WNBA commissioner embracing college players with NIL deals
While some prominent names in collegiate and professional sports aren’t embracing the new name, image and likeness era for college athletes, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert takes a different approach.
“It’s just going to be really interesting to see those players come into our league with big followings and see what that does to lift the viewership and the engagement in our league,” Engelbert told Business Insider.
Engelbert mentioned that some women’s college basketball players who have partnerships with big-name brands like Mercedes, Powerade and Nike would easily transition those partnerships into professional basketball. Transitioning a global or national brand onto the professional stage is much easier than a hyper-local partnership.
“The local grocer and the local car dealer, well, that doesn’t come into
the next professional league, well,” Engelbert said.
WNBA players rely heavily on partnerships for added income, where the average player makes approximately $113,295 per season as of the start of the 2023 season. With the addition of a new expansion team coming to the Bay Area for the 2025 season, there will be more roster spots than ever. The rookies will be coming into the league having a strong grasp on NIL.
