Lynx Welcome WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert
On Aug. 16, the Minnesota Lynx hosted new WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert for a pregame discussion as part of the team’s We Are Women Night before the game against the Washington Mystics. Minnesota was the first stop in a planned nine-city tour of team sites. Engelbert covered a wide range of topics and also took questions from the audience. The following are excerpts from the event. You an also hear her speak on the Lynx Layup Line podcast released the same day.
The discussion started with Engelbert explaining her interest in the position: “I wanted to do something different, something where I could have a broad impact on women’s leadership, something I had a passion for. [The position] checked all three boxes.”
On sports and leadership:
“There’s lots of data to back this up — that girls and women who play sports do better at business and life. I captained both the lacrosse and basketball teams at my senior year [at Lehigh]. Little did I know, that was building my confidence and leadership skills ultimately for so many years, decades to this point.”
On ‘having it all’ and balancing family with work:
“I’ve always said, ‘You can’t have it all, because it is defined by someone else.’ I always say, ‘Can I do it all as defined by me?’ Because then I’m defining what success means to me.
“I coached my daughter’s basketball team through middle school, travel basketball, for fifth to eighth grade, and this was the most challenging thing I ever did in my life. And the audit busy season is January through March. [Engelbert was previously CEO of accounting firm Deloitte.] When is travel basketball season? In the northeast United States, from January through March. How could you have done that? Because I prioritize. I talked to my clients, I said, ‘This is very important that I do this.’ It was important because I wanted people to see me as a working mom and doing something that I had a passion for. And some of these girls went on to play in college. Now they tell their moms ‘I was coached by the WNBA Commissioner!’”
Engelbert on her vision for the WNBA:
“We have so much momentum around women’s sports and women’s empowerment. So this is a great time to be coming in, you know, but we do have things we need to transform. I want to drive a player-first agenda for the WNBA. We need to enhance the player experience, We need to drive a better family experience, we need all 12 of our franchises to look at the economics. We need to drive corporate sponsorships.”
On the collective bargaining agreement (CBA):
“The nice thing that I have figured out in very quick period of time is we all have the same goals here. We all want to drive a thriving sustainable league for the future.”
On merchandising:
“So obviously, one of the things in my new role was feedback, and you wouldn’t believe, most of it is on merchandise. So I realized the passion that we all have. And I’m frustrated, quite frankly, with the inability. So if we could partner with some of the big box retailers, and I think we need to think more innovatively as to what we even offer and use the women’s empowerment theme. And some of the stuff can go viral and sell out. When you’re only in 12 markets, it’s harder to sell to a big box real big box retailer that has 100 cities where they have thousands of stores. So we we need to thoughtfully do it. Merchandise is high on my list. I’ve already had a couple of meetings on it. It’s more complicated than I thought. I think we’re going to get something done in the offseason, where we’re going to work very hard on availability of merchandise, particularly online.”
On the topic of officiating:
“One of the things I’ve probably received lots of feedback [on] is the officiating. It’s certainly something I’m going to start to look at, have a meeting with the head of the referees when they get back. We’re never going to have perfect refs in every fan’s eyes or every player’s eyes. But, you know, we do want to strive for consistency. And that’s what we want to strive for. And despite the media reports that there must be some edict from the league level to call less fouls on the bigs and that kind of thing, that is not the case that I have any knowledge of. But it’s certainly something we’re looking at — the experience of the officials, the consistency of the officials, the training of the officials.”
On the significance of being named league Commissioner rather than the previous title of President:
“There is a fair amount of significance around being at the table. And when you’re a commissioner, I’ve already got the seat at the table and a variety of different things. And so Adam Silver, commissioner of the NBA, when I was interviewing for the position, and accepted the offer, he wanted to signal that this is a major professional sports league and major professional sports leagues have commissioners, and that he wanted to have a second seat at the table when he gets invited to these Commissioner meetings, and particularly to have a woman at the table, because we did not have that woman, a former business leader at the table to help drive the progressiveness of sports and women’s sports in the league. So I think it does come with great responsibility. But I’m certainly happy to have that title, because it is a title that gets you a level of responsibility and respect in sports and even outside of sports that, if we want to do something as the W I think it’s going to be easier being a commissioner to get things done.”
On using the WNBA as a general platform for women’s issues:
“That’s part of our thinking about having the conversation more broadly, outside of our short season. Definitely want to drive a women’s leadership platform and use our players as part of that, And also have an impact more broadly. We can be a convener about social issues in the world and really be a strong voice. And Adam Silver, when he hired me said, ‘You know, I want you to be that strong voice that whenever there’s a tough issue around women in society.’”
The event ended with host and local sports personality Marney Gellner giving Commissioner Engelbert some advice:
“I just want to give you one tip for your for your experience. When you hear the crowd and the question ‘Whose house?’ The answer is . . . [Audience shouts] ‘Our House!’”
If you like this content, please support our work at Her Hoop Stats by subscribing for just $20 a year.
