CHICAGO — Cathy Engelbert announced Saturday that the WNBA will launch a full centralized Replay Center beginning with the 2027 season. The WNBA Commissioner delivered her annual state of the league address at the United Center hours before tip-off of the 2026 WNBA All-Star Game.
Engelbert also said the league's independent investigation into the Las Vegas Aces has been closed without discipline, addressed online threats directed at players, and took a question about whether she expects to hold her job at the start of next season.
A Centralized Replay Center for 2027
The Replay Center follows what Engelbert described as a multi-year evaluation process. She put the cost in the tens of millions of dollars.
"This is one of the most significant investments we've ever made in our basketball operations," Engelbert said. "This investment, tens of millions of dollars, will bring greater consistency, efficiency, transparency to our officiating process while continuing to improve the quality of the game."
Operational details are still being finalized. The technology has to be installed in every arena the league plays in, including buildings used for only a handful of games in a season. The NBA has operated a Replay Center for years, and Engelbert said the WNBA will leverage some of those capabilities.
"We're really excited about this project, the value it will bring to the game," she said. "We have a lot of people working on it behind the scenes to bring it to fruition for the start of next season. We'll be sharing more details in the coming months."
Asked in the first question of the availability whether a Last Two Minute Report would follow, Engelbert framed both items as capital allocation questions.
"It's certainly on the list, but nothing to report on it," she said. "We're going to hopefully get the Replay Center in first."
No Discipline in the Aces' Investigation
The independent investigation conducted by outside counsel has been wrapped up. Engelbert took that portion of a two-part question first.
"The WNBA has determined that there is insufficient evidence at this time to establish a salary cap circumvention violation, and no discipline will be recommended or imposed," Engelbert said. "Of course, if new or additional evidence comes to light, we'll continue to investigate."
The 2026 CBA included enhanced circumvention provisions, which Engelbert said apply prospectively.
On the broader question of transparency around fines, suspensions, and investigations, she pointed to processes that have been in place for 30 years, including a mechanism for coaches to submit plays after officials file game reports.
"The integrity of our game is number one," she said.
Player Safety After Tuesday's Call
Before taking questions, Engelbert spent several minutes on threats and online abuse directed at players. She met with a group of players Tuesday, with the league's head of security on the call.
"What too many players across the WNBA have experienced is unacceptable," Engelbert said. "Many cases it's disgusting. The racism, the misogyny, the homophobia, harassment and threats directed to our players has no place in sport or anywhere else. This is their workplace. It has no place."
Rookies enrolled in the league's No Space For Hate platform during rookie orientation this year. Veterans largely did not.
"I'm not sure they even remembered that we had all these resources available," Engelbert said. "I think some of the rookies did because we just had rookie orientation where they all signed up for our No Space For Hate Platform, our social protect technology. We have a lot of rookies on that. The veterans never signed up, they forgot about it, things like that."
Security teams monitor for credible threats without players seeing that work, Engelbert said. She also said the league is learning what language models can contribute on the digital side, and that a technology available to players is not deployed by all of them.
"Anytime a player tells me anything, I go right to the head of security," Engelbert said. "It goes to the team. They work together with local law enforcement, in some cases with local prosecutors."
The Question About 2027
Engelbert was asked directly whether she expects to be commissioner of the WNBA at the start of the 2027 season. She did not answer yes or no.
"I will just continue to do my job, execute the strategy, because it has been working," Engelbert said. "Make sure we listen to the players, communicate with the players. So absolutely just love this league and blessed to have had the career I had before and the career I have now."
Twelve people worked at the league office when she arrived in 2019. Nearly 100 work there full time now.
"Remember, I came in here and I've told some of you, there were 12 people working at the league," Engelbert said. "There's 12 people probably for the 24 years before I got here. Now we have almost a hundred people working full time. We have a lot of others that help us. We leverage off the NBA model as well."
On the relationship with players a year after a contentious bargaining cycle, Engelbert cited the number of players who have signed million dollar-plus multiyear contracts and said more are coming. Players now participate in a revenue share under the CBA.
We asked Cathy Engelbert what the biggest misconception about being a league commissioner is 🎤 pic.twitter.com/za5RkJPq1d
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) July 25, 2026
Viewership and Attendance at the Break
Through 117 broadcasts, the league has reached more than 73 million unique viewers. Last season's full-year total was 63 million, which stood as the record.
Twenty-nine games have averaged more than one million viewers this season. That figure was 11 for all of last season.
More than 2.2 million fans have attended games, up 16% from this point a year ago. WNBA ID, the league's digital platform, has surpassed two million members. NBC and USA Network Versant joined Disney, ESPN, CBS, Amazon, and ION as broadcast partners this year.
"Now we're only at the All-Star break," Engelbert said. "Just think about that."
WNBA Live, presented by AWS for the first time this year, ran across more than 180,000 square feet with 35 partners and licensees. Engelbert said attendance had passed 30,000 when she left the building Saturday afternoon.
Officiating, Fouls, and Freedom of Movement
Two groups did offseason work on officiating. A state of the game committee included players, officials, college coaches, general managers, team presidents, and staff from the league office, referee operations, and basketball operations. A separate officiating task force reviewed combined hours of film that Engelbert put in the tens to hundreds.
Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said earlier in the week that progress had been made, and Engelbert was asked about that assessment.
"I knew there would be an adjustment period, but it was the offseason work we did," Engelbert said. "It was a lot of work, a lot of hours."
Scoring, field goals made, and field goal percentage are at all-time highs. Offenses are on pace for all-time highs in points per game, field goal percentage, and offensive rating.
"That's what we heard from players: We want more freedom of movement," Engelbert said. "We got it."
Fouls are up, and Engelbert said the calibration has continued to move over the past couple of weeks.
Global Games and the Coaching Pipeline
The league is working through a three-to-five-year global plan. The 2028 calendar is complicated by the Olympics and this year's by the FIBA World Cup, with 2029 carrying no international competition. Engelbert said the Toronto Tempo's game in Montreal was the most-attended game in league history and that the WNBA will play in Vancouver.
"So we are charting out a three-to-five-year plan on global to determine what is the best way to make sure our players are not just domestic stars but global stars," Engelbert said.
Asked about the absence of a Black female head coach for a third consecutive season and whether the league needs a Rooney Rule, Engelbert said hiring decisions sit with team owners and general managers. Women make up 60% of coaches leaguewide, she said.
"There's not a meeting that I'm not with our owners talking about diversity in coaching and the pipeline," Engelbert said. "I think our pipeline is really, really strong. Ultimately, again, the owners and the GMs make those decisions."
She also pointed to the league's HBCU internship program, which rotates interns through groups inside and outside the WNBA.
