The Commissioner’s Cup is back for its 6th year. Let’s unpack what it is and how it works!
The cup is an annual in-season competition with a $500,000 prize pool. Each team in the Eastern Conference will play 6 games, while the Western Conference will play 7 games (due to expansion teams). The Toronto Tempo are in the Eastern Conference, so we will play 6 games. The top team from each conference will play in the final.
The cup also serves as a fundraiser for local community organizations. Each team selects an organization and donations are made to that organization for each win/loss. $3,000 for a win, $1,000 for a loss, $10,000 for the championship, and $5,000 for the runner-up.
This year the Toronto Tempo have selected Lay-Up Basketball as their organization.
Previous Winners:
- 2021 – Seattle Storm beat Connecticut Sun
- 2022 – Las Vegas Aces beat Chicago Sky
- 2023 – New York Liberty beat Las Vegas Aces
- 2024 – Minnesota Lynx beat New York Liberty
- 2025 – Indiana Fever beat Minnesota Lynx
Making it to the Commissioner’s Cup Final indicates some future success, but that is not guaranteed. In the past 5 years every team that has made it to the Commissioner’s Cup Final has made it to the WNBA Playoffs. In 2023 and 2024 the Commissioner’s Cup Final had the same teams as the WNBA Final. In 2022 the Las Vegas Aces won both the Commissioner’s Cup and the WNBA Championship.
Tempo Commissioner’s Cup Schedule:
- June 3 vs New York Liberty (5-4)
- June 7 vs Chicago Sky (3-5)
- June 10 vs Connecticut Sun (2-8)
- June 12 @ Washington Mystics (3-4)
- June 14 vs Atlanta Dream (5-2)
- June 16 @ Indiana Fever (4-4)
- *June 30 – Commissioner’s Cup Final
Does Toronto have a shot at winning the Commissioner’s Cup? Maybe. We are in the middle of the pack at 5-4 coming in, so it will be a bit of an uphill battle. But even if the Tempo aren’t in the final, hopefully we can raise some money for Lay-Up basketball!
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[…] New York Liberty on June 3, 2026 and lost 97-82 in their first Commissioner’s Cup match (click here if you need a quick orientation to the Commission’s Cup). […]