Tuesday September 26, 2023
The Best Employers in Sports Survey is Now Open!

Cathy Engelbert on WNBA Expansion: ‘We Need More Than 12 Teams’

  • Cathy Engelbert has reiterated the WNBA’s need to expand to 13 or 14 teams, with the 2025 season being a target.
  • The commissioner also said the league had spent over $4 million on charter flights this year.
Commissioner Engelbert on expansion: "We need more than 12 teams."
Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
Front Office Sports Today

How Jamie Erdahl Made Good Morning Football Her Own

Jamie Erdahl joins to discuss her career and the growth of “Good Morning Football.”
Listen Now
September 25, 2023 | Podcast
Linkedin
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

Commissioner Cathy Engelbert reiterated her focus on WNBA expansion and the league’s charter flight commitment as she spoke at Barclays Center before Sunday’s marquee matchup between the New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces. 

“Obviously, we’re working very hard on expansion,” Engelbert told reporters. “This is really something I think we need to do, not just because of opening up potentially 12 to 24 roster spots, but also with a league that’s the longest-tenured women’s professional league in the country by double any other, we need more than 12 teams.”

Engelbert told Front Office Sports in May that the league’s list for expansion consideration is down to 10 cities to “hopefully work towards expanding in a couple cities by the 2025 season.” Cities under consideration include the Bay Area, Nashville, Toronto, Austin, Denver, Charlotte, Philadelphia, and Portland. 

“We need to be in some big cities in this country where all our data and information shows there’s some great markets for WNBA basketball,” Engelbert said Sunday. “We’re excited, capitalizing off NCAA popularity, and hopefully [will] talk more about that as we get further into the season this year.”

The Commissioner emphasized that “there’s no one that wants it more than me” regarding better travel conditions for players. However, getting there will largely depend on increased rights payments from media partners once the WNBA’s current deals end after the 2025 season.

“That’s a whole transformation of an economic model for women’s sports. It’s all about media rights. If you look back in history […] how the men got their benefits and pay, it was all the multi-billion dollar media rights fee deals,” Engelbert said.

She added that the WNBA had spent over $4 million on charter flights this year while players again pleaded for increased charter travel after Brittney Griner’s June incident while flying commercial. Engelbert said last year it would cost more than $20 million a year to fund charter flights for an entire WNBA season. 

“I think we have a lot of qualitative factors that hopefully media companies see the value in partnering with us with the next round of media negotiations,” Engelbert said. “That is when we’ll be able to fund something much bigger, but we’ve been chipping away spending over four million dollars—a lot of money for the W—four million dollars this year on charter.”

Linkedin
Copy Link
Link Copied
Link Copied

What to Read

Sports Illustrated's first college town resort will open near the University of Alabama in 2025 with a hotel, condominiums, fitness center, and other amenities.

Sports Illustrated Expands Its Footprint with College Town Resorts

SI's first sports-themed resort will open in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
The average resale price for Liberty-Mystics at Barclays Center is $100, a 28% jump over all WNBA regular season games.

Liberty-Mystics Is Best-Selling Playoff Series of WNBA’s First Round

The average resale price for Mystics-Liberty at Barclays Center is $100.
A close up of a WNBA basketball

WNBA Enters Playoffs With Wave Of Continued Growth

League completes regular season with broad set of increases
National TV ratings for Liberty games surged 58% this season over last year.

Star Power Drives Liberty Ratings, Ticket and Merchandise Sales

Liberty e-commerce sales doubled while ticket sales surged 100%.
podcast thumbnail mobile
Front Office Sports Today

How Jamie Erdahl Made Good Morning Football Her Own

0:00
0:00

Featured Today

Rob-Manfred-MLB

Oakland-MLB Relationship Devolves Into Next-Level Toxicity

Commissioner, mayor have very different accounts of July meeting
Jacksonville Jaguars Team President Mark Lamping addressed community members at Strings Sports Brewery on Main Street for the first of 14 planned town hall sessions to present the team's plans for the new "stadium of the future" complex and address the public concerns.
September 25, 2023

Jacksonville Jaguars President Walks Back Stadium ‘Threat’

"Viewing those comments as a threat to leave Jacksonville isn't correct."
Chatri Sityodtong
September 25, 2023

ONE Championship's Quest To Challenge Rival UFC Through U.S. Expansion

Leveraging its Amazon deal, ONE Championship seeks to expand in U.S.
Savannah-Bananas
September 24, 2023

Savannah Bananas Break All The Rules To Hit The Mainstream

Team concludes 2023 tour with even-bigger plans for next year

Careers

Powered By

Careers in Sports

Looking for a new job? Check out these featured listings and search for openings all over the world.
Chicago Cubs
Chicago
Fanatics
New York
Tri Star Sports and Entertainment Group, Inc.
USA - Multiple Locations

NFL Owners' Debt Limit Could Increase To $1.6B

Currently, new NFL owners can use $1 billion of debt.
September 25, 2023

NFL's Next International Goal: Games in Spain, Brazil

A league executive says the games could take place in 2024.
September 25, 2023

LIV, PGA Tour Schedules Likely Clashing Despite Merger

In 2024, LIV is reported to go head-to-head with the PGA Tour.
Sponsored

NHL’s Chris Foster on Amplifying Content Distribution With Automation

Learn how the NHL is using WSC Sports to increase fan engagement.
September 20, 2023

U.S. Cricket Ambitions Get Big-Time Boost

ICC to stage major tournament in New York, Dallas, and Miami
Cristiano-Ronaldo
September 19, 2023

Saudi Pro League Has Long Way To Go Despite Spending Spree

The league's revenue still trails far behind its European counterparts.
September 19, 2023

Latest NFL-NFLPA Drama Spotlights Fake Injury Accusations

The NFL has alleged that the NFLPA told running backs to fake injuries.
The Rock’s XFL and the Fox-owned USFL are expected to combine into one spring football league.
September 19, 2023

XFL, USFL Reportedly Expected to Merge Before 2024 Season

Disney and Fox reportedly will likely split the combined league's broadcasts.