NEW YORK – With the AT&T WNBA All-Star Game 2019 set for Las Vegas on Saturday, July 27, the league announced today that festivities will officially tip off with the events of WNBA All-Star Friday Night on Friday, July 26.

WNBA All-Star Friday Night will include a 3-Point Contest and Skills Challenge, with both events featuring WNBA stars in action at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, home of the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces.  ESPN will provide live coverage beginning at 7 p.m. ET.  The WNBA’s top players will compete against the clock and each other to win prizes.

While the two most recent WNBA All-Star Games have included a 3-Point Contest at halftime, this marks the first time the long-distance shooting event and Skills Challenge will be paired together at WNBA All-Star since 2006.

The 3-Point Contest and Skills Challenge will be preceded by a Fan Fest from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. local time and a special in-arena entertainment event and will be followed by the WNBA All-Star Beach Concert & Party.  Fan Fest, which will be open to the public free of charge, will also take place on Saturday, July 27 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. local time.  Additional details on Fan Fest and the Beach Concert & Party will be announced in the coming weeks.

“The WNBA is excited to add the events of All-Star Friday Night to the calendar for AT&T WNBA All-Star 2019,” said league COO Christy Hedgpeth.  “What better place than Las Vegas, the entertainment capital of the world, for the WNBA’s most talented and dynamic players to headline a show. The competitions along with special entertainment and a festive beach party all combine to make the WNBA All-Star 2019 the place to be.”

The six participants for the 3-Point Contest and eight participants for Skills Challenge will be announced in July.

The 3-Point Contest will be a two-round, timed competition in which five shooting locations are positioned around the three-point arc.  Four racks will contain four WNBA balls (each worth one point) and one “money” ball (worth two points).  The fifth station is a special “all-money ball” rack, which each participant can place at any of the five locations.  Every ball on this rack is worth two points.  Players will have one minute to shoot as many of the 25 balls as they can.  The two competitors with the highest scores in the first round will advance to the championship round, where the winner will be determined.

The Skills Challenge will be a three-round, obstacle-course competition that tests dribbling, passing, agility and three-point shooting skills.  The event will showcase a head-to-head, bracket-style tournament format.  First-round matchups will be determined at a later date.

Tickets to WNBA All-Star Friday Night are free with the purchase of tickets to the AT&T WNBA All-Star Game but may also be purchased separately.  For information on tickets to WNBA All-Star Friday Night, the AT&T WNBA All-Star Game, and the Beach Concert & Party, fans can visit http://bit.ly/WNBAallstar

The AT&T WNBA All-Star Game, the 16^th All-Star Game in the league’s history, will be televised live on July 27 by ABC at 3:30 p.m. ET.