WNBA Commissioner's Cup prize money, explained: How much will Fever, Lynx players make with 2025 in-season title?

On Tuesday, the Lynx and Fever will square off in the fifth edition of the WNBA's Commissioner's Cup championship, as each looks to be crowned this year's in-season tournament champion.

The addition of the in-season tournament has been a boost to the WNBA season, not only just for competition purposes but also for incentives. The Commissioner's Cup offers players the opportunity to earn extra money for participating, with the winners getting a large portion of the bonus pool money.

Here are the details of what's at stake in the Commissioner's Cup final.

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WNBA Commissioner's Cup prize money

The winner of the Commissioner's Cup between the Fever and Lynx will split a bonus pool of $500,000, along with $120,000 in cryptocurrency from Coinbase.

Each player will earn anywhere between $41,700 and $45,454 for winning the Commissioner's Cup title. Additionally, the MVP of the game will win another $5,000 in earnings for her performance.

In addition to the cash prize, each team has aligned with a local community organization, with each winning team thus far earning $3,000 for that organization and each losing team getting $1,000. In the championship game, the winner will earn $10,000 for their community organization, while the loser will get an additional $5,000. 

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WNBA Finals prize money

While the WNBA Finals is the reason players grind a whole season, players actually don't make as much money for winning the WNBA title as they do for winning the Commissioner's Cup. According to the CBA, every player who makes the playoffs splits $500,000, although the split is uneven depending on when each team was eliminated.

Here's how much money each player makes in the WNBA playoffs:

• Players eliminated in the first round: $1,616
• Players eliminated in the second round: $3,123
• WNBA runners-up: $7,746
• WNBA champions: $20,825

MORE: WNBA announces plan to add three new expansion teams

Commissioner's Cup history

The WNBA created the Commissioner's Cup in 2021 as an in-season tournament to add another dimension to the regular season. Each team played each in-conference opponent once, and the teams with the best records in each conference earned a spot in the championship game.

Only some games are designated Commissioner's Cup games, which is why the Fever are in the title matchup despite their 8-8 record. However, in each of the past two seasons, the Commissioner's Cup championship also served as a preview for the WNBA Finals.

Here's a look back at the first four Commissioner's Cup championship games: