OT: WNBA commissioner needs a lesson on how to market her stars

WNBA league commissioner Cathy Engelbert spoke to the press on Friday to deny claims of negative comments about her player base. Despite this, her leadership is under heavy scrutiny. Photo courtesy of the Associated Press.

AIDEN CADDELL | STAFF REPORTER | acaddell@butler.edu

Overtime, or “OT,” is an opinion column series where the Collegian takes national sports headlines or polarizing topics and gives them a Butler-centric angle.

Here is a surprise: Caitlin Clark’s name has hit the headlines once again.

Despite the Indiana Fever superstar guard’s July groin injury keeping her out for the remainder of her sophomore season, the Fever phenom has still been in the spotlight, even during a WNBA finals featuring two unaffiliated teams: the Phoenix Mercury and Las Vegas Aces.

The reason is shocking. In a recent press conference, Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, a five-time all-star and WNBA Players Association vice president, detailed a conversation between herself and league commissioner Cathy Engelbert in which Engelbert said Clark should “be grateful she makes $16 million off the court, because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.” 

According to Collier, Engelbert doubled down on her statements, also saying that Clark and other young standout athletes such as Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese and Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers “should be on their knees thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them.”

These comments aren’t just arrogant, they’re ignorant too. Stars like Clark have created a massive movement towards increasing interest and excitement for the league, and the numbers back it up. Clark and Reese’s 2024 rookie year set a record in WNBA TV viewership, achieving the highest attendance in 22 years and breaking an all-time mark in merchandise sales. This year, the boost in viewership has not slowed down. September’s semifinal matchup featuring the Fever and Aces averaged 1.8 million viewers tuned in, one of the highest marks in 27 years. 

Engelbert’s claim that the WNBA is giving these women their platform is weak because the spotlight follows the superstar. Even during her collegiate years, Clark was must-see TV. Her Elite Eight matchup with Iowa against Reese and LSU in 2024 was the most-watched women’s college basketball game ever, catching more eyes than that year’s World Series.

First-year health sciences major Isaac McCormick has lived in central Indiana his whole life, giving him a front-row seat to the change in the community that has occurred since Clark put on the red and white. 

“You go to a Fever game and 50 to 60 percent of people are wearing her jersey,” McCormick said. “[Clark] is the most popular player in the league and it’s not close.” 

Most criticism is pointed towards the league’s administration about player salaries, and for good reason. The league’s revenue has tripled since 2019, and yet contract sizes haven’t budged. Players in the WNBA get a less than 10% cut of the league’s revenue, compared to the NBA, which shares nearly half. If the players simply got the same percentage of league revenue, superstar players like Clark — who are getting more attention than most male players — would be making millions, not tens of thousands per year. 

Players are not happy with this lopsided distribution of wealth, and it creates a tense divide between the league and the players who drive it. This season, many players stood together in protest by wearing “Pay Us What You Owe Us” shirts during warmups, directly telling Engelbert and others in league leadership that change is needed.

Susanna Hilleary, a first-year creative media and entertainment major, has been to multiple Fever games this season, including Game 3 of the team’s semi-final matchup with the Aces. She finds this divide to be hurting the league and believes Engelbert needs to give in to her players’ requests. 

“[Engelbert] shouldn’t be putting down her biggest players like that,” Hilleary said. “She needs to have the backs of the women in her league.” 

Collier’s press statement came after an untimely ankle injury suffered in the semifinal round against the Mercury. Collier argued that the lack of attention from the league’s administration towards adequate officiating causes a more physical and less safe game for the players. One of Collier’s most blunt comments directed at Engelbert came at the end of her speech, stating that the WNBA has “the worst leadership in the world.” 

First-year exploratory business student Brian Beck is an avid fan of the W, and agrees with Collier that there’s a problem with the level of officiating. For Beck, the referees are diminishing the excitement of the play on the court, as well as putting star players in danger. 

“The NBA has systems set in place where they assess referees at the end of the year to make sure that they’re good enough,” Beck said. “The W needs to improve there; we need to protect the players because the officiating is just horrible.” 

Engelbert needs to embrace and endorse her stars, not criticize and ridicule them. The league’s booming trajectory can be attributed to the talented superstars found on the court, not media rights deals made by league offices.

More eyes are on the WNBA now than in the last three decades, and yet star players are calling out the commissioner for mismanaging the league. It seems clear to many —  fans and players alike — that the W’s high offices have their priorities set on themselves when they need to focus on their once-in-a-lifetime player base. If Engelbert wants to keep her position, a change is needed — and fast. 

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