Since she became the WNBA’s first commissioner in 2019, Cathy Engelbert delivered on exactly what she was brought in for: a massive boost in the business. The dramatic transformation was further amplified by the 2024 WNBA Draft that brought in players like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, flooding the market with new fans. The question then became sustainability and not just a moment. She, however, did not timely realize that her position came with many more responsibilities.

Last year, many flaws in Engelbert’s leadership came to the forefront after Minnesota Lynx’s Napheesa Collier called her out and other players supported the latter. From not garnering a relationship with the players to having a reactive (and not proactive) approach, everything proved that the outstanding businesswoman still lacked what the WNBA players were looking for. Her departure was more or less confirmed at that point, and she finally put her stamp on it in September. But before December 31 sees her depart, she addressed the reporters, to give her successor a piece of advice and to discuss everything that culminated into this moment — good and bad.

“I would tell the next commissioner that we’ve got to continue the growth and get into a sustained growth period for the league office,” Engelbert told the reporters on Satuday ahead of the 2026 WNBA Finals Game 1. “And then the teams are still in hyper growth and still support the teams in their growth objectives because teams have grown a lot.

“It’s like a multi-dimensional role. You have to have very thick skin. You have to have confidence that we can continue this growth trajectory, and confidence in building relationships with players and agents, and the Board of Governors, the owners, and the stakeholders.

“When I took it over, I didn’t realize how broad the platform could become and how we became such a growth stock, as one of our owners called it, which has been positive, but it came with some negatives around the attention and the vitriol that’s unacceptable that our players get. So working on that as we continue to figure out how to support the safety of our players.”

Cathy Engelbert officially assumed the role of the WNBA’s first-ever commissioner on July 17, 2019. Across her seven-year tenure, she shepherded the league through a period of historic financial transformation and unprecedented cultural visibility. However, with the growth, the league also saw some growing pains. Unfortunately, Engelbert wasn’t the most effective agianst those forces.

The WNBA vs. Cathy Engelbert drama

Engelbert has overseen a dramatic transformation of the WNBA’s business model. Among the larger achievements of her tenure are a transformative eleven-year broadcasting rights package worth approximately $3.1 billion, and a long-overdue break from the league’s expansion freeze, scaling the WNBA from 12 teams to a projected 18 by 2030, with franchises awarded to San Francisco, Toronto, Portland, Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia. 

The Golden State Valkyries, who are playing in the Finals right now in just their second season of existence, are perhaps the most vivid embodiment of what that expansion vision looks like in practice. In 2019, the average value of a WNBA franchise was $10 million; in 2026, it is about $460 million.

She also led a $75 million capital raise in 2022, what was the largest-ever investment round in women’s sports. In 2024, she introduced a full-time charter program ove commercial flying, a first for women’s professional team sports in the U.S. Engelbert also confirmed that a centralized replay system is on track to be in place for next season. Then there’s the latest CBA. Despite all that work, though, her shortcomings eclipsed everything.

The final nail in the coffin…

You may or may not agree that the highly popular 2024 WNBA draft class that brought in faces that had already made a name for themselves in their NCAA careers started it all. But you will have to agree the boost in the league’s attention finally brought everything under the microscope, especially when Lynx’s Collier publicly scrutinized the leadership.

“We have the best players in the world. We have the best fans in the world, but right now we have the worst leadership in the world,” Collier said in 2025. “If I didn’t know exactly what the job entailed, maybe I wouldn’t feel this way, but unfortunately for them, I do.

“We serve a league that has shown they think championship coaches and Hall of Fame players are dispensable and that’s fine. It’s professional sports, but I will not stand quietly by and allow different standards to be applied at the league level.”

She also revealed some private conversations she had with Engelbert, where the latter practically wished for the players to be grateful for the stage WNBA provides them. Everybody knew Engelbert’s departure was close by then, but then came a bigger storm.

Inconsistent officiating had been a problem in the league for some time now. But communication channels between the teams and the league seemed to be disconnected. Then came the abuses and harrasments the WNBA players had to endure. Problem was, Engelbert didn’t have a plan.

She didn’t avoid those things from happening in the first place. Instead, she had what everyone called a ‘reactive approach’ to these crises.

Growth simply cannot go hand in hand with late responses.

Engelbert had apparently been working on a succession plan long before any of the drama started. She, in fact, also suggested a few candidates she found over three years to fill the big shoes she would vacate.

“The good news is there’s people who really want to take on this role, which I think is great,” she said. 

The NBA has officially hired Excel Search & Advisory to spearhead the vetting and talent acquisition process. The final say would be of the NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who understands just why Engelbert has to go.

She empties her seat on December 31 and will not be around during the transition period for the next Commissioner.

For now, the WNBA world is focused on how the Finals series turns after the Golden State Valkyries survived a late scare against the Atlanta Dream. They host them again in Chase Center for Game 2 on Monday, 8 p.m. ET, available on USA, Peacock, and CNBC.