Cathy Engelbert, the WNBA’s first commissioner, who has presided over an era of explosive growth in women’s basketball while facing criticism for her leadership style, will retire at the end of this year, the league said Friday.
Adam Silver, the NBA commissioner who appointed Engelbert to the role in 2019, sent a note to both leagues’ leadership on Friday indicating the search for a new commissioner would begin later this month, according to a person familiar with the matter. The NBA maintains a significant ownership stake in the W.
“When I first came to the league I intended to do this for three-and-a-half years,” Engelbert said in a phone interview with the Associated Press. “The seven-and-a-half years exceeded that time. This is a really good time given the financial transformation journey we’ve been on.”
Engelbert joined the WNBA after serving as the CEO of consulting firm Deloitte, and she presided over the league’s COVID-19 bubble season, ushered in a more than $2 billion broadcast rights package, oversaw league expansion from 12 to 18 teams amid surges in franchise valuations, and agreed to a historic collective bargaining rights agreement with the W’s players this spring, yielding the first million-dollar salaries.
