Engelbert Retiring as WNBA Commissioner After 2026 Season — SkimNews
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Cathy Engelbert will retire as WNBA commissioner effective Dec. 31, ending more than seven years as the league's first-ever commissioner, a title she assumed in May 2019.
- Under Engelbert's leadership, average WNBA franchise values soared from $10 million in 2019 to approximately $460 million in 2026, and she secured a $3.1 billion media rights deal.
- Engelbert negotiated two collective bargaining agreements, including the newest March 2025 CBA that introduced the league's first $1 million salaries and the first comprehensive revenue-sharing model in women's professional sports.
- Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier called Engelbert "negligent" in governance and said the WNBA had the "worst leadership in the world" during an explosive end-of-season interview last year, remarks that received widespread player support.
- High-ranking team sources told ESPN they expected 2026 to be Engelbert's last, citing her reactive approach to crises including officiating issues and harassment directed at players, though Engelbert told the AP the decision was entirely her own.
- Engelbert also steered the league through its 2020 COVID-19 bubble season in Bradenton, Florida, an "existential" moment she has cited, and oversaw expansion plans from 12 to 18 franchises by 2030 and a record 50-game season.
- The next WNBA commissioner will be the league's sixth leader and will continue reporting to NBA commissioner Adam Silver, with Engelbert saying both internal and external candidates are on the succession radar.
Why it matters: Engelbert exits at the WNBA's financial zenith—franchise values at roughly $460 million and a $3.1 billion media deal secured—but her successor inherits a league where players publicly labeled leadership 'negligent' and ESPN sources said internal trust eroded under her handling of officiating and harassment crises.
Ask SkimNews
