Sophie Cunningham Offers Salary-Based Support for WNBA Schedule Expansion

On June 17, the WNBA announced that starting in 2027, it would expand its regular season to 50 games. This is a jump from the 44-game regular season slate in the 2025 and 2026 campaigns.

Indiana Fever wing Sophie Cunningham spoke about why expanding the WNBA's regular season both makes sense and was likely inevitable during a segment on USA Network on June 17.

"My knees are already starting to hurt a little bit more. I'm just gonna say that," Cunningham began, which prompted laughs from the USA Network broadcast. She then added, "But I do say, if we're going to be getting paid that amount of money, you're expected to play more games. I think it's fair, I think you're going to see the season expand into November.

"I'm all for it. I think if you're getting paid that, then you've got to put a product out there for longer, for people to enjoy. So I'm all for it," Cunningham added.

"My knees are already starting to hurt a little bit more" 😂

Sophie and the crew on the WNBA season expanding to 50 games in 2027, up from 32 games when Chamique was playing in 1999 ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/o4Z9kAQlvN
— USA Sports (@usasports) June 17, 2026

Cunningham is alluding to the WNBA's new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which has sparked a massive increase in the amount of money the league's players earn. And the many historic contracts signed in free agency this past offseason are a testament to that.

Why Sophie Cunningham's Sentiment About Regular Season Expansion Makes Sense

Cunningham is correct in saying that this increased salary creates a clearer desire for more regular season games, if only to justify the amount that these players are now making.

Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon shared a similar sentiment before her team's June 17 game, noting that, "more money, more games. That’s the way it works.”

While Cunningham was partially joking about her knees hurting a little bit more with more games, there's no doubt that an increased number of games means an increased risk of injury for players, especially because of how the schedule might be warped at times to compensate for non-WNBA events, such as the FIBA World Cup this year and the Olympics every four years.

Still, this increased injury risk is a risk that players will be willing to take, given the increased salaries that come with it. Hopefully, most players will only be dealing with more manageable aches and pains (like the knee pain Cunningham was alluding to) instead of anything more serious.

The bottom line is that the league's regular season expansion was inevitable. And as Cunningham alluded to, fans will be grateful about getting to see more WNBA basketball.

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