The WNBA free agency carousel started spinning this week, with teams evaluating rosters and coring athletes to either retain talent or trade players for a return.

Thus far, cored players include Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum, New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, Dallas Wings forward Satou Sabally, and Seattle Storm forward Gabby Williams.

Squads employ single-use coring on WNBA stars

Each of the WNBA's teams can core one unrestricted free agent on their roster, ensuring them exclusive rights to that cored athlete. Cored players receive an offer for a one-year, supermax salary contract, along with the option to negotiate different terms.

Cored athletes are unable to directly sign with another franchise, but they can be part of a trade offer by their coring team.

New York cored Stewart after she expressed interest in remaining with her 2024 WNBA Championship-winning squad. Sabally, on the other hand, will likely be part of a sign-and-trade deal after telling media late last week that she is looking to leave Dallas in 2025.

Plum's situation with the Aces is less clear-cut: The two-time WNBA champion could re-sign with her team, though Las Vegas could be exploring opportunities to cash in should she want to compete elsewhere.

Other offers spark WNBA free agent negotiations

In addition to coring, WNBA teams have also begun sending qualifying offers to certain restricted free agents, allowing them to initiate negotiations with those players.

Most notably, despite making Monday offers to three players — guard Dana Evans, forward Michaela Onyenwere, and forward Nikolina Milić — Chicago has yet to extend a qualifying offer to the Sky's 2024 points-leader Chennedy Carter.

Ultimately, while negotiations kick off next week, WNBA contracts cannot be finalized until free agency revs up in February, meaning more shuffling is on deck as teams gear up for the longest and most competitive roster-building season in recent memory.

The 2025 WNBA Finals tipped off with a bang last week, with Friday's Game 1 averaging 1.9 million viewers on ESPN to become the most-watched championship opener since 1997.

The Friday matchup between the No. 2 seed Las Vegas Aces and the No. 4 Phoenix Mercury peaked at 2.5 million viewers, a 62% increase over the 2024 Finals opener between the Minnesota Lynx and eventual champion New York Liberty.

That Game 1 viewership ranked second only to the inaugural WNBA season championship 28 years ago — a single-elimination title game in which 2.8 million fans watched the Houston Comets take down the New York Liberty on NBC.

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Game 2 continued the record breaking, with Sunday's broadcast averaging 1.2 million viewers on ABC.

With an average of 1.5 million fans tuning in, the first two 2025 WNBA Finals games boast the best viewership numbers in 25 years, nearly matching the 1.54 million average claimed by the opening two clashes between the New York Liberty and Houston Comets on NBC and Lifetime in 2000.

The record-breaking ratings underscore significant viewership growth across the WNBA postseason, with Game 1 Finals ratings increasing by nearly 700% since 2019 while this year's average postseason viewership is already up 16% over 2024.

The NWSL just added another high-profile minority owner, with Chicago Bears star Caleb Williams buying into the ownership group of 2026 expansion team Boston Legacy FC on Thursday.

Via his strategic investment firm 888 Midas, the NFL quarterback joins fellow big-name athletes Indiana Fever center Aliyah Boston and Olympic gold medal-winning US gymnast Aly Raisman as Boston Legacy investors.

"Women's sports is a movement, and I admire and respect the work that the team and the NWSL continues to do to grow the sport and empower future generations of athletes," the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner said in the club's Thursday announcement. "Boston Legacy FC is building something special, and we're proud to be a part of what's next."

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Boston Legacy controlling owner Jennifer Epstein also noted that the investment from Williams "highlights the powerful momentum of women's professional soccer."

"It symbolizes a new era of cross-league support and recognition," said Epstein. "With best-in-class athletes, a rapidly growing fan base, and undeniable energy around the NWSL, we are proud to welcome Caleb as a partner as we prepare for the 2026 inaugural season."

Athlete investment in women's sports continues to grow, with many teams now following the micro-ownership model made famous by Angel City FC in 2022.

The Houston Dash are on the brink of a $120 million sale, with Sportico reporting on Wednesday that owner Ted Segal is in advanced talks on a deal that would sever the NWSL club's ties to their MLS counterpart, the Segal-owned Houston Dynamo.

Any agreement is likely to face extensive reviews, however, with questions arising about the funding sources of the buyer, RHC Group.

Namely, RHC Group founder Richard Hsiao is the 24-year-old US-born son of Chinese billionaire Jianhua Xiao, who's currently serving a 13-year prison sentence for what the Chinese government described as financial crimes.

According to Sportico sources, RHC's funds do not have ties to Hsiao's father, but instead originate from "the independent wealth of Hsiao's mother, Zhou Hongwen."

While the NWSL traces the proposed deal's funding, Hsiao is already going through the league's standard background check, a process he reportedly began months ago.

Characterizing the league's "due diligence process" as "ongoing," the NWSL said, "As with all such matters, the NWSL Board of Governors retains full authority to approve or deny any ownership change based on the league's governance standards."

Should the Dash sale go through, the prospective new owners reportedly intend to invest in club infrastructure while keeping the team in Houston.

The WNBA released its 2025 All-Defensive Teams on Wednesday, delaying the announcement more than a week amid the fallout from the viral takedown of league leadership by Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier.

Collier herself headlines the First Team, with Lynx teammate Alanna Smith, Phoenix Mercury standout Alyssa Thomas, Seattle Storm star Gabby Williams, and the Las Vegas Aces' four-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson joining the Minnesota star on the 2025 WNBA All-Defensive roster.

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Second Team honors went to Indiana Fever center Aliyah Boston, the Golden State Valkyries' 2025 WNBA Most Improved Player Veronica Burton, Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard, Seattle Storm forward Ezi Magbegor, and New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart.

The WNBA's first-ever co-Defensive Player of the Year award-winners Wilson and Smith put up leading individual stats throughout the 2025 season, with Wilson averaging a league-high 2.3 blocks along with 7.9 defensive rebounds per game while Smith averaged a team-high 1.3 steals and 1.9 blocks per game.

Collier averaged 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, contributing to Minnesota's league-best 97.5 defensive rating, while Williams tied for the second-most single-season steals with 99 — just one short of WNBA legend Teresa Weatherspoon's 1998 record.

In her debut year with the Mercury, Thomas became the first-ever WNBA player to average 15+ points, 8+ rebounds, 9+ assists, and 1+ steals per game while shooting over 50% from the field.

This year's Second Team featured three first-ever selections, with Boston, Burton, and Howard all making their All-Defensive Team debuts.