The WNBA sent an internal memo to teams this week clarifying its stipulations for postseason travel, including scenarios in which teams may need to fly commercially, sources confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday.
The news was first reported by The Next.
Although most WNBA travel is commercial, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced in April that the league would “have charter flights for all postseason games” for the 2023 season. Technically, teams still have the ability to do that. But a recent memo specified teams can essentially not take charter flights for multiple travel legs in between playoff rounds.
This would apply if, for example, a lower-seeded team upsets a higher-seeded team in the first round with a two-game sweep on the road. That team would get one charter flight at its disposal going into the semifinals: Either to get home from the first round, or to travel to the semifinals from its home market. The other flight would need to be commercial.
The league…
