Skip to main content

Beta testing. Real payments work with crypto only. Card payments (Stripe) are test-only for now.

Back to news
Basketball
2 min read

‘Is that not insane?” – Sophie Cunningham makes her case to be the next WNBA Commissioner

Sophie Cunningham has declared her intention to be the next WNBA Commissioner. At the end of the 2026 season, current WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert will ...
‘Is that not insane?” – Sophie Cunningham makes her case to be the next WNBA Commissioner

Sophie Cunningham has declared her intention to be the next WNBA Commissioner.

At the end of the 2026 season, current WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert will officially step down from her role following a seven-year stint.

With Engelbert gone, the league is in need of its next commissioner, and there are several names that are being considered right now.

While the executives are discussing that, Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham recently declared her interest in stepping in as a successor to Engelbert.

During the ‘No Hesitation’ podcast, Cunningham discussed in detail what her first steps will be if she ever gets the chance to become the leader of the WNBA.

“The more I think about that, I think I should be the commissioner. I think I could. I could get this s___ on the right track. Honestly, the first thing I would do is make sure that every team legit has a functional practice facility.

“There are teams in the WNBA; we are the best league in the entire world; there are people practicing at, like, YMCAs,” Cunningham said.

She added, “They’re sharing a court by a curtain when there’s like, YMCA youth camps going on one side and a team practicing on the other. Like, is that not insane? A couple teams don’t even have a weight room. Is that weird?”

MORE SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM STORIES

Until recently, the WNBA barely had any major interest from basketball fans around the globe. But with that changing, the training facilities of a plethora of teams need an upgrade.

Of course, teams like the New York Liberty and LA Sparks are already building their own dedicated training facilities, but it’s still surprising that the top teams in the best women’s basketball league did not have these facilities for the longest time.

Right now, Cunningham is 30 years old and still likely has a few years left to play at the highest level, but considering her popularity and ideas, it doesn’t seem like a bad move to make her the next WNBA Commissioner.

Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox

Comments0

Your sport, all in one place

Basketball

Follow the stories, and hear of new ones in your feed and notifications.

Picks to explore

All Basketball picks

About this story and its source

Who published the story, when it came out, and where to read more.

It was published on September 11, 2026 and last updated on October 9, 2026. The time of the story is shown in your own time zone on the page.

Open the Basketball news for more stories, or see the matches with analyst picks and the list of analysts to compare their records before you buy a pick.