WNBA commissioner says women’s sports are still ‘undervalued,’ despite tremendous growth

– On the court. Since pivoting from a 33-year career at Deloitte, which culminated in becoming CEO, to a role as WNBA commissioner, Cathy Engelbert gets asked all the time how to pursue a career in sports.

She advises young people who ask her how to get into the industry to do something else first. “Sports, at lower levels—it’s a turn; it’s a grind,” she says. “At the higher levels, you can be really successful if you have a good business background.”

Like any industry, sports “is about relationships,” Engelbert says. “It’s a big business and you’ve got to find ways to grow revenue. You’ve got to find ways to deploy your capital. You have to hire great people.” Her skill set in those areas, as well as strategy and scenario planning, prepared her better than anything else for running a growing women’s sports league, she says.

Engelbert understands why so many people want to work in sports. Her personal passion for women’s sports gives her the drive to execute those business goals. She played basketball in college and her father was an NBA player for the Detroit Pistons, drafted in 1957.

David Becker/NBAE—Getty Images

However, she tells interested investors, too, that more than passion is needed. “You can’t just go out there and raise capital because there’s a lot of momentum around women’s sports. You have to have a vision, you have to have a strategy, and there has to be an economic model that’s going to sustain it for the long term,” she says.

Her strategy for the WNBA has three prongs: “player-first, stakeholder success, and fan engagement.” Since taking over the league, Engelbert has raised $75 million in capital, tapped her Deloitte experience for a digital revamp, and announced the forthcoming launch of a Bay Area franchise (with more expansion expected in 2024).

“The tough part of women’s sports continues to be the undervaluing of our assets,” Engelbert says. The WNBA’s media rights deal is up for renegotiation in the fall of 2025. After the recent ESPN-NCAA deal, which valued women’s college basketball 10 times greater than its last agreement, prospects look good.

The exciting Las Vegas Aces-New York Liberty face-off in the WNBA finals late last year proved to the commissioner that the league’s strategy is succeeding. The final sparked debates around rules for players and teams—like whether players can fly private to games. Restrictions in place rankle players and team owners but are meant to level the playing field in a league where teams have vastly different resources.

“I love the debate,” Engelbert says. “Because it’s great to be having those kinds of conversations versus, ‘Is this league going to survive?’ Now, we’re moving from survive to thrive.”

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe

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