The 2024 WNBA season is (unofficially) underway, and things already are electric. Arike Ogunbowale spoiled Caitlin Clark’s 21-point pro debut with a game-winning 3, an estimated 800,000 viewers tuned into a fan’s livestream of the Lynx-Sky preseason match and the Sparks prevailed over the Storm in the second edition of the WNBA Canada Game.
As preseason action rolls on (much of it, unfortunately, not televised), here’s what else is happening around the W:
WNBA rules changes
The WNBA has implemented two rule changes ahead of the 2024 season.
First, if a coach’s challenge is successful, they now will have access to a second challenge. To use a challenge, the team still must have a timeout available.
Speaking of timeouts, the league has changed the distribution of timeouts. Rather than four full timeouts and two 20-second timeouts, teams now have five “team” timeouts, essentially a full timeout, and one “reset” timeout, which can be used in the final two minutes of a game or in overtime to advance the ball and/or make substitutions, but not for huddles with the coaching staff and players.
The WNBA will usher in a pair of rule changes for the 2024 season, revising the replay challenge format while also eliminating 20-second timeouts.
