WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert: Chartering flights for teams would ruin league's finances
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said she is not going to jeopardize the league's financial standing by allowing teams to use charter flights during the season.
Engelbert's response is to a report from Sports Illustrated this week where the New York Liberty were fined $500,000 for violating the WNBA's collective bargaining agreement for using chartered flights during the second half of the 2021 season. According to the report, the league discussed penalties for the team that included loss of draft picks, punishment for executives and eliminating the franchise.
"It would be more than $20 million a year to fund charter flights for an entire WNBA season," Engelbert said to ESPN. "So this is something that we're not going to jeopardize the financial health of the league and be irresponsible about. If we can get it funded by sponsors and supporters, great, but that's not where we are. We do not have that."
Englebert said they have asked airlines and other charter companies to help out, but no major sponsors have stepped up. The league paid for chartered flights during the 2019 and 2020 postseason for teams.
"If we could get it sponsored or funded in some way," she said "I'm all ears. I've gotten lots of calls over the past year about this since we've been back in our 12 markets. Then when people price it out, and they see it's $20 million-plus, you never hear from them again."
Last month, the league announced that they raised $75 million of capital by equity selling in the league. Investors included Micky and Nick Arison of the Miami Heat and billionaire Michael Dell, CEO of Dell Technologies.
"We've been around 25 years, we're really healthy, we're growing," Engelbert said. "I'm trying to set this league up for the next 25 years."