The WNBA will go on to see yet another season, during which players, as well as the league, will evolve into a mainstream phenomenon after years of bearing the tag of a league not everybody is interested in. And that means Cathy Engelbert couldn’t escape the recently found limelight.
Everything was going just fine until Napheesa Collier canceled a planned meeting with Engelbert. Not particularly good breaking news, but it caught everybody’s attention. However, as things stand now, a video from last year has resurfaced in which the league commissioner allegedly downplayed Caitlin Clark’s earnings.
Cathy Engelbert’s Past Caitlin Clark Comments Resurface
Recently, one of the videos from Cathy Engelbert’s 2021 interview went viral. It was a 2024 CNBC interview where Engelbert praised Clark’s endorsement potential, contrasting her denial on Friday of telling Collier that Clark should be “grateful” for the WNBA’s platform.
This contradiction has reignited debates amid the league’s escalating tensions, with the CBA deadline looming on October 31. The timing, as the Finals unfold, amplifies the controversy. The video arrives at a crucial moment when there’s already a lot of noise going on.
“Caitlin has the ability to make up to a half-million dollars just in WNBA wages this year. So, of course, they’re just looking at a base which is collectively bargained. And, actually, it’s low because she’s the No. 1 pick. She’ll make a little more than that,” she said.
cathy has pretty much said everything publicly already. last year she claimed caitlin was actually making $500k from the wnba and said she was able to get more money from endorsements because of the wnba platform pic.twitter.com/eVGQMl1QRS
— correlation (@nosyone4) October 4, 2025
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“She also has millions and millions of dollars [in] endorsements. Because she declared to become pro, her endorsements are higher in dollar value. She has a global platform now, not just a U.S. platform. So, she’s going to do just fine as will the top players in the league as every league does,” Engelbert added.
However, as Cathy’s April 2024 CNBC remarks framed Clark’s $76,535 base salary as a starting point, noting her potential to earn half a million with WNBA wages and millions more in endorsements, such as her $28 million Nike deal. Something that Dave Portnoy blamed Engelbert for undervaluing just a couple of days ago.
Cathy Engelbert Receives Alarming Reality Check From WNBA Exec
While the world appears to be against the former Deloitte CEO, a WNBA executive delivered a stark warning to Engelbert amid her feud with Collier over Unrivaled.
“The most important people in this entire ecosystem are the players. Lock them out if you want to, but all you’re going to do is ensure that Unrivaled becomes the big person on campus as opposed to the W,” the anonymous executive said.
Additionally, it cautioned that a lockout would boost Unrivaled’s $340 million valuation above that of the WNBA. With Unrivaled’s 12 million viewers challenging the league’s $1 billion revenue, the exec’s message might give the biggest women’s league a nightmare.