How the WNBA became a political prop in the culture wars

Terry Gross (0:00)

This is Fresh Air, I'm Terry Gross. In June, the WNBA announced significant expansion of the league, with new teams coming to Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia. It's a milestone for the sport, as women's basketball gains both fan and corporate support. At the same time, the league has been embroiled in controversy that has more to do with the culture wars than with the game. Sabreena Merchant covers the WNBA for the New York Times sports journalism site, The Athletic.

She spoke with guest interviewer, Sam Fragoso, host of the interview podcast, Talk Easy. Here's Sam.

Sam Fragoso (0:36)

By any metric, the WNBA, the Women's National Basketball Association, is having a landmark year. Record viewership and attendance, soaring team valuations, and a massive $3.1 billion media rights deal with partners like Disney, ABC, and Amazon. And that's only the business. The basketball is chock-full of talent across the league, towering talents like Asia Wilson and Brianna Stewart, young dynamic rim runners like Angel Reese and Kiki Irofin, steely veterans like Chelsea Gray and Kelsey Mitchell to fan favorites like Olivia Miles and Sophie Cunningham.

The difficult degree of shot-making, the acrobatics, the extended range, night to night the game has never flowed better or been more competitive. And yet, as WBUR reporter Kari Thompson writes, the collision of what the WNBA has always been, a lifeline to the LGBTQ plus community and what it's becoming as a result of this newfound attention following Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark's arrival in 2024, has turned the league into a target. According to Media Matters, since June 25, Fox News has dedicated at least 206 segments to the WNBA, largely aimed at stoking culture war tensions related to race, trans athletes and more.

My guest today is sports reporter Sabreena Merchant. She covers the WNBA for the Athletic and has been on the beat for nearly a decade. Sabreena Merchant, welcome to Fresh Air.

Sabreena Merchant (2:03)

Thank you for having me.

Sam Fragoso (2:04)

To start, the commissioner of the WNBA, Cathy Engelbert, has announced her retirement come the end of this season. Why was this the time for her to step down?

Sabreena Merchant (2:17)

So, this past off season, the commissioner presided over her second collective bargaining agreement negotiation, a landmark deal that pushed WNBA salaries into the seven figures, introduced revenue sharing into the league meaningfully for the very first time, and has just completely transformed the economics of the business. And it always seemed like this would be the last CBA that Cathy Engelbert would negotiate. It was just a matter of time of when she decided to step down, whether that was closer to the signing of this one or closer to the expiration of this date.

And I guess she decided that this was the right time. She has said that she only intended to be in this job for less than five years, and she is completing her, I guess, eighth season. She came in sort of midway through the first season. So she is about seven years since she took on the job.

Sam Fragoso (3:07)

At the end of last season, Nafisa Collier, who's a forward for the Minnesota Lynx, arguably the best team in the league right now, said, quote, We have the best players in the world. We have the best fans in the world. But right now, we have the worst leadership in the world.

Are those comments reflective of a larger sentiment around the league, especially with the players?

Sabreena Merchant (3:29)

Yeah, Fee really brought it with that statement. You know, she had just been injured a few days earlier in a playoff game that essentially ended the Lynx chances of winning her first WNBA title. And I imagine the emotions were pretty high. She eventually had to have surgery on both ankles, came into this exit interview setting on a scooter, I believe, or crutches like a combination of the two. She was not the kind of state that you want to be when you'd rather be playing in the WNBA finals.

And she has since said that she was being a little dramatic with the worst leadership in the world comment. I do think she intended to get across the fact that the WNBA officiating needs to improve more than anything and that there has to be greater partnership between the league and its player stakeholders. But I don't think it is out of ordinary among the players to be critical of Cathy Engelbert's leadership and her ability to communicate and maintain relationships with the players. That was at the heart of the negotiations and a lot of the distrust during the collective bargaining agreement process from about January to March of this year.