WNBA Engelbert: “Transformational Year . . . But Not Without Growing Pains”
Friday, October 11, 2024 at 01:34PM By Barry Janoff
October 11, 2024: With the 2024 WNBA Finals Presented by YouTubeTV between the New York Liberty and Minnesota Lynx at hand, league commissioner Cathy Engelbert spoke with the media to talk about the just-concluded season and the future of the WNBA.
News included changes in 2025 from a 40-game to a 44-game season and moving the Finals from a best-of-five to a best-of seven. Her focus was also on the arrival of its 13th team, the Golden State Valkyries in 2025; and continued growth in Portland, OR, and Toronto in 2026, “with one more team to begin play by no later than the 2028 season, to get us to 16 teams.”
She also addressed “the hateful speech and threats directed at our players.”
“The Finals mark the culmination of what I think is the most transformational year in the WNBA's history. You saw all the statistics we put out: viewership, attendance, merch sales, digital engagement at or near record levels,” Englebert said during the media conference just prior to Game 1 (Oct. 10) in Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
“To put it in perspective with a few stats that bring insight into what has happened, the WNBA has significantly outpaced the industry in average consumption of live games in 2024. Fans watched 30% more minutes on average of each WNBA game in the 2024 regular season.
“Our games reached a record 54 million viewers in the 2024 regular season. Younger, more diverse audiences are imperative to the growth of the sports industry, and they flocked to the WNBA this season. Viewership by fans under 35 increased 211%, led by a 259% increase in viewership from Gen Z and millennial women.”
According to ESPN, across 17 playoff games prior to the Finals, the 2024 WNBA Playoffs Presented by Google has averaged 970,000 viewers, the most in 25 years across all platforms and a 142% increase vs. the 2023 WNBA Playoffs.
ESPN and ABC will offer exclusive coverage of the 2024 WNBA Finals Presented by YouTubeTV.
(Editor’s note: The Lynx defeated the Liberty, 95-93 in OT in Game 1 of the Finals.)
Games 2 and 3 of the Finals will be Oct. 13 (in Brooklyn) and Oct. 16 (in Minneapolis), respectively. The if-necessary Games 4 and 5 will be played Oct. 18 (in Minneapolis) and Oct. 20 (inn Brooklyn).
Regarding fan interaction growth, “Our focus on our direct-to-consumer platforms led to record-breaking content consumption and repeated fan engagement,” said Engelbert.
“WNBA App downloads surpassed one million this year, and monthly active users skyrocketed 252%. Social engagement increased nearly 300% across all of our league channels. There was an astounding 872% increase in WNBA App story views.”
However, not all fan interaction was healthful.
The commissioner did not mention Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark, top rookie Angel Reese and other players by name, but directly addressed an issue that has plagued the WNBA.
“This growth has not come without growing pains,” stressed Engelbert. “The hateful speech and threats directed at our players are troubling. That type of conduct is not representative of the WNBA's character or fan base.
“As a league, we stand united in condemning racism and all forms of hate. The WNBA is one of the most inclusive and diverse professional sports leagues in the world, and we will continue to champion those values.
“We'll meet with the Players Association, the players, teams. We'll work together to expand and enhance our efforts and are going to approach this multi-dimensionally, utilizing technology, prioritizing mental health, reinforcing physical security and increasing monitoring. We know there's more work to be done, and as a league, we are fully committed to listening to the players and other stakeholders on this and other important issues.”
According to the commissioner, “There's no place in sports for this. Just continue to condemn it, continue to be a voice on this.
“We have been already meeting with some technology providers. I think there are some technology solutions out there that we could deploy and employ. Of course, we want to meet with the players and see what they want to do around that.
“It just is something where we have to continue to be a voice for this, a voice against it, condemning it, and making sure that we find every opportunity to support our players, who have been dealing with this for much longer than this year, by the way.
“(Retied WNBA icon) Sue Bird said that the other day very eloquently. We need to continue to see how we can support the mental health resources, physical security, cybersecurity.
“We're going to attack it, as I said, multidimensionally. We're going to try to figure out how we can best work with the players as to how they want us to help solve this issue.”
With the WNBA having a team in Canada for the first time, Engelbert also addressed the potential of staging games worldwide, as the NBA has been doing.
“What's next as it relates to our globalization platform, we played Toronto, we played in Edmonton. That was kind of our Canada series. Now we'll have a team in Toronto starting in '26. Sure, we'd like to play in more places — EMEA, Asia, Africa, Latin and South America, I know Mexico City has shown interest, as well as a variety of other cities across the world.
“I was in Paris for the Olympics this year. Thought it was amazing, the support for women's basketball there.
“It was great to see the growth of the game globally. I think our players represent such great role models to those communities in lifting women. I've admired what the NBA has done with their Global Games platform, playing around the world. I think we'll be on a path there as we get into 2025 and beyond.”
Regarding expansion, the commissioner said, “Just in general for the 16th spot, as I've mentioned, the good news is we have a lot of demand from many cities. I'd say ten or so, maybe even plus at this point.
“The more people are watching the WNBA and seeing what we're growing here and seeing these players and the product on the court, more people are interested in having it in their cities. They see the economic impact of having a WNBA team in their city, the role model in the community these players represent.
“Philadelphia is on the list. Now that we have the three teams, two in '26, one next year, we're not in a huge rush. We'd like to bring it in in '27 or no later than '28, as I mentioned.
“So I'd say there's ten to 12 cities that are very viable that we're evaluating, and we have a process. I'd say I don't have a deadline by which we have to name it because it'll be out to '27 or '28 But I would think in the next couple months or so we'll start — now as we get into the off-season, we'll start taking a look at those that will go to the top of the list through our process.
“With that, I want to thank you for your coverage this year. It really has made a difference. I really am very grateful to be standing here as the commissioner of a league that has been through so much. To have you all in this room and reporting on this league as you have all year, very grateful for that.”
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