What’s next for WNBA? More growth, commissioner says

Cathy Engelbert wants people to know the WNBA is growing. And in more ways than just the obvious expansion of the league.

“There’s no better time to be part of the WNBA, and we’re going to continue to fuel our business transformation,” the WNBA commissioner said.

Engelbert gave her state of the league address and fielded questions from the media ahead of Game 1 of the WNBA Finals on Sunday at Michelob Ultra Arena.

She addressed the league’s recent Bay Area expansion, the highly anticipated Finals matchup between the top-seeded Aces and No. 2 New York Liberty and various other topics.

Her most important point, however, was the league’s continued growth on and off the court.

“The goal is to keep growing the business and building the league” Engelbert said, “to grow this legacy of these players, and for the next generation of players in the longest-standing, most-tenured women’s professional sports league in the country.”

Engelbert, who was hired in 2019, said the league saw vast improvements in viewership this year. She said it was the most-viewed season since 2008, and a 16 percent improvement on the previous year.

The decisive Game 4 of the WNBA semifinals between the Liberty and No. 3 Connecticut Sun on Oct. 1 had an average viewership of 579,000, and peaked at 925,000 despite competing with the NFL in a Sunday broadcast window.

Engelbert said she thought the WNBA enjoyed a strong viewership boost from the NCAA women’s basketball tournament, which drew 9.9 million viewers, according to ESPN.

These numbers all become more important as 2025 approaches. While that year will see the new Bay Area franchise join and possibly the early termination of the league’s collective bargaining agreement, 2025 is also when the WNBA’s television rights contract with ESPN expires.

“We’ve been doing a lot of work in the meantime to prepare ourselves for that,” Engelbert said. “And that’s why growing the league, growing viewership, attendance, growing fan experience, digital, all of that has been so important leading into those negotiations.”

Engelbert also touted the league’s commercial growth. The WNBA had 39 business partners at the league level, and she said continued investment from owners and partners has helped the league’s valuation increase.

Players, obviously, have a massive role to play in the league’s continued success. Engelbert said a Finals series like the one between the Aces and Liberty can help bring more awareness to the WNBA. She said there’s been an emphasis on making players like Aces forward A’ja Wilson a household name to get people interested.

Engelbert also mentioned Aces guard Sydney Colson’s show with former Aces forward Theresa Plaisance as another medium to help the league attract more eyes.

“Lots of different angles, team angles, rivalry angles, and specific player angles,” Engelbert said. “And I think that’s all good and all part of our marketing plan to build household names and rivalries.”

Contact reporter Andy Yamashita at ayamashita@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ANYamashita on X.