The WNBA and the WNBPA are still basking in the glow from the momentum both hope to generate off the new collective bargaining agreement that was agreed upon back in January.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert attended the MAKERS Conference in Los Angeles and spoke with Yahoo Sports about how the CBA came about and what she hopes will be the result of the historic occasion.
Part of what she noticed within the W was a marketing lapse. Engelbert says she has observed how the NBA has marketed superstars such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant among others and wants to see the same for the Elena Delle Donne’s, Breanna Stewart’s, Candace Parker’s, Diana Taurasi’s and A’ja Wilson’s of the WNBA.
One of the things I noticed is we have a marketing problem. We really need to step up our marketing dollars.
–Cathy Engelbert, WNBA commissioner
I would love to have all 144 under these agreements, but we’re going to pick some of our top players who have a real feel for marketing and appealing to the fanbase and bring in new fans.
–Cathy Engelbert, WNBA commissioner
Engelbert says that a similarity between her previous role as CEO of the Big Four accounting firm Deloitte and her current post as WNBA commissioner is cultivating business relationships necessary to increase economic output. One of the attributes of the new CBA is the WNBA Changemakers program that allows its corporate partners to further a conversation around growing women’s sports in addition to furthering their own sponsorship aspirations.
Deloitte was announced in the CBA as one of the Changemakers along with existing WNBA partners Nike and AT&T. She also said one metric that may not always get looked at in terms of evaluating whether or not to do a women’s sports sponsorship deal is social responsibility.
