive snarl that fits a group already knocking on the door of the league’s elite. Atlanta didn’t stand pat; it doubled down.

Their night starts with a spotlight game: Connecticut Sun at Atlanta Dream, 7:30 p.m. Eastern on WANF - Atlanta News First, NBC Sports Boston, Peachtree Sports Network and Victory + Atlanta. It’s a perfect early test—Connecticut, the perennial grinder, against a Dream team determined to prove last year was a foundation, not a peak.

Fever healthy, Clark back at the controls

Indiana’s story turns on one simple difference: health.

The Fever spent much of last season without floor leader Caitlin Clark, and it showed. Now she’s back, the roster is fully healthy, and the franchise finally gets to see what this group looks like with its primary playmaker actually on the floor. The offense should breathe. The tempo should rise.

Indiana opens the night on the road against the Toronto Tempo at 7:30 p.m. on ion, The Sports Network and CTV Television Network. A new opponent, a new market, and a chance for the Fever to show they’re more than a what‑if.

A packed slate, coast to coast

The schedule on Sept. 18 runs heavy and late, stretching from early evening tip‑offs to West Coast closers:

• Connecticut Sun at Atlanta Dream, 7:30 p.m. (WANF - Atlanta News First, NBC Sports Boston, Peachtree Sports Network, Victory + Atlanta)
• Indiana Fever at Toronto Tempo, 7:30 p.m. (ion, The Sports Network, CTV Television Network)
• New York Liberty at Minnesota Lynx, 7:30 p.m. (ion)
• Washington Mystics at Chicago Sky, 8 p.m. (Monumental Sports Network, WCIU - The U)
• Los Angeles Sparks at Dallas Wings, 8 p.m. (KFAA 29, Spectrum SportsNet, USA Network)
• Phoenix Mercury at Portland Fire, 10 p.m. (Arizona's Family Sports, Rose City Sportsnet)
• Las Vegas Aces at Seattle Storm, 10 p.m. (KMCC - The Spot Vegas 34, KUNS - CW Seattle, USA Network, Amazon Prime Video Seattle)
• Portland Fire at Golden State Valkyries, 10 p.m. (ion)

From the Mystics’ trip into Chicago to the Sparks testing themselves against a dangerous Dallas Wings side, there’s no dead space on this board. The revived Portland Fire carry a double assignment, first at home against the Phoenix Mercury and then at Golden State Valkyries, a late‑night West Coast clash on ion that should keep the lights on for Bay Area fans.

Scores and results from every matchup will chart the early fault lines of a season that already feels different: bigger money, bigger stakes, and a league where the defending champs may be loaded, but the gap is closing fast.

On nights like Sept. 18, you find out who’s really ready to chase them.