Commissioner Cathy Engelbert shared her plans to make the WNBA a more profitable league in the future. (3:20)

DIANA TAURASI opened his arms and turned to the crowd. The WNBA superstar just scored a career-high 37 points in the playoffs with an ankle injury. She became popular on social media. Taurasi, 39, gave fans a retro-style performance against the Aces in Las Vegas. Taurasi's Phoenix Mercury returned home with a 1-1 draw in the semi-final series.

The problem is that the game will not be played on Mercury's home court. "Disney on Ice" was originally scheduled to be held at the Footprint Center the same night as the WNBA playoffs, so the Mercury team was banished to a smaller venue at Arizona State University.

This juxtaposition-an exciting sports moment followed by another offense to the league and its fans-is a clear reminder of the WNBA's struggle to open up space in sports 25 years after its founding. Although some players are well-known, the league has both NBA business partners and media partners who provide them with national and regular exposure, but challenges remain. The WNBA has been working hard to increase the value of the team. Attendance is lagging, and media copyright fees have not increased exponentially like other leagues. Its problems are beyond the bottom line. The vast majority of players show relative anonymity after leaving the university.

WNBA president Cathy Engelbert (Cathy Engelbert) did not shy away from any of them. Instead, her goal is what she calls a broken sports ecosystem, which has historically seriously underestimated the value of women's sports.

"This is a discount of 80% to 90% for a male model," she said.

In a 90-minute interview, former Deloitte CEO Engelbert accepted the top position of the WNBA in 2019 as her "second act", and she said she could solve this problem.

Engelbert did not tinker with the edges, but focused on the basic issues of fairness.

She has a five-year plan that includes forming a consortium of powerful stakeholders who want to convince American companies that the WNBA is more than just the "little sister" of the NBA. They believe that this is an evolving business that has gained tremendous traction in 2020 through its racial and social activism. Engelbert also plans to prioritize marketing and merchandise sales, while working hard to find expansion, sports gambling and partnerships. Moreover, she is defending higher media copyright fees.

"It's not easy," she said. "I have a plan, I'm already working on it."

Given their similar birthdays, Major League Soccer may be the best financial comparison with the WNBA.

MLS made its debut with 10 clubs in 1996, just a year before the WNBA was launched in 1997, when there were eight teams linked to the NBA franchise. Until 2005, franchise fees for MLS teams averaged between US$5 million and US$10 million. The Connecticut Suns became the first WNBA team sold to independent owners in 2003. According to the financial disclosure report, the sales price is US$10 million.

MLS now has 27 teams, and in recent years, the average attendance has increased by approximately 20% compared to when it debuted. MLS mainly competes in outdoor stadiums. With the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions affecting attendance of all sports, there are an average of more than 13,000 fans this season. In 2019, MLS has an average of 21,000 fans.

At the same time, the 12 WNBA teams had an average of approximately 6,500 fans during the 2019 regular season, which is lower than the peak of nearly 11,000 in 1998. The average attendance this year is about 2,600, and this number is at least partly due to strict COVID agreements placed in indoor venues.

However, the league’s TV ratings are more consistent.

According to an ESPN spokesperson, MLS has an average of 384,000 spectators per regular season this year, and 620,000 people watched the most watched football league game between Portland and Seattle on May 9.

According to data provided by ESPN, the WNBA had an average of 306,000 TV viewers during the 2021 regular season, and it soared to 755,000 when Seattle played against Chicago on August 15th. (From a perspective, the NBA has an average of 1.3 million viewers during the 2020-21 regular season, while the NFL has an average of 15.4 million viewers in 2020.)

ESPN did not disclose how much it paid for the current MLS and WNBA transactions, but media reports estimate that MLS receives approximately $90 million a year from ESPN, Fox Sports and Univision Deportes as part of the transaction, which also includes the broadcast rights team of American nationals. . According to media estimates, the WNBA receives at least US$25 million in copyright transactions between ESPN and CBS each year.

"There is a huge cost gap between men's and women's sports," Engelbert said. "Even the men's sports that we actually compete with in ratings."

According to public records, published reports and sports bankers, the price of WNBA teams has been between 10 million and 15 million US dollars. In contrast, the franchise fee for the MLS expansion team has steadily increased, which surged to US$200 million in 2019. The valuation of the MLS team, or what investors think the team will be worth after being sold, is between US$370 million and US$860 million.

Bob Marandro of White Hat Sports Group is an investment bank that specializes in providing sports ownership opportunities for investors. He said that the biggest difference between MLS and WNBA is investors' expectations for future media copyright transactions.

"MLS signed their first real media copyright agreement in 2014," he said. "This eight-year transaction will expire in 2022, and the value you see in the MLS may be affected by expectations for the next media copyright transaction."

According to media reports, the National Federation and Major League Soccer have announced that they will no longer bundle their media copyright transactions in the next contract. The WNBA transaction will continue until 2025.

Improving the franchise value of the WNBA is Engelbert's first goal.

The WNBA now consists of seven independently owned teams and five teams that share an owner with an NBA team. The ownership of the league itself is divided between the NBA and its WNBA franchise owners.

When the NBA announced in 2002 that it would no longer fund the WNBA, some NBA owners sold their teams. After being purchased by the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority in 2003, the Orlando franchise was moved to the Mohegan Sun casino complex in eastern Connecticut. In addition to revealing the $10 million price tag, the financial disclosure documents submitted by the tribe show that as of 2016, it owns 4.2% of the alliance.

According to reports, sales of the Washington Mysteries in 2005, the Los Angeles Sparks in 2006, and the Houston Comets in 2007 also reached $10 million. The financial disclosure report submitted by former U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler, who shared the Atlanta dream with Mary Bullock at the time, showed that her shares were valued at between $1 million and $5 million. In the file submitted, Loveler stated that she did not receive any income from the team that year.

"A lot of these leagues have their own reserve prices," Marandro said. "If someone says I want to enter, they will have to pay 10 million U.S. dollars because this is the entry fee. They don't want the transaction volume of this fee to be lower than this figure. The alliance will have a hard time approving to reduce the number."

When asked whether the value of WNBA teams is really between 10 million and 15 million US dollars, Engelbert said: “I think this is very low for some teams that have been around for 25 years. Or a team that performs well and has a fan base." She emphasized the impact of media copyright and sponsorship agreements, and then added, "I would say that you may be at the low end."

Ginny Gilder was one of four female entrepreneurs who bought the Seattle Storm in 2008, three of whom still own the team. She declined to say how much they paid for the team, but said, "I think this estimate is too low. We will not sell our franchise at this price."

WNBA reached a new streaming agreement with Amazon this year and renewed the agreement with Twitter last year. Gilder said she hopes the price of the next TV rights deal in the WNBA will increase.

"I think it is necessary because it is a more competitive environment and because more people are watching," Gilder said.

ESPN stated in a written statement that it “has established a valuable relationship with the WNBA in the entire 25-year history of the league, and we look forward to continuing this relationship for many years to come, as our long-term and industry contribution to women’s sports. Part of the leading commitment."

Engelbert said ESPN "has been a good partner since the establishment of the alliance."

"But obviously, we always want to push to a higher level based on the interest and momentum we see in this game now," she said.

Most of the motivation comes from financially rich sponsors who are attracted by Engelbert's vision.

Engelbert was watching a game with the Golden State Warriors from the sidelines when she won one of the WNBA's largest-and most important-partners.

Soon after being appointed commissioner, Engelbert appeared in the sports business group with Olympic silver medalist Kate Johnson. Then, the women went to watch an NBA game, and Johnson remembered Engelbert planned her strategy there to disrupt the business ecosystem that values ​​women's sports.

"In my opinion, she is a revolutionary," Johnson said of Engelbert. "She is revolutionizing the women's sport."

Johnson became the director of Google’s content and sports media partnerships in January and urged her new employer to sponsor the WNBA. After a series of brainstorming meetings between WNBA, ESPN and Google, the league announced in May that the technology giant has become a "WNBA game changer" and announced a multi-year agreement with ESPN and the league.

This transaction is more than just Google writing a check in exchange for advertising. Johnson said that in addition to his WNBA-related marketing efforts, Google has also underwritten another 8 games to ensure that ESPN broadcasts at least 25 regular season games during the 25th anniversary season. As of Friday morning, ESPN has aired another 15 playoff games. Google also paid to sponsor a collection of women's sports events held by SportsCenter every week, and is a sponsor of the espnW summit.

Johnson said: "Because of one thing, the women's sports continue to have no financial support." "This is a chain reaction. If there is not enough content on TV, there will not be enough investment to purchase these advertising content. This means that the league itself does not have it. Sufficient funds. Therefore, they cannot invest in a way that actually contributes to the growth model."

Together with Google, Engelbert has recruited AT&T, Nike and Deloitte to become WNBA game changers. Engelbert proposed topics to be discussed to the group, and each company provided expert opinions.

"For example, suppose a theme is diversity, fairness, and inclusiveness," Johnson said. "We will ensure that our experts participate in the Changemakers dialogue. If it is about media expertise, we will bring our media team. All these companies have different expertise within their organizations."

As far as she is concerned, Engelbert said: "I will use all the expertise I can get. Especially when you are trying to completely disrupt a model that has been around for at least 25 years."

"There is a movement to support these women," she said. "I mean, how else can we sign with companies like Deloitte, AT&T, and Google? They are trying to build their own brands and become supporters of diversity, fairness, and tolerance. So this is the difference, this is me The motivation to see is also my reason. "I am very confident that we will reverse the situation. "

80% of the players in the WNBA are people of color, and there is a strong LGBTQ presence in the league. The American business community has embraced players who speak out about social justice.

Sue Bird began to appear in CarMax ads this year. Chiney Ogwumike is the spokesperson of the DoorDash advertising campaign. Candace Parker is one of the cover stars of NBA 2K22, making her the first to get her coveted position in the popular basketball video game. Female NBA and WNBA players.

Parker currently plays for Chicago in the WNBA Finals. She said that in 13 seasons in Los Angeles, she learned a lot about trying to expand her personal brand and business portfolio, where she talked with former NBA star Magic Johnson. The latter is a member of the WNBA Finals. Spark ownership group.

"I want to walk into the room where the company's decision is made and look at the women in the sports world," Parker said, hoping that more female athletes will participate in business. "I think we have the ability to do this, and I want to be a part of it."

Engelbert said it is no coincidence that the company is attracted by WNBA players.

"The difference now is that the company has its own diversity, fairness and inclusiveness initiatives," she said. "The company desires our players as the epitome of their employee base."

In September, the alliance announced a partnership with Dick's Sporting Goods. According to Melissa Christian, vice president of marketing for the chain, authorized WNBA merchandise will now be sold in at least 100-120 stores for the first time.

"What we are working with W is how to change the visibility of the product," Christian said. "Then increase the visibility of the league and the game more broadly because it will spark interest."

Christian said that the sporting goods chain rarely cooperates with professional sports and prefers to focus on youth sports.

"We established this partnership because she wanted to drive change," Christian said of Engelbert. "We really want to use our resources to drive change and bring more visibility to women and girls in sports."

As big companies start to join, Engelbert hopes (and needs) more support from loyal fans and new fans.

On June 21, 1997, when LISA LESLIE and Kym Hampton lined up for the first jump ball in WNBA history, 14,284 fans watched the new launch of the Los Angeles Sparks and the New York Liberty at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood. Professional Women's Basketball League. Attendance reached its peak a year later, but has been steadily declining since then.

Reversing this trend is Engelbert's top priority.

"When I go to every arena, I will meet with the fans," she said.

She was shocked by the quality of the fans-their knowledge of the game and their passion for the game-but now she wants to focus on numbers.

"We have to promote this fanaticism more broadly and attract more fans," she said.

In 2016, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver stated that he hopes to increase the average attendance of the WNBA to more than 10,000 fans within five years. But after five years, this may no longer be possible. Some teams including Washington (4,200) and Atlanta (3,500) have moved to smaller venues.

According to sports bankers and WNBA owners, arena rent is one of the team's biggest expenses.

"If you can reduce or eliminate it, or at least make it palatable, you have a better chance of success," Marandro said.

When the Golden Gods tribe signed an operating agreement with the WNBA in 2003, the owner of the Connecticut Suns agreed to provide the Golden Gods Arena to the team for free. In 2010, the team became the first team in the league to turn a profit.

"You must have the right building," said a current owner, who asked not to be named. "If the size of the building is wrong, it will be difficult to make mathematics work. If the cost structure is wrong."

After the popularity of high-definition televisions disrupted ticket sales, the promotion of smaller arenas has become a growing trend not only in the WNBA, but also throughout college and professional sports.

John Moag of Moag & Company, which provides financial consulting services for NFL, NBA and other professional team owners, said: "Moving into a smaller venue is a good choice." "People don't like watching sports games on empty courts. Your fans are more nervous, their voices are louder, and the atmosphere is more exciting."

Val Ackerman, the first WNBA president and current Greater Eastern Conference president, said that a full building is always preferable to empty seats: "Sponsors want to be where the fans are," she said.

Engelbert believes that the new "sweet spot" of the WNBA has an average of 6,000-10,000 fans. But only 12 teams “is one of the obstacles to our increase in attendance”.

She said that the WNBA is expanding.

The owner of the NFL Raiders, MARK DAVIS, once had a season ticket in the Las Vegas Aces game. He sits next to Bill Hornbuckle, President and CEO of MGM International, which owned the team at the time and still owns the Aces team.

"During the game, I will tell him,'You need to pay the players more,'" Davis recalled in a video call with reporters in February. "I have been giving him tips on how to make this league better. Finally, he turned to me and said,'Why don't you buy this team?'"

Davis became one of the three new ownership groups that entered the WNBA this year-along with Atlanta and Minnesota. In the spring, the Bobcats and the Timberwolves of the NBA sold to entrepreneur Marc Lore and retired baseball star Alex Rodriguez for $1.5 billion; they paid in installments and are expected to fully control the two franchises in 2023.

Engelbert hopes to introduce more bosses to the alliance through expansion in the next five years. She said the league is looking for suitable new cities.

"We are now doing all the data mining," she said. "I suspect that by next summer or this time next year, in our 26th season, we will discuss the number of teams and the roster."

Engelbert said that sports betting can help determine where the WNBA expansion team can land, and it is estimated that gambling can bring "seven to eight-figure potential marketing partnerships with betting partners."

According to reports, Mercury signed a $66 million deal with Bally's Corporation in June and will become its exclusive sports betting partner for the next 15 years. The team called it "the largest sponsorship agreement in the history of women's sports."

Engelbert said that sports gambling is also an opportunity to attract a fan base, "we don't necessarily have to watch our game today."

She added that the league's expansion target cities are those that strongly support women's sports and "the kind of social justice platform that these WNBA players represent."

Gilder, co-owner of the storm, said that elements of social justice attract potential owners.

"People have not invested or have been hesitant to invest in women's professional sports," she said. "But you have to consider the social background in which this league operates, which is different from any other league in the country. This is starting to change. This is a big deal for the league. People start to want to own WNBA teams."

Terri Jackson took over as president of the National Women's Basketball Association in 2016, and soon after Engelbert became a commissioner, negotiated a new collective bargaining agreement with the league in 2020.

"We don't have a perfect CBA, but we have a very good CBA," Jackson said. "Now, let's talk about how we will add value and continue to build this thing together."

At least as early as 2008, the player union has successfully negotiated revenue sharing, when the league agreed to split the ticket revenue when the average team ticket revenue during the regular season exceeded $2.5 million.

The current agreement will run through the 2027 season, and if the league achieves certain growth goals, the revenue will be divided into 50-50. The alliance declined to disclose these goals and their total revenue.

"The way the revenue share is constructed depends on the performance of the league, not the team's business and the team's ticket sales," Jackson said. "I think this is in Cathy's best interests, and we believe she will develop the alliance."

But so far, Jackson said that because the alliance has not reached any agreed financial benchmarks, it has not triggered any revenue sharing agreements.

When talking about the corporate partners Engelbert has acquired, Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike, chairman of the union executive committee, believes that the league is on the verge of a breakthrough.

"In terms of alliance investment, we are a bit like really speeding up," she said. "Kathy did a great job stirring that pot and really tried to get results."

The highest paid player in the league earned a salary of $221,450 for the 2021 season, and the performance bonus added in the recent CBA means that players can receive more than $500,000 in cash compensation, which is more than three times the income they can earn in the previous agreement . According to CBA data, the minimum wage in 2021 is $58,710.

Engelbert said: "It is important that we pay them fairly, but you do need an economic model to support it."

Engelbert said that some repairs to the economic model can be achieved through marketing and merchandising. She also tried to solve a problem that has plagued the league for many years.

Three days after losing one point to Baylor in the NCAA championship game, Jackie Young officially replaced her Notre Dame jersey with a Las Vegas ace jersey when she became the first pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft.

Nearly 3.7 million spectators watched the classic Baylor Notre Dame game. Seven players from that game were transferred to the WNBA on April night.

Six months later, the WNBA Finals between Connecticut and Washington attracted an average of only 381,000 spectators in five games.

The NCAA Women's Championship often attracts 3-4 million spectators, and Engelbert immediately noticed this drop. "This is a problem that can be solved," she said, "it can be more integrated into college games."

Engelbert said that capitalizing on the popularity of NCAA players and established college competition is an obvious way to ensure that more WNBA players are household names.

"When the NBA really took a big step, the big opponents in the college team were Larry Bird and Magic Johnson," she said of the period after the 1979 Michigan State University-Indiana State University Men's Championship.

Engelbert hopes to link the NCAA to the WNBA not only through the draft, but also through WNBA marketing during March Madness.

Marketing investment will not stop here. Engelbert recently hired Phil Cook, a long-time Nike executive, as the alliance's first chief marketing officer.

"There are a lot of people in the city who don't even know that they have a WNBA team in that city," Engelbert said.

However, in addition to the fans in the city where the team owns the team, Engelbert believes that Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia have untapped international markets.

Engelbert said: "I think we have a huge opportunity to follow the NBA's global game." "Not only have we started to get draft picks from outside the United States, but people are also very interested in bringing the WNBA to the world."

Since the WNBA was launched as a summer league, most players have played overseas in the winter to maximize their income. This week, the Athletes Unlimited organization announced its debut in 2022. The one-month women's league will be held in a city from late January to February. It will not compete with the Europa League in terms of salary, but it provides players with another option and fans have the opportunity to see them.

Engelbert and Jackson believe that in the foreseeable future, the WNBA season is a "needed place" on the calendar, but maintaining the league and its players' visibility during the off-season has always been an eternal challenge. The same is true for marketing.

On the occasion of its 25th anniversary, the league added a variety of new uniforms and updated balls for each team, which appeared for the first time in national chains such as Wal-Mart. According to Engelbert, the ball was sold out, noting that she thought it was the only ball on the shelf that was sold to women that was not pink.

Another recent success story is the orange hoodie. Engelbert said it is the top 10 seller in the NBA online store. According to reports, after NBA stars and other celebrities wore it, it will appear on Fanatics.com in a row in 2020. Tian ranked number one sweatshirt and posted photos on social media. The plan is a collaboration with ESPN.

Engelbert said that it is necessary to strike a proper balance between too much goods and not enough goods.

"We can't just flood the market with it and then people won't buy it," she said. "This hurts the alliance, and it hurts the alliance brand."

In a special ceremony before the first game of the WNBA Finals, Cathy Engelbert awarded Diana Taurasi a white basketball with "GOAT" letters printed on it. The 10-time All-Star was selected as the greatest player in the history of the league.

Taurasi waved to the fans in the center of the footprint. After the hustle and bustle of "Disney on Ice", the NBA has adjusted its two preseason games that conflict with the WNBA playoffs to ensure that the Mercury team can play at home.

Taurasi turned her head while waving his hand, and Engelbert took out something that looked like an orange T-shirt from her pocket. But when she unfolded it and handed it to Taurasi, a baby jumpsuit with "Future Goat" appeared. This little orange suit looks a lot like the league’s best-selling orange hoodie, full of renamed iconic female silhouettes.

Taurasi smiled and accepted the gift, and then hugged Engelbert. Taurasi's wife, retired Mercury forward Penny Taylor, gave birth to their second child the day before. This is a sweet moment... It is also a smart marketing campaign that has won a lot of media coverage for the WNBA.

Engelbert's five-year plan has been implemented.

"It's absolutely feasible," Engelbert said. "I want the alliance to prosper from survival to the present."