WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert’s balancing act

This year, the WNBA has risen to highs that would have seemed near-impossible at that low point four years ago: 21 regular season games with more than 1 million viewers, 400,000 tickets sold in one month, and a rush of sponsors—all driven by a surge of interest in women’s sports and a superstar rookie class including players Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.

It’s an exciting and high-stakes moment for the 28-year-old league. And it’s one that has led to debate throughout the sports world about how best to meet this heightened interest, as I spent the past few months exploring through conversations with players, owners, league execs, and other stakeholders in a new feature for the October/November issue of Fortune.

As commissioner, Engelbert is tasked with a balancing act between serving players, owners, fans, and the NBA, which owns 42% of the WNBA. That act has only become more delicate with the demands of this season’s attention—and accompanying frustrations. As agent Allison Galer puts it: “Every metric is up—except player compensation.” Salaries are collectively bargained, so they won’t change until 2026 at the earliest and still average $135,000. With millions of new viewers, too, have come increased online trolling, hate, and racism—and debates over how the league and Engelbert have dealt with that reality.

Despite the meteoric rise in media attention, the WNBA is still a relatively small business. Its teams and leagues took in $200 million in revenue in 2023, and while ticket sales and sponsorships are up this year, the real money—from a new $200 million-a-year media deal—won’t start coming in until 2026. The league and its teams are projected to lose $40 million…