The W is back tonight

The 30th WNBA season tips off tonight, and the league is bigger than it's ever been. Fifteen teams now — Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire join as expansion franchises, the first new W teams since the Atlanta Dream in 2008.

Three games on the slate, all on ION: Connecticut Sun at New York Liberty in Brooklyn (7:30 ET), Toronto Tempo at Washington Mystics, and Seattle Storm at Golden State Valkyries in San Francisco. Liberty come in as defending champs but are walking into the opener missing two All-Stars (more on that below). Aces are the betting favorites to take the trophy back. Twelve teams will make the playoffs out of fifteen — the bottom three are locked out.

The headliner is on Saturday: Caitlin Clark vs. Paige Bueckers, Indiana at Dallas, 1 PM ET on ABC. But tonight is a milestone all on its own — the W returning bigger, with Toronto and Portland adding tens of thousands of new fans. The wait is finally over.