Despite the CBA being agreed upon, everything is not rainbows and sunshine in WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert’s camp. The WNBA players voted to ratify that new CBA with the league. According to the WNBPA, more than 90% of players participated in the ratification vote, with the results a unanimous yes. “This moment is the result of years of work and a shared belief that as the league rises, so must the players,” the WNBPA said in a statement. As the WNBPA celebrates an enormous pay raise and deserved revenue sharing, questions on Engelbert’s future have reemerged. 

At one point, it looked like Engelbert would be shown the door. With the CBA negotiations frozen, she was torched in the media by WNBPA Vice President Napheesa Collier. There was a growing sentiment that she was the reason behind all the difficulties and uncertainties for the CBA. Whether that is right or wrong is another matter. Despite a “revolutionary” CBA, it seems those questions haven’t gone away. 

“I’ve talked to a lot of sources within the league, owners specifically, who have concerns about Cathy going back to the 16% stake sale for 75 million,” Front Office Sports’ Annie Costabile said in an interview on the ‘Flagrant and Funny’ podcast.  “At the time, that was looked at as this celebratory moment outwardly, but there were a lot of people inside that were like, ‘This is a mistake.’ It’s my opinion that the deal getting done does not fix all the issues that existed beforehand.”

The doomed 2022 deal is well known at this point. After COVID-19 ravaged an already struggling league, Cathy Engelbert led a capital raise for the league. It was initially marketed as “the largest-ever” for a women’s sports property, selling a 16% equity stake in the league for $75 million in February 2022. The funds were earmarked for “brand elevation, marketing, and the globalization of the WNBA,” among other infrastructure investments. 

The league reportedly tried to buy it back during these negotiations back in January. But in 2026, it is estimated to be worth $600–640 million. It is unknown whether the league succeeded in buying that back. But it certainly hampered the league’s power in the CBA negotiations. A muddled ownership structure meant Engelbert had less revenue-sharing to offer the players. So, now the owners aren’t happy, and even if the players remain satisfied with the deal, do they want Engelbert as their leader?

“Leading up to this deal, there was a lot of speculation, serious speculation about her future. Once this deal got done, there will be a transition of power, and I don’t think that this deal getting done changes that,” Costabile said. “When you look at Cathy’s tenure, it lines up with the idea that there could be a transition of power in the near future.”

What Costabile is referring to is the Sports Business Journal report in September 2025 that said Engelbert will be leaving after the CBA is done. A WNBA spokesperson said that the report was “categorically false.” Later, Engelbert called these ideas “clickbait” and said, “I’ve never been a quitter.” But with fresh concerns emerging, those earlier reports have renewed weight.

Engelbert has been in her position for 7 years since joining in 2019 and is already the second-longest-tenured commissioner of the league, with only the first Commissioner, Val Ackerman, having served longer. She oversaw the early launch and expansion with NBA Commissioner David Stern. 

A change might be due. However, there is a counterpoint. Engelbert is the one who has finalized the $2.2 billion, 11-year media deal, the CBA, and the expansion plan till 2030, among other changes. Albeit filled with positive change, this is a volatile time for the league, and a change in leadership here might also rock the boat. If players and the owners force the hand, the NBA will have no choice but to bring in a new leader. But a change to what? According to Annie Costabile, the new leader should match Adam Silver in authority.

Cathy Engelbert’s Replacement Should Be Someone Of Adam Silver’s Stature

For the longest time, the WNBA has been perceived by casual basketball fans as a “charity case” of the NBA. Maybe it was at one point in the past. However, with increased investment in the women’s game, it has skyrocketed to being one of the most popular leagues in the country. In 2024, it was named the fastest-growing brand in Sports by a marketing report. They have now signed a CBA that will make the first million-dollar WNBA athlete possible. So, this new reality needs a leader who will make decisions with only the WNBA in mind. 

“I think this league needs a leader that is going to work side by side with Adam. Not be a step below Adam,” Costabile said. “I know that’s a lot to ask because this league was founded by the NBA, was brought to life by David Stern. In a lot of respects, this is looked at as the partner league or the baby sister league to the NBA. But if that’s how you’re going to treat it, that’s all it’s ever going to be. You can’t expect this league to truly reach its full potential, to maximize its value, if the leader of the league is responding to the leader of another league.”

The NBA and WNBA are effectively competitors if you look at it from a different perspective. Both offer basketball as their core product, albeit in a different way. They share the same fanbase and target market. Can we trust Adam Silver, who superseded Cathy Engelbert, to make decisions that will benefit the WNBA over the NBA? This conflict has largely limited the WNBA’s growth over the years. 

“The NBA has always viewed the WNBA as a sideline,” Stanford economics professor Roger G. Noll told FOS. “They’ve never thought of it as a standalone line of business that they’re trying to maximize the value of. It was a way to use the arenas in the summer when they’re not being used. That’s always been the conceptualization.” 

However, now the WNBA has outgrown that stage. It needs its own standalone vision and a leader who can provide it. Even if Cathy Engelbert remains as a Commissioner, this attitude change is essentially in breaking the league’s shackles to unrestricted growth.