The inaugural Commissioner's Cup started in earnest during Friday's opening day slate as all four games counted toward the Cup standings.
A portion of the games in the first half of the season will be labeled Commissioner's Cup games and count toward Cup standings.
Each team has 10 intra-conference games. They are the first home game and first road game each team plays against its five conference opponents. The team with the best winning percentage of those 10 games in the Eastern Conference will play the winner of the Western Conference in a championship game on Aug. 12 at Phoenix Suns Arena and will be broadcast on Amazon Prime Video.
The prize pool will be $500,000 and the winning team will take home a custom designed cup that is passed from champion to champion every season. Players on the winning team would make, at minimum, $30,000. Members of the runner-up team can earn $10,000 per player, and the game's MVP will receive an additional $5,000.
Here are all the details on how the Commissioner's Cup works.
© Provided by Yahoo! SportsIndiana Fever guard Victoria Vivians looks to pass around New York Liberty forward Betnijah Laney during the WNBA's opening game on May 14, 2021 in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Friday's results
New York Liberty 90, Indiana Fever 87
Connecticut Sun 78, Atlanta Dream 67
Phoenix Mercury at Minnesota Lynx
Dallas Wings at Los Angeles Sparks
Commissioner's Cup standings
Eastern Conference
Connecticut Sun, 1-0
New York Liberty, 1-0
Chicago Sky, 0-0
Washington Mystics, 0-0
Atlanta Dream, 0-1
Indiana Fever, 0-1
Western Conference
Dallas Wings, 0-0
Las Vegas Aces, 0-0
Los Angeles Sparks, 0-0
Minnesota Lynx, 0-0
Phoenix Mercury, 0-0
Seattle Storm, 0-0
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