WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told CNBC on Friday that she considers this year’s reduced coronavirus season to be critical for the league and female professional athletes everywhere.
“This could move the numerator for women’s sports,” she told “Squawk Box,” a day before Saturday’s season opener. “It is existential for us to have a season, financially.”
With many sports leagues restricted for coronavirus security reasons and hungry for live sports television networks, about half of the WNBA games will be televised this year, according to The New York Times. That is a change from previous years when men’s sports had priority.
Engelbert, a former Deloitte chief executive and prominent basketball and lacrosse player at Lehigh University, said she hopes the National Association of Women’s Basketball can capitalize on the opportunity for additional television coverage.
“Part of this was getting more exposure for these elite athletes,” he said. “Less than 5% of all covered sports are women’s sports.”
WNBA action begins Saturday with three games, kicking off a shortened season of 22 regular games, with playoffs.
Given the risks associated with playing basketball during a pandemic, all 12 teams and their support staff members are quarantined at the IMG Academy sports complex in Bradenton, Florida, where all games will be played without fans. Putting players and staff in a “bubble” is a strategy also adopted by the National Men’s Basketball Association and Major League Soccer in Orlando, and the National Women’s Soccer League in Utah.
“There has been a lot of scenario planning, so much of my business experience is helpful,” said Engelbert, noting that since the initial quarantine in early July, no WNBA player has tested positive for the coronavirus.
“We have been fortunate because we know that this virus is complicated,” he said. “We started with individual quarantine, when the players arrived in Florida. Then we went to team activities four days later.”
“It has been a Herculean effort and a great sacrifice from the players and the coaches,” he added. “So far so good, but I don’t want to curse him.”
Engelbert, who is also a board member of the nonprofit group Partnership for New York City, said the lessons learned in the WNBA “bubble” could be extended to other offices as companies navigate the return. to work.
“I think there are lessons to be learned here, but they are no different than public service announcements of wearing masks and hand washing,” said Engelbert.
“I realize that not everyone can do the tests that we are doing here,” he continued. “But one thing I learned during the three weeks here is that if you follow the science, it works.”
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