Basketball fans will have even more opportunities to see their favorite stars play in the Women’s National Basketball Association in the 2025 season.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced the league will expand the regular season from 40 to 44 games, and the finals series from five to seven games, both starting next year. The final round will be a 2-2-1-1-1 format for home matches, with the higher ranked players hosting first.

The three-match first round of the play-offs will see the hosts alternate, instead of the higher seeds hosting the first two games before switching, as happened this season.

Engelbert said the league has been considering changes to the playoffs since the pandemic, but the surge in popularity and the introduction of charter flights for teams was the final push needed to implement the new playoff format.

“The growth of the league and increased demand for WNBA basketball made this the ideal time to expand the schedule, extend finals and provide fans with more opportunities to watch the best players in the world compete at the highest level” , Engelbert said during a press conference on Thursday. .

The schedule is not the only thing that will be expanded next year. The Golden State Valkyries will debut in 2025 as the league’s 13th team. Two more expansion teams have been announced, one in Toronto and one in Portland, and discussions are underway to secure a city for the 16th team, Engelbert said Thursday. The Toronto and Portland teams, both unnamed, will begin play in 2026.

The additions come as the WNBA is rapidly growing in popularity, leading to the league’s most recent media rights deal being worth $2.2 billion for 11 seasons, CNBC previously reported. The league’s media contract is being negotiated within the National Basketball Association deal.

Viewership, attendance and engagement all increased for the 2024 season, in some cases setting new records. The influx of exciting rookies like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, coupled with established stars like Breanna Stewart and A’ja Wilson, who are the 2023 and 2024 MVPs, respectively, contributed to the increase.

As the league grows in popularity, more and more players say they have experienced racism or online harassment. When Engelbert appeared on CNBC last month, she also did not condemn outright when asked about the issue, prompting criticism. Engelbert later clarified and condemned “hatred or racism.”

The WNBA isn’t the only women’s sports league growing in popularity, and media executives and investors are taking notice. Jeff Zucker of Redbird IMI and Patrick Whitesell, executive chairman of Endeavor, spoke to CNBC about the tantalizing possibilities in women’s sports.

This year’s finals are currently underway between the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty. The Lynx are up 1-0 in the best-of-five series after winning an overtime thriller on Thursday night.