Your Guide to WNBA All-Star Weekend 2026: The Activations We're Most Excited About
The WNBA is celebrating its 30th season with vintage uniforms, historic tributes, and a reimagined All-Star format.
Four players are making their first WNBA All-Star appearance in 2026: Olivia Miles, Jessica Shepherd, Marina Mabrey, and Dominique Malonga.
Chicago will host fan experiences, brand activations, athlete events, and community programming all weekend long, not just the All-Star Game.
This season marks the WNBA’s 30th season, and it has been a special one. Before the season even began there was an historic CBA negotiation, coaching changes and plenty of spicy roster movement. With the season now fully underway, the league has made a big push to pay homage to its history with vintage jerseys, tipoff reenactments and plenty of intentional branding.
To keep the celebrations rolling, this year’s All-Star competition will look a little different. To honor some of the league’s legends, Teresa Weatherspoon and Cynthia Cooper will serve as managers of “Team Spoon” and “Team Coop”, coached by Cheryl Reeve and Becky Hammon respectively. Team Coop won the coin flip that assigned them the top vote-getter, Dallas sophomore guard Paige Bueckers. Team Spoon was subsequently assigned the second vote-getting, hot and cold superstar Caitlin Clark. Here are the full rosters of All-Stars for the 2026 installment:
Team Spoon
*Caitlin Clark (Indiana Fever)
*A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces)
*^Olivia Miles (Minnesota Lynx)
*Aliyah Boston (Indiana Fever)
*^Jessica Shepherd (Dallas Wings)
Rhyne Howard (Atlanta Dream)
Allisha Gray (Atlanta Dream)
Jonquel Jones (New York Liberty)
Courtney Williams (Minnesota Lynx)
Kiki Iriafen (Washington Mystics)
Nneka Ogumwike (Los Angeles Sparks)
Team Coop
*Paige Bueckers (Dallas Wings)
*Breanna Stewart (New York Liberty)
*Kelsey Mitchell (Indiana Fever)
*Natasha Howard (Minnesota Lynx)
*Gabby Williams (Golden State Valkyries)
Angel Reese (Atlanta Dream)
^Marina Mabrey (Toronto Tempo)
^Dominique Malonga (Seattle Storm)
Kelsey Plum (Los Angeles Sparks)
Jackie Young (Las Vegas Aces)
Sonia Citron (Washington Mystics)
*= starter
^= first time all star
But while the All-Star game is undoubtedly a time to celebrate the players, it’s also a huge weekend for everyone who supports the league. On top of the 3 point and shooting contests (Friday July 24th) and the All-Star Game itself on Saturday July 25th, All-Star inspired activations, summits, experiences and pop-ups will be spread all over Chicago this week.
Here are some of the activations we are loving:
1. The Parity x DNA Vibe Precovery Party
Some may say we’re biased, but our party in partnership with DNA vibe promises to be one of the best of the weekend. Kick off your celebrations with us on Friday, July 24th, from 12:00-3:00pm, in an intimate and festive environment while relaxing and connecting. First 200 people to RSVP here will take home a complimentary DNA Vibe Jazz Band!
There will be professional athletes, brand leaders and sports executives for you to meet and spend time with all in the fun and relaxing environment of Babe's Sports Bar, Chicago’s first women’s sports only sports bar! It will be the perfect “pre-covery” before the weekend: get your wellness on and leave feeling connected, refreshed, and ready!
Friday, July 24, 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Babe’s Sports Bar (3017 W Armitage Ave, Chicago, IL 60647)
2. Jr. WNBA Day
The WNBA will be the very first professional league to hold events at the Obama Presidential Center, which opened to the public in June. Most of the events hosted at the Center are closed to the public, focusing on networking within the league and media. But one of the programmed events we’re loving, open to all no ticket required, is the Jr. WNBA Day on Friday, July 24th. This event was created to inspire girls through basketball and leadership activities and will include “a basketball fundamentals clinic, panel discussions, a vision‑board workshop, STEM activities, and more.”
Jr. WNBA will also have a presence at the WNBA Live presented by AWS, more on that below!
Friday, July 24
The Obama Presidential Center (6001 S Stony Island Ave, Chicago, IL 60637)
3. AT&T Fan Experience at Pioneer Court
As the title sponsor of the All-Star weekend, AT&T has recognized the importance of showing up for women’s sports’ biggest moments. They will be turning Pioneer Court on Michigan Avenue into a fan experience zone which is free to enter for anyone, and will be rolling from Thursday through Saturday.
At Pioneer Court, fans will have the opportunity to participate in the “Get Buckets for Small Biz” challenge, and help unlock up to $150,000 for local Chicago businesses. We love this connection to the community and involving the fans in that connection.
AT&T is also selling its “Turbo Live” to fans, regardless of whether they are AT&T customers or not. This is a new feature from AT&T that gives you a data boost for big events (think sporting events or concerts) for a one time charge. We love this because it means AT&T is not just giving us pens, but is showing us what their product can do. Show up and you may just meet a WNBA celebrity on the court!
Thursday, July 23 through Saturday, July 25
Pioneer Court (401 N Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60611)
4. Playa Society (WNBA Live Presented by AWS)
Playa Society just might be our favorite WNBA-specific brand. Founded by Esther Wallace to marry WNBA merch and streetwear culture, she still handdraws every single design that Playa Society puts out. You can already purchase their fire All-Star design, but we know that once you put that t-shirt in your cart you’re going to want something else to go with it. We are loving the baseball-style jerseys these days.
The Playa Society pop-up will be part of the WNBA Live presented by AWS, which the league is calling “The WNBA’s Ultimate All-Star Fan Experience.” Held at McCormick Place convention center, there will be opportunities to meet WNBA stars and legends, play games, get access to exclusive merch drops and more. Tickets can be found here and start around $37 for a three hour entry into the experience.
You can read more about the full lineup of partners and experiences here.
Thursday, July 23, Friday July 24th and Saturday, July 25
McCormick Place (2301 S Martin Luther King Dr, Chicago, IL 60616)
5. State Farm Three Point Contest/Kia “Shooting Stars”
Okay so this one is not really a brand activation, but it’s been news this year that the tickets for Friday night’s entertainment are being sold at a higher price point than tickets for the actual All-Star game on Saturday. Having been to the All-Star Game, I can confirm that the weekend was amazing, and the game was… anticlimactic. It is widely understood that this is a rest weekend for everyone, and there is little to no defense played. Everyone is having a good time: competitive basketball it is not. But in the 3 point contest or the skills/shooting challenge, pride is on the line and players usually bring their full focus. As with most years, the fields for these contests have not yet been announced, nor will they until potentially right before. The league always tries to roster big names like Sabrina Ionescu (a 2 time winner of the 3 point contest) or Caitlin Clark to draw eyes towards the night, but here are a few players you might not be as familiar with who we are hoping to see sink some long balls:
Having the best season of her career with the Toronto Tempo, Mabrey is leading the league with 76 made threes this year and also tied the league record with a 53-point piece earlier this season. When she’s hot she’s unstoppable.
Howard is coming in just behind Mabrey with 73 made threes on the season, and has helped lift the Atlanta Dream through some rocky patches. Often when she sees one go through the hoop, she can go on an absolute tear, perfect for the 3 point contest format.
Chasing the sixth player of the year award with the Golden State Valkyries, Salaün has a beautiful elevated three point shot that looks automatic. Was Salaün snubbed by not getting named as an All-Star? Maybe. Would that make her 3 point win even sweeter? Absolutely.
The Mercury’s record might be cold, but Akoa Makani is improving on her fire hot freshman season and leading the league in 3 point percentage. She shoots over 52% from distance and could be a dark horse for this year’s contest.
Whether you’re in Chicago for the All-Star Game, the WNBA Live or just hoping to spot your favorite WNBA celebrity out to eat, there is something for everyone. The weekend can’t come soon enough for us, and we can’t wait to meet many of you on Friday!
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