NEW YORK — The WNBA looks promising heading into the offseason after a banner year with record ratings, attendance and a first champion in New York.

Shortly after the confetti stopped falling on the packed Barclays Center following Game 5 of the WNBA Finals, the league and its players turned their attention to 2025.

The players’ union has opted out of the current collective bargaining agreement. The move was expected as part of a new 11-year media rights deal worth about $200 million a year starting in 2026. The players are seeking, among other things, a bigger slice of the media pie. income, including pensions and higher salaries.

The current collective bargaining agreement will still be in effect through next season, but both parties would like to reach an agreement as soon as possible.

Negotiations are still intense, but those associated with the WNBA have reason to be excited.

The league is expanding and will increase the number of regular season games to 44. The WNBA will hold an expansion draft for Golden State in December. The Valkyries will be the 13th franchise in the league. The league will add franchises in Toronto and Portland in 2026, and at least one more team will debut in 2027 or 2028.

Although the WNBA could lose one of its iconic stars if Diana Taurasi announces her retirement, league officials are looking forward to another highly anticipated draft. The draft lottery will determine who gets the top pick and potentially Paige Bueckers, who 21 years after Taurasi could become the next UConn guard to be selected No. 1.

Many of the league’s top players will stay stateside this winter and play in January in Unrivaled – the 3-on-3 league started by WNBA Finals stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier.

The Stewart and Collier championship showdown led to strong ratings, with all five matches drawing over a million viewers. The deciding Game 5 averaged 2.2 million viewers, peaking at 3.3 million, making it the most-watched WNBA game in 25 years.

The league as a whole had its most-watched regular season in 24 years and its best attendance in 22 seasons. During the 40 regular season games, 22 broadcasts exceeded at least one million viewers on a multitude of networks.

The league’s rookie class, led by Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, played a big role in that success – and all should return stronger and better next year.

“When Caitlin Clark announced that she was going to enter the draft, I remember… the wave of enthusiasm that came from a player who wasn’t even going to play for the Lynx,” said the coach of the Minnesota, Cheryl Reeve. “So there’s been a lot of enthusiasm and momentum for the WNBA. But seeing that actually translate commercially across the league, whatever the reasons. There is one very big reason and many other small reasons. And I think the movement we’re in right now is exciting.

Not everything has been positive about the league’s growth.

Nearly half of WNBA franchises have fired coaches in the past month. Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and Washington are all looking for new leaders on the sidelines. All of the fired coaches had three years or less with their team.

Off the court, players say they have been the target of increasing racial and homophobic threats online, including one against Stewart and his wife during the WNBA Finals.

Commissioner Cathy Engelbert addressed the growing number of abusive comments players have faced on social media during her State of the League address before the start of the WNBA Finals. She said the league will work with the players’ union to determine what they can do together to combat this phenomenon.

Online abuse and the CBA are two of the offseason issues the WNBA and its players need to address, but they arguably have the strongest foundation to build on since the league’s inception.