Raising the Game: a WNBA podcast that follows the whole season
Raising the Game is a weekly women's sports podcast hosted by Caitlin Tripp and Alex Tripp, and the WNBA has been in nearly every episode since we launched in January 2026. We don't just react to the week's box scores — we've followed the league's biggest stories from start to finish: the CBA negotiations from the missed deadline to the signed deal, the expansion draft and the free agency chaos that followed, and the officiating debate that's dogged the league all season.
New episodes every Wednesday.
Watch the latest WNBA episode
What our WNBA coverage actually includes
Most weeks, our WNBA section covers standings, trades, and individual performances the way any recap show would. What sets it apart is that we treat WNBA stories as ongoing, not one-off news items. If we cover something one week, we come back to it — the CBA talks, the officiating changes, a team's slide down the standings — until it actually resolves.
We also try to bring some rigor to arguments that usually stay at the take level. When the WNBA released its 2026 All-Star voting data, we pulled the fan, media, and player rankings apart stat by stat instead of just reacting to who made the team. When the league's fouls-per-game numbers jumped, we went and got the actual figures instead of relying on vibes.
The 2026 CBA: from missed deadline to a $7 million cap
We covered the WNBA's collective bargaining fight from the first missed deadline in January through the deal that finally landed in March. The union and league went from a standoff so tense we spent an episode asking if a strike was actually coming, to a marathon stretch of "crunch time" negotiations, to a seven-year agreement that raised the salary cap from $1.5 million to $7 million and pushed the league average salary from roughly $120,000 to about $583,000. For the first time, player pay is tied to 20% of league revenue.
We also broke down the details that got less attention than the headline numbers: the new EPIC rule that lets All-WNBA players renegotiate up to a max contract in year four, and lets MVPs reach the super max even earlier. If you want the full arc of the biggest labor story in women's sports — not just the day the deal was announced — that's what our CBA episodes cover.
Expansion, free agency, and A'ja Wilson's record deal
The CBA deal set off a chain reaction we covered in real time: an expansion draft that stocked rosters for the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire, followed by free agency for more than 80% of the league. In the middle of it, A'ja Wilson signed a $5 million, three-year deal with the Aces — the largest contract in WNBA history — and we walked through what it means for the rest of the market. We also spent real time on the Connecticut Sun relocation controversy, which got tangled up in the same offseason news cycle.
The officiating story we haven't let go of
This has been one of our most-discussed WNBA threads all season. Coming into 2026, the league convened an officiating task force of players and coaches to address physicality. What followed was a jump from 17.5 fouls and 18.2 free throws per game in 2025 to 22.3 fouls and 23.1 free throws in 2026 — a shift big enough that by midseason, 12 of 15 teams were averaging more fouls per game than the league leader had the year before. We covered the head of WNBA officiating's explanation that nothing had technically changed, and Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve's response that the task force never asked for more marginal fouls to be called.
That tension boiled over in July, when a loose-ball play between Alyssa Thomas and Caitlin Clark went uncalled on the floor, went viral as a still frame, and was upgraded to a flagrant foul and a one-game suspension the next day — after Thomas and her family received a wave of online threats. We covered the incident directly: what the video actually showed, why the league's after-the-fact review process is part of the problem, and why we think WNBA fans' selective outrage says as much about the discourse as the officiating does.
Season 30: the Lynx, the Fever, and the MVP race
We tracked the WNBA's 30th season from tip-off. The Minnesota Lynx spent most of the year as the league's best team, while the Indiana Fever's early-season struggles — and the scouting report teams built around attacking Caitlin Clark defensively — became one of the year's bigger storylines. We covered it as a basketball question first: what Clark's opponents figured out, how the officiating changes affected her foul trouble, and what her team needed to fix.
When All-Star selections came out, we went through the fan, media, and player voting splits stat by stat — A'ja Wilson's MVP-caliber across every category, the case that Angel Reese and Jackie Young were snubbed, and why we think weighting the fan vote at 50% skews who actually makes the team.
Start with these WNBA episodes
Five entry points, depending on what you're most interested in:
The CBA deal, explained (Episode 12)
The week the WNBA finally got its seven-year deal, we walked through every number: the cap jump to $7 million, the $270,000 minimum salary, and the new EPIC rule that lets young stars renegotiate early.
Expansion draft and free agency chaos (Episode 14)
The offseason cascade in full: the expansion draft that stocked Toronto and Portland, the free agency wave that followed, and the Connecticut Sun relocation mess.
Season preview and A'ja Wilson's record deal (Episode 16)
Our full preview of the 2026 season, built around the largest contract in WNBA history and what it signals for the market underneath it.
The WNBA's whistle problem (Episode 20)
The episode where we first laid out the foul and free-throw numbers behind the league's officiating shift, before it became a national story.
All-Star snubs and the officiating firestorm (Episode 27)
The Alyssa Thomas–Caitlin Clark incident, the All-Star voting breakdown by the numbers, and why we think the discourse around both got out of hand.
Never Miss an Episode
Subscribe to Raising the Game wherever you listen.
If you'd rather read, the blog has written recaps of every show, including the WNBA episodes above.
Latest WNBA episodes
Episode 36 - Jeff Goldberg on the UConn Dynasty
Our first interview: Jeff Goldberg on covering UConn women's basketball for the Hartford Courant, the stories the Apple TV docuseries didn't have room for, and why the WNBA at 30 looks a lot like the NBA in 1977.
Episode 35 - We Did the Me-Bounds Math, and the NWSL Playoff Line Keeps Moving
We ran the actual numbers on the Angel Reese me-bounds argument, walked through a WNBA playoff field that is set but not seeded, and sorted through five NWSL teams scrapping over one spot.
Episode 34 - The Facility Boom, the Playoff Logjam, and Getting the Clowns Out
We add up roughly $240 million in NWSL training facility investment, sort through a four-team scrap for the last NWSL playoff spots, lay out our full WNBA bracket predictions, and say the quiet part out loud about the men disrupting W games.
Episode 33 - Cameroon Makes History and Kayla McBride Makes Records
Cameroon wins its first WAFCON behind a 22-year-old goalkeeper, Kayla McBride sets the WNBA single-game three-point record at 34, and we get into what actually needs to change about the discourse around the W.
Episode 32 - Women's Pro Baseball Is Back After 70 Years, Plus the Playoff Races Get Real
A history lesson on women's professional baseball from 1866 to the WPBL's first pitch, plus a look at who grabs the last two playoff spots in the NWSL and WNBA.
Episode 31 - FIFA's $20 Billion World Cup Plan Collapses in Three Days
FIFA's $20 billion plan to sell a stake in the World Cup died in about three days. Plus WAFCON's visibility problem, the WNBA trade deadline, and a Lynx win over the Fever from the Target Center stands.
Episode 30 - Record Crowds and a Messy All-Star Game, Plus the Fight Over Title IX
WNBA All-Star Weekend set an attendance record and then delivered a game nobody wanted to defend. We also dig into the Heritage Foundation's Title IX report, what the actual numbers say about trans athletes, and where 2027 World Cup qualifying stands.
Episode 29 - Does the WNBA Need New Leadership? Plus the Queen's Classic and an All-Star Draft Preview
WNBA leadership questions swirl around Commissioner Engelbert, an All-Star draft preview, and record runs from Kelsey Mitchell and McBride.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a podcast dedicated to the WNBA?
Raising the Game isn't exclusively a WNBA podcast — we also cover the NWSL, PWHL, USWNT, and college sports — but the WNBA has appeared in nearly every episode since we launched in January 2026. We've covered the league week by week through a full CBA negotiation, an expansion draft, free agency, and an entire season, which is more consistent WNBA coverage than most dedicated shows manage.
Do you cover the WNBA CBA and free agency?
In depth. We followed the 2026 CBA negotiations from the missed January deadline through the seven-year deal that raised the salary cap to $7 million, and we broke down the expansion draft, the wave of free agency that followed for over 80% of the league, and A'ja Wilson's record-setting contract with the Aces.
Do you talk about WNBA officiating and controversies?
Yes, extensively. We tracked the jump in fouls and free throws per game after the league's officiating task force, and we covered the Alyssa Thomas–Caitlin Clark incident and the discourse around it in detail, including the parts other coverage left out.
How often do new WNBA episodes come out?
Weekly, every Wednesday, with a dedicated WNBA section in nearly every episode. The show has published every week since January 2026, aside from a short midseason break.
Do you cover every WNBA team, or just the popular ones?
We try to cover the league, not just the storylines that trend. That means Minnesota Lynx standings talk gets the same attention as Indiana Fever headlines, and we've flagged when we think fan and media attention is skewed toward one team or player over the stats.
Where can I listen to your WNBA podcast episodes?
Full video episodes are on YouTube. Audio is on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and every major podcast app. Every episode also gets a written recap on our blog.
What makes your WNBA coverage different?
We follow stories across months instead of treating each week as a clean slate. We also don't shy away from the league's harder storylines — officiating, harassment of players, governance — alongside the growth story, which most WNBA-adjacent coverage picks one side of.
How do I suggest a WNBA topic or guest?
Email us at raisingthegamepod@gmail.com or reach out on Instagram. Several of our deep dives, including the officiating breakdowns, started as listener questions.