WNBA Boss Cathy Engelbert to Step Down in 2026 After Record Growth

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert will retire at the end of 2026 after a period of huge growth but rising player criticism over her leadership.

The head of the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) is stepping down. On Friday, the league announced that Commissioner Cathy Engelbert — its top executive — will retire at the end of 2026. No replacement has been named yet.

Engelbert became the league's first-ever commissioner in 2019. Since then, the WNBA has grown at record speed. Under her leadership, the numbers have soared:

TV viewership (how many people watch games) jumped about 454%
Attendance (fans coming to games) climbed roughly 70%
The average team value (what a team is worth if sold) is now $460 million
The Golden State Valkyries became the first women's sports team ever valued at $1 billion

Engelbert also oversaw major changes behind the scenes. She helped expand the league from 12 to a planned 18 teams by 2030, and negotiated a new collective bargaining agreement (a contract between the league and players setting pay and working conditions). That deal led to the biggest player pay raises in WNBA history.

But her time in charge wasn't smooth. Many players criticized her over pay, poor game officiating (refereeing decisions), and how she handled racism and online abuse aimed at players. Star player Napheesa Collier famously said the league has "the worst leadership in the world."

More recently, some felt Engelbert didn't respond well to political protests about transgender women in sports, even though there are no known transgender players in the WNBA.

Despite the criticism, Engelbert struck an optimistic tone. "I retire knowing we have built something bigger, stronger and more enduring than we could have imagined," she said, adding that "the best is yet to come."

In short: the WNBA is far bigger and richer than it was in 2019, but the search is now on for a new leader who can keep growth going while repairing relationships with players.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/04/wbna-commissioner-cathy-engelbert-to-retire-at-the-end-of-2026-.html