Chicago Sky announces 2023 schedule - 2050 - Gay Lesbian Bi Trans News

CHICAGO — The Chicago Sky announced its schedule for the 2023 season, the WNBA announced on Wednesday. It marks the 27th season for the WNBA and the 18th for the Chicago Sky franchise. The WNBA game schedule was also released on the website.

The Sky will open its first two games on the road against Minnesota on Friday, May 19 at 7 p.m. CST and against Phoenix on Sunday, May 21 at TBD time before traveling back home to host its home opener at Wintrust Arena against Washington on Friday, May 26 at 7 p.m. CST. The home opener will also be the Sky's first Commissioner's Cup game of the season.

The 2023 regular-season will kick off on Friday, May 19 and all regular-season games will conclude on Sunday, September 10.

Chicago will play four games against its Eastern Conference opponents (Washington, New York, Connecticut, Atlanta and Indiana) and three games against Western Conference opponents (Las Vegas, Minnesota, Phoenix and Dallas) — with the exception of Los Angeles and Seattle, whom they play four times next season.

"Every time the schedule comes out, it's always a great indicator that the season is around the corner," General Manager and Head Coach James Wade said. "It always gets us excited to see how many chances we get to play in front of our fans at Wintrust Arena and we never take playing on our home court for granted.

"With the games on our schedule, it shows potentially how great our season can be," he said. "Here's to us having a great 2023 season in front of our fans at home and on the road and making them proud."

Expanded Regular-Season Schedule

The WNBA also expanded its schedule in 2023 with each team playing 40 regular-season games — 20 home games and 20 away games. This will be the most regular-season games thus far in league history. There were 36 total regular-season games in 2022, and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were 22 games in 2020 and 32 games in 2021

Reduced Team Travel

The schedule again incorporates steps to reduce travel, including the use of a "series" model. In some instances for teams where they are scheduled to play twice in the same city, those games have been scheduled to be played consecutively

2023 WNBA Commissioner's Cup Presented by Coinbase

The Commissioner's Cup presented by Coinbase, an in-season tournament pitting conference rivals against each other during the first half of the regular season, will return for its third season. The 10 designated "Cup games" per team will be the first home game and first road game each team plays against its five conference rivals, all completed from May 19 — July 12. The team from each conference with the top record in Commissioner's Cup presented by Coinbase games will compete for a half-a-million-dollar prize pool in the Commissioner's Cup Championship presented by Coinbase on Tuesday, Aug. 15. Additional details will be announced at a later date.

2023 All-Star Game

AT&T WNBA All-Star 2023, the 19th All-Star Game in league history, will be played on Saturday, July 15. More information about AT&T WNBA All-Star will be forthcoming. The 2022 AT&T All-Star Game was hosted at McCormick Place and Wintrust Arena in Chicago, IL. The Sky will play its last game against Connecticut on Wednesday, July 12 before heading into the All-Star break and resumes regular-season play at Phoenix on Thursday, July 20.

2023 Notable Games and Dates

Chicago's 20 home games include 10 weekend games, including six Friday night games — all slated for 7 p.m. CST — and five Sunday games that vary in tip-off time

The longest road trip in 2023 is a three-game road trip — with the Commissioner's Cup break in-between

The Sky's longest home stand is three games that occurs three times throughout the season — twice in the month of July and once in August

All Sunday games occurring in June are away games — at New York, at Las Vegas, at Washington and at Connecticut

August holds the largest number of away games in a month for the Sky with seven total

The defending 2022 WNBA Champions Las Vegas Aces will make two trips to Wintrust Arena this season on Tuesday, July 25 and Thursday, August 24. Chicago will make a single trip to Michelob ULTRA Arena on Sunday, June 11

The fan favorite "Camp Day" games return to Wintrust Arena on Wednesday, June 28 against Los Angeles and Wednesday, July 12 against Connecticut. Both games are slated for an 11 a.m. tip-off

Ticketing Info

Season ticket plans start at $119 and U Pick It Holiday Packs of 8, 16 and 24 tickets that can be used in any increment for any regular-season home game

Call 1-866-SKY-WNBA or email tickets@chicagosky.net for more details

2023 Complete Regular-Season Schedule — Day, Date, Opponent, Time (CST)

Friday, May 19, @ Minnesota, 7:00 PM

Sunday, May 21, @ Phoenix, TBD

Friday, May 26, vs. Washington, 7:00 PM*

Sunday, May 28, vs. Dallas, 5:00 PM

Tuesday, May 30, @ Atlanta, 6:00 PM*

Friday, June 3, vs. New York, 7:00 PM*

Sunday, June 4, @ New York, 1:00 PM*

Tuesday, June 6, vs. Indiana, 7:00 PM*

Friday, June 9, @ Los Angeles, 9:00 PM

Sunday, June 11, @ Las Vegas, 2:00 PM