Tag: Cathy Engelbert

The WNBA commissioner’s New York-themed dress at Game 5 is the dumbest controversy

This all could have been avoided so easily.

Cathy Engelbert has certainly had some bad moments in what has been a wild year for the WNBA in 2024.

This time? It’s not the worst controversy, but it could have been avoided.

The WNBA commissioner was there for the New York Liberty’s Game 5 WNBA Finals win over the Minnesota Lynx, and she was wearing a very New York dress that featured a depiction of the Empire State Building.

Now there are people around social media who are using that as proof that the Finals were rigged in favor of the Liberty.

That part is ridiculous. There’s no way that really happened, even if this is the franchise’s first title ever.

But Engelbert needs to know not to wear the dress to invite that kind of thinking in. It’s just a bad look! Why is it that Angel Reese’s outfit was more appropriate?

Just wear a neutral dress! It’s that simple. Instead of the audience your league has built buzzing about how awesome that series and final game was — despite some bad officiating — all the focus is on you and the dress.

And now we’ve got a deleted tweet from the league that invokes the Streisand Effect and it’s a mess.

This is all so dumb and could have been very easily avoided.

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3 major WNBA updates for 2025 from Cathy Engelbert, including Finals format changes

Here’s what we learned from Cathy Engelbert’s latest press conference.

Ahead of the WNBA Finals kicking off in Brooklyn, commissioner Cathy Engelbert dropped several significant pieces of news to media members during a pregame presser, during which she reviewed the league’s growth.

Shortly after sharing some major milestones the WNBA reached this season, Cathy Engelbert dropped several important updates, including confirming murmurs of a 44-game season and how the upcoming WNBA Draft Lottery and 2025 WNBA Draft will work with the Golden State Valkyries officially up and running.

It was somewhat hard to keep up with all the updates ― they were flying with lightning speed ― but we’ve gathered them all here for you. Here’s what we learned from Cathy Engelbert’s Thursday presser:

The WNBA Finals will move to a best-of-seven series in 2025

(Mark Smith/Imagn Images)

The best-of-seven series in the WNBA Finals will be a 2-2-1-1-1 format, and the first round will be a best-of-three series with a 1-1-1 setup. The regular season will also move from 40 to 44 games.

https://Twitter.com/Bachscore/status/1844517040670797855

The WNBA Draft is April 14, 2025

(Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports)

The Los Angeles Sparks, Dallas Wings, Chicago Sky and the Washington Mystics will participate in the WNBA Draft Lottery on November 17. The Golden State Valkyries will also have the 5th pick in each round during the WNBA Draft on April 14, 2025.

https://Twitter.com/Balldontlie/status/1844521362292986064

The cities still in consideration for a WNBA expansion team

(Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports)

There are 10-12 cities still in consideration for the league’s 16th team, including Philadelphia.

https://Twitter.com/GeoffJMags/status/1844520966371545246

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Cathy Engelbert apologized to WNBA players for failing to condemn abusive Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese fans

Cathy Engelbert apologized to players for botching an opportunity to call out unhinged fans. Here’s what she said.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert walked back her comments earlier this week, where she failed to address the abusive words and actions coming from Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese fans.

Engelbert recently appeared on CNBC and was asked about the online discourse that has turned into racial and sexist abuse. The commissioner seemingly sidestepped the question, leaning into the “rivalry” between the two rookies and speaking about how both players should “ignore” those fans.

The commissioner’s answers — and subsequent follow-up tweet attempting to clarify her comments — did not sit well with Breanna Stewart and other players across the league. According to Rachel Bachman of The Wall Street Journal, Engelbert apologized Friday in a letter to the players. Here’s part of what it said:

“I was asked a question about WNBA rivalries and the dark side of social media and race, and simply put, my answer missed the mark, and I’m sorry.”

“I regret that I didn’t express, in a clear and definitive way, condemnation of the hateful speech that is all too often directed at WNBA players on social media. This is a teachable moment and one that I embrace with humility. There is absolutely no room for racism, misogyny, homophobia and other forms of hate in the WNBA or anywhere.”

“I know many of you have been dealing with it for a long time. I want us as a league to do our part to change the too often toxic and abusive nature of social media discourse.”

Per Jackie Powell of The Next, Stewart seemed receptive to Engelbert’s apology and even spoke with the commissioner on the phone.

It is also worth noting that Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) president and Seattle Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike chatted with Engelbert as well.

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Breanna Stewart and WNBA players rip Cathy Engelbert for not denouncing Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese fan toxicity

Cathy Engelbert did little to address the unhinged words and actions from fans, and WNBA players ripped her for it.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert missed a massive opportunity to address the issues permeating the league’s circles head-on — by a mile.

Earlier this week, Engelbert was asked to speak about how race and sexuality have been introduced into conversations surrounding two of the league’s prominent players — Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese — and how she would stay ahead of it and keep a lid on the unhinged and dark rhetoric from fans.

Engelbert didn’t answer the question as most assumed she would have — denouncing any hate, racism, sexism, etc. — and instead leaned into the Caitlin-Angel “rivalry” and mentioned how it was good for fans and business. Here’s a clip of that conversation:

Engelbert’s gaffe was immediately evident, and when New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart was asked about it, she didn’t hold back.

Per Lucas Kaplan of SB Nation, here’s a portion of what she told the media Tuesday:

“There’s no place for that in our sport, and I think that’s really it…we want our sport to be inclusive for race, gender and really a place where people can be themselves.”

“We wished, obviously, Cathy would use her platform in a different way and have made that a little bit better…telling the fans…enough is enough.”

“Become a fan of our sport, and for the new ones, lock in on everybody. But don’t be disrespectful because as a league, like, we stick together, and there’s no place for that.”

But Stewart wasn’t the only prominent figure or entity to react to the commissioner’s statement and the backlash.

The Women’s National Basketball Players Association (WNBPA) and several players across the league, including Angel Reese, did.

Engelbert later released a statement about her viral segment to clarify her comments.

However, Engelbert’s update didn’t sit well with fans, and they immediately ripped her for it, too.

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The Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese rhetoric is getting handled way too timidly by the WNBA

The WNBA is seemingly only worried about its pockets, not the humanity of its players.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert had a chance to do something that should have been done a long time ago — condemn the people who have used Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese‘s names to further their own agendas. Instead, she sidestepped the opportunity to use her platform, opting for the dollars instead.

Since the 2023 National Championship and into their rookie WNBA seasons, Clark and Reese have been at the center of some of the wildest vitriol women’s sports have seen in recent years. Their stardom has galvanized an extremist movement of  “fans” whose only goal is to find the opportunities — the cracks — in the foundation of women’s basketball and fill them with racial, sexist and bigoted sludge.

The narratives driven by “supporters” (and perpetuated by media personalities like Charles Barkley) have grown so loud and dangerous that Clark and Reese were forced to respond and reveal unhinged behavior like death threats and stalking. But the league has been publicly silent about what’s happening. Recently, Engelbert gave a corporate, safe non-answer when allowed to denounce the rhetoric and refocus the conversation on basketball. Here’s what she told CNBC:

“Well, one thing that’s great about the league right now, we do sit at this intersection of culture and sports and fashion and music — like the WNBA players are kind of looked at now as cultural icons. And when you have that, you have a lot of attention on you. There’s no more apathy. Everybody cares.”

“It’s a little bid of that [Larry] Bird-Magic[Johnson] moment…we have that moment with these two. The one thing I know about sports, you need rivalry. That’s what makes people watch. They want to watch games of consequence between rivals. They don’t want everybody being nice to one another.” Social media is different today than it was in 1979 when it didn’t exist.”

“But…I always tell the players — I was told a long time ago if someone is typing something in and you wouldn’t ask their advice, ignore it. It’s a balance. But certainly, from a marketing dollars — corporate partners are stepping up to endorse these players more so than they were five years ago because they see the benefit of having women and diverse women representing their brand.”

The problem with that answer is that it ignores the elephant in the room.

It minimizes the ugly truth that a small but extremely loud and rapidly growing contingent of WNBA “fans” is dramatically shifting what the conversations should be about. Engelbert’s answer also comes off as dismissive of the gravity of what is being spewed directly to both players, in the names of Caitlin and Angel and other WNBA players.

Earlier this season, Aliyah Boston had to delete her social media because the things said to her were well past basketball. A man tracked down Chennedy Carter and the Chicago Sky to reportedly hurl racist and misogynist marks after a hip-check foul. And those are only two examples.

Dozens more instances involve players, which only worsens when social media is involved. The internet has become a cesspool for people to operate unchecked, all behind the mask of WNBA fandom and free speech. Finding the right words to say on such topics is never easy, and it often requires more profound thought before speaking. But how much longer is this supposed to go on? How bad does it have to get before the league says something?

The WNBA has always been a socially-conscious league focused on being aware of things larger than basketball. However, it cannot turn a blind eye now because its bank account says it’s not worth the fuss. Doing so is disingenuous to every player who has ever played in the league and any future athlete who will wear a WNBA jersey.

The plot has officially been lost when money trumps humanity, and the WNBA is dangerously close to completely fumbling Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese’s impact.

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WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert explained that Caitlin Clark isn’t being targeted by other players

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert doesn’t think Caitlin Clark is being targeted by league veterans.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert doesn’t sound too persuaded by the argument that Indiana Fever rookie guard Caitlin Clark is being targeted by opposing WNBA players.

Ever since Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter hard fouled Clark during a game earlier this month, controversy has swirled about a perceived target on Clark because of her popularity among fans.

While speaking with USA TODAY, Engelbert highlighted the singular focus on Clark’s treatment compared to how other players compete with each other across the WNBA. To her, it’s not an issue for Clark as much as it is indicative of how physical the game is.

“I think everybody’s watching Caitlin, so they’re focused only on Caitlin,’’ Engelbert said. “But when you look across other games (with) other players, it’s a physical game. There’s no doubt about it. It’s a pure shooter’s game, it’s a physical game, it’s a lot of pick-and-rolls, a lot of seeing the floor.’’

In the interview, Engelbert pointed to a recent Clark game against the Washington Mystics where she hit numerous 3-pointers and scored 30 points.

“Did anyone say she was targeted in that game?’’ Engelbert asked. “No, because everyone’s just looking for the outcome that they want. … But it’s great fandom. It’s great discussion, and I think obviously we continue to look at or review games after the fact.’’

Even with the Carter foul, Engelbert said it’s been addressed and that they’re always looking to tighten up the league’s officiating when need be.

“But I think we sent the message now that we upgraded that to the rest of the league,’’ Engelbert said. “… So, we’re obviously constantly looking at the consistency of officiating and things like that. But I think everybody focused on, and they’re watching one player, including myself.’’

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The WNBA doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt when it comes to charter flights

Why should we believe what Cathy Engelbert says when it comes to charter flights and the WNBA?

Charter flights have long been a problem for the WNBA. Specifically, the lack of them and why teams aren’t allowed to use them on a regular basis, like just about every other professional sports league in the U.S.

And that history is part of the reason why the WNBA doesn’t deserve the benefit of the doubt now, as the league says it will start regularly using charter flights “as soon as [it] can.”

Players repeatedly have shared stories about the inconveniences of flying commercial — from not having enough space in seats as players fold themselves in half to being harassed in airports or being stranded for hours due to flight delays. In 2018, a game between the Las Vegas Aces and Washington Mystics was canceled because of travel woes.

This is something that simply does not happen in the 21st century in the NFL, MLB, NHL or NBA. Most Power Five women’s college basketball programs charter flights for games that are out of their state. When most players leave college for the WNBA, travel often becomes more complicated.

Charter flights became more of a public headache for the WNBA two years ago. Casual fans and folks in the mainstream media took notice in March 2022, when Howard Megdal reported a story for Sports Illustrated about the New York Liberty’s owners providing charters for the team for the second half of the 2021 season. Seen as a competitive advantage for the Liberty, the franchise was fined a league-record $500,000. The WNBA even threatened to take draft picks from the Liberty and terminate the franchise. Seriously.

This tug-of-war between owners who are forward-thinking and willing to spend and those of the old guard became even more complicated during the 2023 playoffs, when it appeared that the league’s promise at the 2023 draft of “charter flights for all postseason games” didn’t totally hold true. Also, during the 2023 season, All-Star Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner was harassed at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport just months after being freed from unlawful detainment in a Russian prison.

Last week, talk of charter flights bubbled up again when the Indiana Fever and stars Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston arrived in Dallas and were met with paparazzi-like attention as people followed them through the airport — by baggage claim and all — snapping photos and taking videos.

This long preamble — a necessary one to understand the excruciating recent history of the saga surrounding charter flights in the 28-year-old women’s professional basketball league — sets up what happened Tuesday, when WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert blurted out to a room of sports editors in New York that charter flights are coming to the WNBA “as soon as we can get the planes in place.”

Sure. Great. Awesome. In my best Anakin-Skywalker-goes-pod-racing voice, “Yippee!”

But what does that mean? The regular season starts in literally one week. What’s the plan?

(A brief aside here: The WNBA continues to have a problem with disseminating meaningful information, from timing to forum to who that news is dispensed through. Why was an announcement like this made at an Associated Press Sports Editors meeting a week before the season starts? Why wasn’t a press release ready to go? Why wasn’t a formal press conference scheduled? Why wasn’t this made into an event? The way it all unfolded reeked of unpreparedness, which is, unfortunately, something people who cover the WNBA can say about it far too often.)

About two hours after folks started tweeting about Engelbert claims, the Associated Press published a story that offered some details but left a lot of questions unanswered too.

Let’s break it down.

“We intend to fund a full-time charter for this season,” Engelbert said Tuesday in a meeting with sports editors.

OK. How?

She said the league will launch the program “as soon as we can get planes in places.”

Sure. How long does it take to do that?

Engelbert said the program will cost the league around $25 million per year for the next two seasons.

Alrighty. Who is paying for that? Furthermore, if it’s only $25 million per year — which equates to a bit more $2 million for each owner — why has this taken so long? For most professional sports owners, that’s pocket change.

USA TODAY had more. Here’s Engelbert again:

“We’re going to as soon as we can get it up and running. Maybe it’s a couple weeks, maybe it’s a month … We are really excited for the prospects here.”

A couple weeks? A month? Which is it? What are we doing here?

Charter flights coming to the WNBA is, of course, great news and long overdue, but fans and folks following the league shouldn’t be so quick to celebrate something that seemingly has no implementation plan.

In its history, the WNBA has rarely done the right thing at the right time when it comes to players’ travel. We shouldn’t be giving Engelbert and the league the benefit of the doubt that Clark, A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart will be flying charter regularly within the next month. Simply put, Engelbert and the league have not earned that. Everything the WNBA says around charter flights should be treated with a grain of salt until players are traveling that way on a regular basis.

I’ll believe it when I see it.

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WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert vows league expansion by 2028, including potentially Philadelphia and Toronto

The WNBA could be growing to 16 teams sooner rather than later.

The sport of women’s basketball is growing exponentially.

It’s been particularly noticeable at the college level, but it’s growing at the professional level, as well. With several big-time college stars — including Caitlin Clark — about to be picked in the 2024 WNBA draft, that trend isn’t likely to change.

With growth comes expansion. The league will expand from 12 to 13 teams in 2025 with the addition of a team in San Francisco, but it’s not stopping there.

At the draft, commissioner Cathy Engelbert said that the WNBA will expand to 16 teams, likely by 2028. Among the possible cities are Philadelphia, Toronto, Denver, Portland, Nashville and South Florida.

Philadelphia is currently the largest media market in the United States not represented by a WNBA team, while Toronto would represent the league’s first attempt to go international.

With the sport’s popularity at an all-time high, it’s clear the league is going full steam ahead in an attempt to grow the game’s reach.

Chris Russo compares Caitlin Clark and Kamilla Cardoso to Larry Bird and Magic Johnson

The women’s March Madness Championship game outperformed the men’s side of the game in terms of viewership by 4 million.

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert joined ESPN’s “First Take” to discuss the league and the growing viewership of women’s basketball. The women’s NCAA Tournament championship game outperformed the men’s side of the game in viewership by four million, with an average viewership of 18.7 million viewers.

“We’re seeing this confluence of a ton of positive things on both the basketball and the business side of women’s basketball,” Engelbert said. “Obviously, generational talent with big followings because of social media and increased media coverage thanks to ESPN and Disney, our asset values are going up. We raised some capital a couple of years ago and where we can expand the league. We’ve announced one expansion team and more to come, so we’re really excited to carry this momentum into the WNBA’s 28th season.”

Stephen A. Smith asked Engelbert how she sees Caitlin Clark factoring into the growth of the WNBA. Clark will likely be the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft, which takes place on April 15 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York (ESPN, 7:30 p.m. ET).

“I think using the platform she has that she’s gained with all these followers nationally, but also globally now, she’ll be able to have a big global platform coming into the professional (level),” Engelbert said. “I just think her style of play resonates with the big basketball fan, the big game fan, but because in sports, as you know Stephen A., you need household names, rivalries and games of consequence.

“Obviously, March Madness had all of that and we’re hoping certainly to replicate it. Now we have a 40-game season, so not every game you might call ‘a game of consequence,’ but we’re really excited for what Caitlin and this really strong rookie class with Cameron Brink and Kamilla Cardoso and so many others coming. I’ve had fun the last couple of days calling them to invite them to Brooklyn for our draft next Monday night, so it’s kind of a fun time of year for us.”

Host Chris Russo believes Cardoso and Clark could elevate the WNBA like NBA legends Larry Bird and Magic Johnson did in the 1970s.

We’ve seen it before Kathy: I know it was two players, but you had Bird and Magic in 1979. Bird goes to Boston, Magic goes to L.A. — highest-rated college basketball game of all time. The NBA was really struggling and all of a sudden those two lifted the league. Obviously, the South Carolina center, you could see the same sort of thing developing here for the WNBA. She is that dynamic as a player and Bird and Magic same thing say 50 years ago.

Engelbert shared that a big rivalry coming out of college made way for the rise of NBA media rights and Michael Jordan with Nike. She believes the WNBA’s moment has arrived which is due to the hard work of players, teams and staff, both past and present.

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WNBA commissioner embracing college players with NIL deals

Rookies are now coming into the WNBA having a strong grasp on name, image and likeness.

While some prominent names in collegiate and professional sports aren’t embracing the new name, image and likeness era for college athletes, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert takes a different approach.

“It’s just going to be really interesting to see those players come into our league with big followings and see what that does to lift the viewership and the engagement in our league,” Engelbert told Business Insider.

Engelbert mentioned that some women’s college basketball players who have partnerships with big-name brands like Mercedes, Powerade and Nike would easily transition those partnerships into professional basketball. Transitioning a global or national brand onto the professional stage is much easier than a hyper-local partnership.

“The local grocer and the local car dealer, well, that doesn’t come into
the next professional league, well,” Engelbert said.

WNBA players rely heavily on partnerships for added income, where the average player makes approximately $113,295 per season as of the start of the 2023 season. With the addition of a new expansion team coming to the Bay Area for the 2025 season, there will be more roster spots than ever. The rookies will be coming into the league having a strong grasp on NIL.

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