CHICAGO — The WNBA is taking a major step forward in its officiating process, with Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announcing Saturday that the league will introduce a replay center modeled after the NBA’s system when next season tips off. The announcement came during her state of the league press conference held ahead of the All-Star Game.
Officiating has been a recurring point of debate within the league over recent seasons, particularly around the level of physical play. During the offseason, the WNBA assembled a task force specifically to address and reduce excessive physicality on the court.
“This is one of the most significant investments we’ve ever made in our basketball operations, this investments of tens of millions of dollars will help bring greater consistency, efficiency, and transparency to our officiating process while continuing to improve the quality of the game,” Engelbert said.
While the replay center is confirmed for next season, Engelbert acknowledged that many specifics are still being finalized. She noted that the NBA’s last two-minute report — a feature that details officiating decisions in the final moments of close games — will not be adopted by the WNBA at this time.
Foul calls have increased this season as the league has placed a greater emphasis on allowing players more freedom of movement. That uptick in fouls has fueled more offense, pushing scoring averages to record highs. It has also stretched game lengths — earlier this month, the average WNBA game was clocking in at 2 hours and 8 minutes, the longest in league history.
Engelbert also addressed the issue of online harassment directed at players, saying the league and the players’ union held a virtual meeting Tuesday evening to discuss additional steps to combat the problem.
“(For) too many players across the WNBA, that experience is unacceptable,” she said. “Many cases, it’s disgusting. Racism, misogyny, homophobia, the harassment and threats directed to our players has no place in sport or anywhere else.”
She said the players’ feedback during that meeting was valuable as the league works to address the issue.
On another front, Engelbert said the league’s investigation into whether a Las Vegas Aces sponsorship arrangement violated salary cap rules ended without a definitive conclusion.
“No discipline will be recommended or imposed. Of course, if new or additional evidence comes to light, we’ll continue to investigate. But, you know, the integrity of our game is number one,” Engelbert said.
The situation stemmed from a $100,000 sponsorship deal offered in May 2024 by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to Aces players for each of the following two seasons. According to Spotrac, that figure exceeded the salaries of six players on the roster at the time. No similar deal was extended for the current season, and player salaries have since risen significantly following the completion of a new collective bargaining agreement in May — with each Aces player now earning at least $270,000, per Spotrac.
The LVCVA’s president and CEO Steve Hill defended the arrangement when it was first revealed. “We did this the right way,” Hill said. “We did something that we think works for Las Vegas and I think great for the players. We did this without the team. It was our idea and any questions they ask they’ll find that out.”
Engelbert also acknowledged that the league must do a better job staying in contact with its players. A common complaint among players has been a lack of communication with league leadership. Star player A’ja Wilson noted before the game that her conversations with Engelbert typically only happen when she is being presented with awards.
“I’ve been talking with the players about how much they want to hear from us, how much they don’t,” Engelbert said. “We do send them a lot of email updates and things like that. They’re a generation that doesn’t check email as much. So we have to get better at a text chain. … We have to be better at it. It’s something certainly like if a player is getting honored or players gets hurt or something like, I try to reach out to them, and, yeah. So we need to be better at it. There’s no doubt I need to be better.”
When asked whether she intends to remain as commissioner next season, Engelbert did not give a direct answer.
“I’m so blessed to have to be at the helm of this league during this incredible hypergrowth period. So blessed that these players are putting the product on the court,” she said. “I will just continue to, you know, do my job, execute the strategy because it has been working.”
Engelbert highlighted the league’s record-breaking viewership numbers, saying this is already the most-watched WNBA season in history. Across 117 broadcasts, the league has reached more than 73 million unique viewers. Twenty-nine games have averaged over one million viewers heading into the All-Star break — compared to just 11 games that reached that milestone during the entire previous season.
In-arena attendance is also up, with more than 2.2 million fans attending games so far this year — a 16% increase compared to the same point last season.
