WNBA Playoffs 2026 Semifinals Schedule and How to Watch
Two best-of-five series stand between four teams and the 2026 WNBA Finals: Atlanta Dream vs. New York Liberty, and Golden State Valkyries vs. Las Vegas Aces. Game 3 in both series tips off Friday, Oct. 9, with the winners advancing to a Finals round that opens Saturday, Oct. 17, according to NBC Sports.
This WNBA Playoffs 2026 semifinals schedule and how-to-watch guide covers every remaining game in both series: the TV channel and streaming service tied to each date, and which late-round dates only happen if a series goes the distance.
Both series have already played Games 1 and 2, on Oct. 4 and Oct. 7. Scores and series records aren't part of the schedule data the WNBA published when the round began, so check the league's official site or either team's site for the current record before building plans around Game 3.
2026 WNBA semifinals schedule: dates, channels and streaming
Date Matchup Venue ET time TV Streaming Status Sun, Oct. 4 Dream vs. Liberty (Game 1) Atlanta 2:00 p.m. ABC ESPN App Played Sun, Oct. 4 Valkyries vs. Aces (Game 1) Chase Center 4:00 p.m.* NBC Peacock Played Wed, Oct. 7 Dream vs. Liberty (Game 2) Atlanta 7:30 p.m. ESPN ESPN App Played Wed, Oct. 7 Valkyries vs. Aces (Game 2) Chase Center 9:30 p.m. NBC Sports Network Peacock Played Fri, Oct. 9 Dream vs. Liberty (Game 3) New York 7:30 p.m. ESPN2 ESPN App Scheduled Fri, Oct. 9 Valkyries vs. Aces (Game 3) Las Vegas 9:30 p.m. NBC Sports Network Peacock Scheduled Sun, Oct. 11 Dream vs. Liberty (Game 4) New York TBD ABC ESPN App If necessary Sun, Oct. 11 Valkyries vs. Aces (Game 4) Las Vegas TBD NBC Peacock If necessary Wed, Oct. 14 Dream vs. Liberty (Game 5) Atlanta TBD ESPN ESPN App If necessary Wed, Oct. 14 Valkyries vs. Aces (Game 5) Chase Center TBD NBC Sports Network Peacock If necessary
*The WNBA and the Golden State Valkyries list Game 1 of Valkyries-Aces at 4 p.m. ET (1 p.m. local at Chase Center). NBC Sports lists the same game at 3:30 p.m. ET; more on that conflict below.
Dates and channels in this table come from the WNBA's semifinal preview and NBC Sports' broadcast listing, both published when the semifinal round opened five days ago. For a fast reference to the WNBA Playoffs 2026 TV schedule, this table covers every channel and streaming platform tied to each date.
How the best-of-five format decides home court
Seeding sets the home-court order. Golden State entered the semifinals as the No. 2 seed, Las Vegas, the defending champion, as the No. 3 seed, Atlanta as the No. 4 seed and New York as the No. 8 seed, according to ESPN's playoff broadcast preview.
The higher seed in each series hosts Games 1, 2 and 5; the lower seed hosts Games 3 and 4. That's why Golden State opened at Chase Center and Atlanta opened at home, with both series shifting to Las Vegas and New York for the middle games, per the WNBA and Golden State Valkyries.
The "if necessary" label on the table matters more than it looks. Game 4 gets played in any series that isn't already settled after Game 3, meaning anything short of a clean three-game sweep. Game 5 only happens if Game 4 ties the series 2-2. Games 4 and 5 will not be played if a team wins the first three games outright.
Where to watch: TV channels and streaming for both series
Dream-Liberty games split across ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 depending on the date. ESPN's coverage plan includes streaming through the ESPN App alongside its linear broadcasts, though ESPN's release doesn't confirm app availability for every individual game, so check the app directly before tip-off.
Valkyries-Aces games run on NBC, NBC Sports Network (also listed as NBCSN) and Peacock, per NBC Sports. Peacock is available on a range of streaming devices, according to the same source.
ESPN Deportes is carrying the entire semifinal round in Spanish, extending the Spanish-language coverage ESPN provided for select first-round games, per ESPN Press Room.
Dream-Liberty airs on the ABC/ESPN side of the dial; Valkyries-Aces airs on the NBC/Peacock side. Check each listing separately, since the two series don't share a broadcast partner this round.
Looking past the semifinals, Finals Game 1 is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 17, at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock, per NBC Sports. For Games 2-3 and 5-7 of that series, if needed, Peacock will simulstream USA Network's coverage, produced by Versant's USA Sports, according to the same source.
What's still unresolved in the schedule
The 4 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. ET figures for Valkyries-Aces Game 1 conflict in the available scheduling data. The WNBA and Golden State Valkyries list the game at 4 p.m. ET, matching the team's listed 1 p.m. local start at Chase Center; NBC Sports lists the same game at 3:30 p.m. ET (WNBA; NBC Sports). Because Game 1 has already been played, the discrepancy now affects historical schedule records rather than upcoming viewing plans.
Start times for every potential Game 4 on Oct. 11 and Game 5 on Oct. 14 in both series remain listed as TBD, with no tip-off windows published by the WNBA or the Golden State Valkyries as of the schedule's release five days ago.
Treat the table above as the league's published game plan rather than a scoreboard. Check the WNBA's official schedule page for the current series record before assuming either team has clinched or been eliminated.
What to check next
Game 3 tips off Friday: Dream-Liberty at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2 from New York, and Valkyries-Aces at 9:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network and Peacock from Las Vegas. Whether Games 4 and 5 get played at all depends on the results through Game 4, not a fixed date on the calendar.
Check the WNBA's schedule page the morning of any Oct. 11 or Oct. 14 date for confirmed tip times and current series status before treating the conditional date as confirmed. That page also shows which team, if either, has already advanced to the Finals that open Oct. 17.