Engelbert: WNBA commissioner search underway as her retirement timeline holds

NEW YORK (AP) — WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said that a search for her replacement was ongoing Thursday after the league had its annual competition committee meetings.

“Nothing to report, a normal process, a search firm interviewing people,” Engelbert said to a small group of reporters.

Engelbert announced in September that she planned to retire at the end of the calendar year and reiterated that she expected to still be able to do that. The Commissioner had said that if a replacement hadn't been found by the end of 2026 she would stick around as long as needed.

The meetings on Thursday brought together coaches and general managers from around the league to New York to talk about the past season.

Among the topics were officiating and the new replay center that will be used next season, as well as the many new practice facilities to be used by teams over the next couple of seasons.

Engelbert was excited that next season's schedule will jump to 50 games from 44 and that there won't be an interruption for international play such as the Olympics or women's FIBA World Cup. The Commissioner said the season might end a little earlier than this year when Game 7 of the WNBA Finals — won by Golden State — concluded on Oct. 31.

This also will be the first offseason with the new collective bargaining agreement that was finalized last spring. Teams will have their normal allotment of time to sign free agents and take care of normal business.

“There was no specific news, obviously, we have other meetings over the next couple of weeks into December,” Engelbert said.

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