2025 Women Of Live: Cathy Engelbert

Cathy Engelbert
Commissioner | WNBA

WOMEN’S WORLD | WNBA expanding to 16 teams.
CAITLIN MANIA | College phenom shakes up women’s sports.

Calling 2024 a watershed year for the WNBA might actually be underselling it.

It would be easy to put the record revenues, attendance and TV ratings all on the back of Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark — road games for the Fever were often moved to larger venues to accommodate demand — but it was more than just No. 22 who drew eyeballs. 

The broader rookie class — which also included the Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese, the L.A. Sparks’ Cameron Brink and Rickea Jackson and more — definitely helped raise the league’s profile. So too did the midseason break for the Olympics, which re-introduced established veterans to the viewing public as the U.S. won another women’s basketball gold.

Meanwhile, Cathy Engelbert, who has been the league’s commissioner since 2019, wants to parlay those new fans into new teams,
with a promise to expand to 16 (or more) teams by 2028. The Golden State Valkyries will become the league’s 13th team in 2025 with Portland and Toronto joining in ‘26 and plenty of suitors — Cleveland, Boston, Philadelphia, Nashville and Detroit among them — following behind. 

Before all that, Engelbert will have to negotiate a new collective-bargaining agreement, as the players opted out of the current CBA, which now expires at the end of the ‘25 season. And a new CBA will necessarily reflect the league’s new economic reality with the players having a powerful negotiating position, particularly after the success of the lucrative 3-on-3 Unrivaled league that offered hefty checks and extra TV time in the offseason.

The league was able to secure 460 sponsors for the 2024 season, with 155 — more than a third — in new partnerships, reflecting the bullish attitude businesses have about the potential of women’s basketball.

“We were hoping we’d grow like we did,” Engelbert said at Sportico’s Rise event in October. “We’re in a different place than we were six years ago.”