SAN FRANCISCO -- Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, speaking to the media Saturday prior to Game 1 of the WNBA Finals at Chase Center, said she is very proud of the league's growth as she approaches retirement at the end of this year.
But she acknowledged that to do this job, you need "thick skin," a nod to some of the relationship difficulties she had with WNBA players in the final years of her tenure.
"This has been the most successful season in the history of our league by many metrics," Engelbert said before the Golden State Valkyries hosted the Atlanta Dream. "In the first year of our new media agreements, we reached more than 90 million unique viewers. That was just a U.S. number; it doesn't include Canada and outside the U.S. Fans watched more than 320 million hours of WNBA basketball. We had 51 telecasts average at least 1 million viewers, compared with just 19 last season.
"We averaged a record 11,500 fans per game, and almost two-thirds of our regular-season games were sellouts. Our social and digital platforms also experienced tremendous engagement, generating more than 4 billion viewers, up 28% from last season. Never thought I'd be standing up here talking in billions at the W, but we're there. And most importantly, the basketball itself was spectacular."
Engelbert, who became commissioner in July 2019, has overseen two collective bargaining agreements, the move to charter flights for teams, the launch of the Commissioner's Cup in-season competition, a new broadcast deal, expansion of the regular season and playoffs, and franchise expansion. The league, which had 12 teams when she took over, now has 15, with Golden State coming aboard last year and Portland and Toronto joining this year. The league will be at 18 teams by 2030, adding franchises in Cleveland, Detroit (both former WNBA markets) and Philadelphia.
Franchise valuation also has skyrocketed during Engelbert's time as commissioner. The Valkyries are the first women's professional sports team to reach a franchise valuation of $1 billion.
But amid all the league's immense financial growth, Engelbert struggled at times with her relationship with the players. That reached a nadir last year heading into a contentious CBA negotiating period that was resolved in March, with Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier among those who castigated WNBA leadership.
"The one thing you learn when you get in these big jobs -- like I ran a firm of 100,000 people -- is not everybody's going to like you, or agree with your strategy," said Engelbert, who spent 30 years at Deloitte, including as CEO, before taking over the WNBA. "But that's why you have a key team, and you have advisers, and you have people who know what they're doing to grow the league.
"When I came in, our first 'pillar' was players first. The players didn't trust the league. We didn't have charter [flights]. They had not-great living arrangements, travel arrangements and all the stuff that led to first the 2020 CBA, and then certainly the 2026 CBA.
"So it's been a journey to get there because we were virtually insolvent when I took over. You had to build a growth league first to have money to pay the players."
The WNBA's highest salaries have topped $1 million since the most recent CBA, one of the big wins for the players.
As the league, which is completing its 30th season with these Finals, looks to the future, Engelbert said global and technological growth should be priorities. At July's All-Star Game, Engelbert announced the league will go to a centralized replay center in Secaucus, New Jersey, for the 2027 season. She said Saturday that that process remains on track to launch on time next year.
"There's still a lot of growth I think out there," Engelbert said. "I always say to my team, we've been in this hyper growth for a few years now. The teams are all in hyper growth. We want to get to sustained growth because that's how you build on that business for the long term.
"We did a very simple three-tiered strategy, which was player first, stakeholder success and fan engagement/fan experience, because those were things that I viewed that we really had to shore up. I would say that strategy has worked, and now you do have to evaluate whether there's other aspects of that where we really need to broaden our platform. I would tell the next commissioner that we've got to continue that and get into a sustained growth period."
Engelbert, who announced her impending retirement Sept. 4, said she has been working on a succession strategy for 3½ years. The league has hired a search firm, Excel Search & Advisory, to look for her replacement.
"The good news is there is a lot of interest in the job," Engelbert said. "There's a lot of different characteristics we're all looking for. But I've met with the search firm and getting updates periodically as they start to reach out to potential candidates. I had candidates I submitted; a lot of us did. It's a multidimensional role. You have to have very thick skin, and you have to have confidence that we can continue this growth trajectory."