WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert’s job is a delicate balancing act as the league soars in popularity
Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Karen Lynch’s CVS considers a break up, women boomers are flooding into the stock market, and the job of WNBA commissioner is complicated as the league soars in popularity. Have a terrific Thursday!
– Play ball. Cathy Engelbert arrived at the WNBA in 2019 to a moment she called “existential.” The former U.S. CEO of Deloitte, Engelbert had left a job overseeing $20 billion in revenue and 100,000 employees for a staff of 12 as the WNBA’s first commissioner. When the pandemic hit months after her arrival, five to six teams out of 12 in the league would have folded without a season, she estimated.
This year, the WNBA has risen to highs that would have seemed near-impossible at that low point four years ago: 21 regular season games with more than 1 million viewers, 400,000 tickets sold in one month, and a rush of sponsors—all driven by a surge of interest in women’s sports and a superstar rookie class including players Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
It’s an exciting and high-stakes moment for the 28-year-old league. And it’s one that has led to debate throughout the sports world about how best to meet this heightened interest, as I spent the past few months exploring through conversations with players, owners, league execs, and other stakeholders in a new feature for the October/November issue of Fortune.
Mackenzie Stroh for Fortune
As commissioner, Engelbert is tasked with a balancing act between serving players, owners, fans, and the NBA, which owns 42% of the WNBA. That act has only become more delicate with the demands of this season’s attention—and accompanying frustrations. As agent Allison Galer puts it: “Every metric is up—except player compensation.” Salaries are collectively bargained, so they won’t change until 2026 at the earliest and still average $135,000. With millions of new viewers, too, have come increased online trolling, hate, and racism—and debates over how the league and Engelbert have dealt with that reality.
Despite the meteoric rise in media attention, the WNBA is still a relatively small business. Its teams and leagues took in $200 million in revenue in 2023, and while ticket sales and sponsorships are up this year, the real money—from a new $200 million-a-year media deal—won’t start coming in until 2026. The league and its teams are projected to lose $40 million this year.
In the meantime, the league and Engelbert are caught in a messy middle—with lots of eyeballs and opinions, but not necessarily the resources to fully meet this historic moment in the ways the sport’s many stakeholders are demanding.
Read the full story here.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
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ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
– It’s not you, it’s me. CVS, under CEO Karen Lynch, is reportedly considering various options to turn around its struggling business, including breaking up into separate insurance and retail units. CVS acquired insurer Aetna in 2018. If the company goes through with the separation plan, CVS would need to choose which side its prescription drug manager Caremark would take. Axios
– Taking stock. Older women are taking cues from their daughters and granddaughters by entering the stock market. A new Fidelity study finds that the share of boomer women who are investing rose a staggering 23% from 2023 to 2024. Seventy-one percent of all women say they invest in the stock market, up from 60% last year. Fortune
– Ready for launch. Meng Wanzhou is back in charge at Huawei under the Chinese telecommunications equipment giant’s rotating chair system. She’s expected to oversee the company’s next major smartphone launch during her six-month term. South China Morning Post
– Spill the tea. Actress Kerry Washington has invested in Spill, a Black-owned social media platform founded by Twitter’s former global head of editorial. Washington, an active member of the Spill community and an angel investor in other early-stage companies, said, “In a digital world where marginalized groups, especially Black, Brown, and LGBTQIA folks, rarely feel prioritized, Spill stands out.” TechCrunch
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Clue, a menstrual and reproductive health tracking app, appointed Rhiannon White as CEO. Previously, she was the company’s chief product officer.
Rome2Rio, Omio Group’s trip-planning platform, named Wendy Olson Killion chief executive officer. She previously served as Expedia’s global senior VP and GM.
SMCP, the parent company of brands Sandro, Maje, and Claudie Pierlot, named Ida Simonsen president and chief executive officer for North America. Previously, she served as president at Stella McCartney.
Genesco, a footwear retailer, named Cassandra ‘Sandra’ Harris senior vice president of finance and chief financial officer. Most recently, she was CFO at Artisan Design.
Newsweek appointed Megan Knapp as senior vice president of events. Previously, she was president of events at Digiday.
Panasonic Well, Panasonic’s wellness-focused venture and business incubator, added Elise Neel as global head of strategy and innovation, Sandy Anuras as global head of engineering and AI, Stacey Burr as global head of product management, and Maggie Stanphill as global head of design. Previously, Neel was SVP, new business incubation at Verizon. Anuras served as CTO at Sunrun. Previously at Google, Burr was GM/vice president and Stanphill was senior UX director.
CNO Financial Group, an insurance, benefits, and financial services provider, appointed Jess Turner to its board of directors. She is executive vice president and global head of open banking and API at Mastercard.
ON MY RADAR
The unsung warriors of The Price Is Right Business Insider
Bobbi Althoff on exactly how she got rich—and how rich, exactly WIRED
Sabrina Carpenter has waited her whole life for this Time
PARTING WORDS
“To have someone look at you and say, ‘Hey, the thing that you think is weird about you, that’s actually what’s going to save you as a grown up.’ …To give that to someone else would be the honor of my life.”
— Actor and comedian Kate McKinnon on her new children’s book, The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science
