Inquirer.com – Zurich DR

Tag: Women’s Sports

  • USWNT star Catarina Macario will miss upcoming Subaru Park friendly with season-ending injury

    USWNT star Catarina Macario will miss upcoming Subaru Park friendly with season-ending injury

    Ever since Catarina Macario joined the NWSL’s San Diego Wave in March, fans across the league have anticipated seeing her play as a pro on these shores for the first time.

    It hasn’t happened yet because of a heel injury that has sidelined her for the entirety of this calendar year. And now the wait is going to last even longer, because the Wave announced Monday that she has been placed on the season-ending injury list.

    She also revealed in a statement on Instagram that “a few months ago,” she “underwent a minor procedure to properly address an ongoing issue” in her right knee.

    “I worked incredibly hard with the hope of making it back this season, but ultimately doing this the right way meant keeping the bigger picture in mind,” Macario said.

    Catarina Macario (center) with the U.S. women’s team for a game in Chester last fall. She will miss the team’s visit next month.Jonathan Tannenwald

    Along with her NWSL year being over, Macario is out of the United States’ much-anticipated series against Spain next month, a matchup of the reigning Olympic and World Cup champions, in Washington on Oct. 10 and at Subaru Park on Oct. 13.

    The 26-year-old, who grew up in San Diego after moving from Brazil with her family at age 12, is one of the U.S. program’s best talents. When healthy, she is as much of a difference-maker as fellow superstars Rose Lavelle, Trinity Rodman, and Sophia Wilson — with the bonus of being able to play as a forward or attacking midfielder.

    The USWNT will play reigning World Cup champion Spain at Subaru Park in October

    Macario has only been able to show it in flashes for her country. She missed the 2023 World Cup with a torn ACL, and the 2024 Olympics with a knee issue.

    When she finally got on the field last year, she led the U.S. with eight goals in 10 appearances. It seemed like she was finally on track to blossom into the star that so many observers hoped she’d become.

    Before coming to the Wave, Macario rose from the renowned San Diego Surf youth club to college at Stanford, where she was such a star that she turned pro after her junior year with French superpower Lyon.

    She spent two years there, then moved to England’s Chelsea, where she was coached by current U.S. manager Emma Hayes.

    Brazil’s iconic Maracanã Stadium will host the 2027 women’s World Cup final

    The Wave swung big to bring Macario home, signing her to a five-year deal worth $8 million, one of the biggest contracts in women’s soccer history.

    “We made a significant long-term commitment to Cat because we believe in her ability to make a lasting impact on this club,” sporting director Camille Ashton said Monday.

    Catarina Macario’s move to the San Diego Wave in March was a big win for the NWSL.San Diego Wave FC

    Macario, in turn, was ready for the spotlight.

    “To be completely honest, it [stinks] to find myself in this position again,” she said. “There’s no way around how difficult it is to go through another rehab and spend more time away from the game I love. I miss football, I miss competing, and after coming home to San Diego, I wanted nothing more than to be out there with my teammates, representing this club and this city.”

    Now everyone must wait until next year, and hope that she’ll be ready for the World Cup — which Brazil will host, no doubt making it even more significant for Macario specifically.

    The USWNT wins fans with its stars, but keeps winning games with its depth

    “As difficult as that is to accept, I know what I’m working toward,” Macario said. “More than anything, I want to get back to feeling fully like myself again: playing freely, without feeling limited, and giving the best of me for a long time to come. For now, that means being patient, trusting the work we’re doing, and continuing to build toward what’s ahead.”

    U.S. fans are also sweating on two other big-time players in the midst of long-term injury rehabs, bright young midfielder Olivia Moultrie (torn ACL in August) and veteran defender Emily Sonnett (torn patellar tendon in July). They will cut it close to make the World Cup at all.

    But if Macario’s rehab goes to plan, she could be back on the field early next year.

  • Women’s hoops fans celebrate Unrivaled’s return as ticket sales outpace last year’s record-breaking Philly event

    Women’s hoops fans celebrate Unrivaled’s return as ticket sales outpace last year’s record-breaking Philly event

    Seven hours after Unrivaled announced its return to Philadelphia on Thursday, the city’s diehard women’s basketball community was lined up around the block at Dock Street South for a celebratory block party. The event was hosted by Unrivaled, the women’s professional three-on-three league that serves as a second season for several WNBA stars.

    After a record-setting first go-around at Xfinity Mobile Arena, Miami-based Unrivaled is expanding its presence in other cities. Philly will be the third stop on the league’s 2027 bus tour, and one of eight cities outside of Miami that will host games next year.

    “Obviously, tens of thousands of people are going to buy tickets, but to see the people pull up in their Unrivaled gear, waiting in line, it speaks to how diehard their fandom is,” Kirby Porter, chief brand officer at Unrivaled, said. “For us, we want to do things that are engaging fans in digital, but especially in real life, which is I think even more long-lasting.”

    Porter said that Unrivaled’s internal data showed that the Northeast is one of their strongest markets, and all three of the announced stops — in Boston, New York, and Philly — are in the region. Unrivaled wants to “fill the gap” in Boston and Philly, two cities that are not currently home to WNBA franchises, which leads to a large fan appetite for live women’s events.

    Katie Chen (left) stamps the Unrivaled passport for Ren Gaines, of Pennsauken, during Thursday’s Unrivaled party.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    Unrivaled, in collaboration with Xfinity, handed out freebies, including fan passports, which could be completed with an Unrivaled trivia game to win a free poster.

    Ticket sales for Unrivaled’s return are already trending above the 2026 stop, according to Ashley Lunkenheimer, the vice president of the Philadelphia Sisters. In addition to helping bring a WNBA team to Philly in 2030, the Sisters helped secure the city as Unrivaled’s first tour stop and bring it back. After setting a venue record and a record for pro women’s basketball, they’re setting their sights on raising the ceiling even higher.

    Thursday was a huge start. About 250 fans came out to celebrate the league’s return, including Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, one of the biggest supporters of bringing Unrivaled to Philadelphia. She led a spirited cheer of “Philly is Unrivaled” to kick off the evening.

    Ashley Lunkenheimer (left) is the vice president of the Philadelphia Sisters, the women’s sports advocacy group that has played a major role in brining the WNBA, Unrivaled, and more to the city.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    “People that I didn’t know — man, woman, young, old, didn’t matter — were coming up to me and saying that Unrivaled was one of the best sporting events they’d ever been to,” Lunkenheimer said. “Everybody who didn’t go, they had FOMO.”

    Last year’s games brought out celebrities like Dawn Staley, Kylie and Jason Kelce, Kyle Lowry, Robin Roberts, and Leslie Jones, while big-name players like Paige Bueckers, Marina Mabrey, and locals Natasha Cloud and Kahleah Copper were on the court.

    If you want to avoid any FOMO after next year’s event, you can get tickets here.

  • Beauty brand Dove is picking up the tab at South Street’s Marsha’s this Saturday. Here’s why.

    Beauty brand Dove is picking up the tab at South Street’s Marsha’s this Saturday. Here’s why.

    Nearly a year after its opening, Marsha’s, Philly’s only female-centric sports bar, is gathering staff and supplies to celebrate a partnership that the owner, Chivonn Anderson, says is “definitely a first.”

    Dove, a national sponsor of the U.S. Open, is picking up the tab at 10 women-owned sports bars around the country during the U.S. women’s singles final this Saturday. Dove will pay for all food and drinks at the South Street bar during the game, or until supplies last, and will also be doing complimentary giveaways. For Anderson, the campaign is a dream come true.

    “When I received an email from Dove’s PR company saying that they were looking to partner with women’s sports bars, we were just taken aback,” Anderson recalled. “Between 4 [p.m.] and 7 p.m., they’re going to pick up the tab for everybody that’s in the bar watching the finals, which is insane and amazing.”

    Marsha’s owner Chivonn Anderson says she was surprised that her bar was picked as one of several that will take part in Dove’s promotion. Melissa Lyttle / For The Inquirer

    Marsha’s is preparing to be busy. Anderson has been gathering a full staff to help things flow as smoothly as possible. The bar will still open at noon, so patrons hoping to grab a seat for the game should plan to arrive early. Anderson says that “People are encouraged to tip, but there is a gratuity for the three hours of service paid for by Dove.”

    Marsha’s is no stranger to a busy night, though, having gathered plenty of practice during the WNBA season and, more recently, serving as one of the few bars in the area to stream NWSL and WPBL games. The bar’s first anniversary is on Sept. 19, and it marks a big milestone not only for Anderson — but for women’s sports.

    “It’s really exciting to see that our one-year anniversary is next week,” Anderson said. “To see all the things that we have been able to do in this past year feels really good. … The momentum has been there for a while. It’s just now women’s sports are finally getting their due publicity, and people are really paying attention to it.”

    The match will pit Aryna Sabalenka against Elena Rybakina as the two meet in a Grand Slam final for the second time this year. Rybakina beat Sabalenka at the Australian Open earlier this year.

    A look at some of the Dove items that will be available at Marsha’s on Saturday.Becca O'Reilly / For The Inquirer

    The partnership is part of Dove’s “Don’t Sweat It. Make a Racket” campaign, an initiative Anderson says is doing the right thing by “highlighting small businesses that are trying to bring more awareness to this industry.”

    “These advertisers are starting to realize that there’s a whole market out there that is untapped,” Anderson said.

    Marsha’s will offer its full menu Saturday, including a pasta buffet and a Mexican buffet, and will sample new cocktails that could be added to the regular menu. The team hopes to use Saturday to “put their best foot forward” and highlight all Marsha’s has to offer, in both food and community space. The unexpected partnership is a boon for any bar, but especially for a space like Marsha’s.

    “I really think that Dove is kind of setting a precedent moving forward in women’s sports,” Anderson said. “I think it’s a wonderful idea, and I hope other businesses kind of take note of what they’re doing, because it is pretty significant.”

  • Kylie Kelce had three Eagles offensive linemen on her podcast to talk a new season, superstitions, and more

    Kylie Kelce had three Eagles offensive linemen on her podcast to talk a new season, superstitions, and more

    In just a few days, Lincoln Financial Field will be filled with screaming fans. But on Thursday morning, Kylie Kelce brought some casual fun to the stadium with an on-site taping of her podcast, Not Gonna Lie.

    The episode featured Eagles offensive linemen Lane Johnson, Jordan Mailata, and Landon Dickerson — aka her husband, Jason’s, former teammates — as well as their wives, Kelsey, Niki, and Brooke. The roughly hourlong episode ran the gamut in topics from game day superstitions, first impressions, and Jason Kelce crash outs to a low-stakes version of The Newlywed Game. Mailata, Jason Kelce, and Johnson’s Philly Specials Christmas albums also came up, and Johnson said those “are on standby.”

    As the Kelces and Eagles prepare for Week 1, Kylie and the O-linemen shared some of their good-luck practices. Kylie even brought a wooden spoon to the field, just in case she needed to knock on wood to ward off any bad Eagles luck.

    “Game day rituals usually include a very specific T-shirt,” Kelce said. “It means whatever T-shirt I take out that has a new Eagle — which is not the old-school Eagle, that one has not worked out for me in the past. … I’ve tracked it.”

    And pro tip: She says not to tag her in social media posts or send her messages, especially pregame. On game days, “Life is not happening. The Eagles are happening, and that’s what we’re focused on,” she said. That’ll include Sunday, when she plans to be at the Linc for the season opener vs. the Washington Commanders.

    Some other rituals included eating the same meals before games, though Mailata now says he’s “tired of being a prisoner of superstition.”

    “I’d have the same pasta order for like seven years,” said Mailata, who was drafted in 2018 but is entering his seventh NFL season. “Even breakfast, the same breakfast. I wasn’t even hungry, but I’d force down eight eggs and four pancakes. Now, just four pancakes because I just prioritize the carbs.”

    We previewed new food items for Eagles games. These are the highlights.

    Johnson was less devoted to his rituals, but he admitted that he sometimes looks away when a game isn’t going the Eagles’ way. Kelce has gone as far as rotating a full 180 degrees in her seat at the Linc rather than watching.

    Even as a veteran entering his 14th season, there’s still an element of unknown entering the season opener for Johnson.

    “The first game is always weird because nobody’s playing in preseason,” Johnson said. “Like, you have some things you see, but it’s really like you’re going to learn it in the first couple drives, series, what their cards are.”

    Jason Kelce and his fellow offensive linemen help Jalen Hurts sneak for a first down.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer

    The players discussed their feelings about longstanding rivalries, like the Cowboys (and their thoughts on the “America’s Team” branding), as well as other contenders like the San Francisco 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Los Angeles Rams.

    “My husband is on record saying that Aaron Donald is the guy he least looked forward to playing up against,” Kylie Kelce said, receiving a chorus of agreement about the Rams star.

    “Yeah, him and his teammate Myles [Garrett],” Johnson added.

    Jason Kelce’s expanded ESPN role and NFL rule changes highlight the latest ‘New Heights’ podcast

    The wives appeared later in the episode and shared similar sentiments about their nerves watching the games and being immersed into NFL life.

    “When I think of my ‘welcome to the NFL’ moment,” Niki Ikahihifo-Bender Mailata said, “Jordan got injured early on, and I remember being like, ‘Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!’ And then they’re like, ‘No, it’s OK, it’s OK. It’s only bad if the cart comes out,’ and then the cart came out.”

  • Unrivaled is returning in 2027 after record-setting Philly debut: ‘It was a no-brainer to come back’

    Unrivaled is returning in 2027 after record-setting Philly debut: ‘It was a no-brainer to come back’

    After a record-setting debut at Xfinity Mobile Arena in 2026, Unrivaled will return to South Philadelphia on Feb. 15, 2027.

    The South Florida-based three-on-three women’s basketball league hit the road for the first time in 2026, bringing four of its eight teams to Philadelphia for its inaugural tour stop.

    “It was our first tour stop ever, and because we broke every attendance record, it was a no-brainer to come back to Philly,” Unrivaled commissioner Micky Lawler said. “It felt like Philly was part of our family, and we’d worked hard to get there and to do what we did there. So it was like Thanksgiving coming back.”

    The Philly stop was the most-attended women’s professional basketball game in history and set venue attendance records at Xfinity Mobile Arena.

    Celebrities like Dawn Staley, Kylie and Jason Kelce, Kyle Lowry, Robin Roberts, and Leslie Jones were in the building, and big names like Paige Bueckers, Marina Mabrey, and locals Natasha Cloud and Kahleah Copper were on the court for the 2026 doubleheader.

    The Unrivaled doubleheader that included the Breeze and Phantom set attendance records at Xfinity Mobile Arena.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

    “It was unbelievable,” cofounder Napheesa Collier said. “You could feel the love tonight. I’m so glad we came here. I just can’t explain it more than I was just so filled up with joy. It was amazing.”

    Lawler could not confirm which of Unrivaled’s teams or players would play in the 2027 tour stop. The four clubs will be finalized later in December.

    The event was such a success that Unrivaled moved the semifinals of its playoffs to the Barclays Center and is embarking on a multicity road trip this winter, starting with Boston.

    Ashley Lunkenheimer, vice president of the Philadelphia Sisters, an organization dedicated to bringing professional women’s sports to Philadelphia, said attendees from last year’s event already are inquiring about purchasing suites, and there’s increased sponsorship interest. Tickets go on sale at 3 p.m. for Unrivaled newsletter subscribers and 4 p.m. for the general public.

    The Sisters played a critical role in attracting Unrivaled to Philly, which provided proof of concept that women’s sports can be successful in the city. Lunkenheimer hopes Unrivaled’s continued presence in the city helps to lay the foundation for Philadelphia’s WNBA team, which is set to begin play in 2030.

    “For Philadelphia specifically, it’s the makings, I hope, of a season ticket list, right?” Lunkenheimer said. “… We need to build back the awareness for the broader crowds, so they all know when the WNBA comes.”

    Unrivaled was the first major pro women’s basketball event in Philly since 1998. Philly’s embrace of it ensured it won’t be the last.

    “It was a mutual opportunity to showcase that we believed in our city and in Unrivaled,” Lunkenheimer said. “I’d like to believe that’s why New York and Barclays said, ‘Let’s jump on that.’ Now they’re going to all these other cities because every other city is saying, ‘We want it.’ They could have said, ‘Well, we’re going to skip Philly. We already did that.’ But they didn’t. They value that partnership.”

  • How girls’ flag football kicked off in South Jersey and ‘opened so many doors’ for those involved

    How girls’ flag football kicked off in South Jersey and ‘opened so many doors’ for those involved

    Barb Hertline didn’t have any coaching experience in flag football prior to 2025.

    Jim McHugh, the Camden Catholic High School athletic director, told her there was a grant available to start a girls’ flag football program at the school and asked Hertline if she would be willing to be the first head coach of the program.

    “Without a doubt, I said yes because it was an opportunity for our girls,” said Hertline, the executive assistant & special projects manager at Camden Catholic. “I didn’t know anything about flag football or the rules or really anything that it would entail. I just knew I wanted to be a part of it to give these girls a chance to experience it.”

    The decision gave Camden Catholic’s girls an opportunity to play the sport that was quickly gaining popularity in South Jersey.

    “They wanted this opportunity and we were able to give that to them, and it has opened so many doors,” Hertline said.

    NJSIAA approves girls’ flag football as a state-sanctioned sport

    In May, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association sanctioned girls’ flag football as a high school varsity sport with the first official season starting in the spring of 2027.

    The sport initially began as a club activity at several South Jersey high schools in 2023. June Cioffi, director of athletics at Kingsway and president of the West Jersey Football League, said the first two years served as a “pilot stage” for coaches, athletic directors, and league officials.

    “It was an easy sell, and everyone was on board,” Cioffi said.

    The Eagles and New York Giants played a significant role in helping girls’ flag become sanctioned in New Jersey.

    The Eagles launched a girls’ flag football league in 2022 with the intention of reducing barriers of entry. The league began with 16 teams, but has now expanded to 100 teams from Pennsylvania and 30 from South Jersey.

    Kingsway celebrates after winning the Eagles’ New Jersey flag football championship in 2024.Charles Fox / Staff Photographer

    “They were very helpful in offering all of that for those first couple years and to try to bring on new schools and make it more of an easy sell to the superintendents,” Cioffi said.

    The Eagles offered each team funds to get programs started and provided uniforms, footballs, coaching seminars and equipment. Clinics were also hosted for players and coaches, and the Eagles partnered with Operation Warm, a non-profit organization that manufactures sports bras to provide gear for girls in sports. According to their website, by the age of 14, girls are dropping out of sports at two times the rate of boys because of a lack of access to basic gear.

    “A barrier to participation was the lack of equipment and so working with Operation Warm, we can now give sports bras to every participant,” Eagles president Don Smolenski said.

    Eagles’ fifth annual girls’ flag football championship highlights local growth

    The Eagles support was intended to represent who they are as an organization.

    “We’ve opened up our facilities; fields and indoor practice facilities,” Smolenski said. “That’s us sort of embracing the community around us, and you see the impact when you see how excited the athletes are when they come to a practice or run onto the field for the very first time — it’s incredibly gratifying and motivates us to continue to explore how we can further support it.”

    The Eagles hosted more than 100 girls’ flag football coaches and players from the tri-state area at training camp on Aug. 24. It was an experience, some coaches and players say, they never thought they would have.

    “It’s really nice to know that a male-dominated sport is very supportive of women coming in and just kind of making it their own,” Kingsway Regional High School senior Jade Matthew said. “I feel like all the opportunities that we get, even something like this, and the fact that they host our championship and playoff games, it’s just nice to be a part of.”

    Matthew and teammate Jayda Romagnoli grew up playing co-ed flag football with their siblings.

    “It was a bit hard competing with boys even. … when I was little, normally the boy would never really pass to us, and we kind of always got ignored,” Matthew said. “But it’s nice to see that we’re kind of growing out of our little shy phase and actually embracing that this is ours and we can make it what we want.”

    When they first heard girls’ flag was going to be a high school varsity sport, they thought it was going to be co-ed.

    Women’s flag football on track to gain NCAA championship status before making its Olympic debut

    “They’re really taking this serious and they were actually growing it,” Romagnoli said. “I want to go to college for it, so it’s nice to hear that more people are going to start getting the love for this sport that I had before.”

    Interest in flag football has “exploded”, Cioffi said, with more college programs including flag as a varsity sport at all levels.

    Several South Jersey high school coaches said the Eagles’ backing their teams helped speed up the process to sanction the sport.

    “We want the sport of football to be embraced by everyone — men, women, boys, girls,” Smolenski said. “We don’t want it to just be thought of as, ‘Oh, that’s a boy sport, only boys can play,’ and flag football is a sport that can be played by everyone.”

    Harper Carney of Williamstown celebrates a touchdown during the Eagles’ New Jersey flag football championship on May 18.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    Last year, Hertline knew very little about flag football during her first season as coach at Camden Catholic, but the growth of the game is a testament to the increased opportunities and the determination of the girls.

    “Girls get such a bad reputation sometimes, with the ‘play like a girl,’” Hertline said. “Yeah, play like a girl because if you see the way our girls play, they are second to none against any boys’ team. They really raise the bar and because there has been so much excitement surrounding the announcement of all of this and the NFL is backing it, everyone wants to be a part of this.”

  • The WNBA underwent big changes during commissioner Cathy Engelbert’s tenure. Here are the highlights.

    The WNBA underwent big changes during commissioner Cathy Engelbert’s tenure. Here are the highlights.

    Cathy Engelbert was hired as WNBA commissioner in 2019, and upon her retirement in December, Engelbert will have overseen the most critical years in league history, shepherding the WNBA through a period of uncertainty into a period of exponential growth.

    The WNBA is one of the fastest-growing leagues in sports, and under Engelbert’s watch, six expansion franchises have tipped off or been announced — including here in Philadelphia — while a new media rights deal and CBA have been signed.

    “Over the years, it has been amazing to watch WNBA players thrive and lead the massive cultural surge around women’s sports,” Engelbert said in a statement. “I retire knowing we have built something bigger, stronger and more enduring than we could have imagined. I am grateful to the WNBA and NBA team owners and staff, players, investors, fans and the powerhouse league office staff, who believed in what this league could become. I retire with immense gratitude and tremendous optimism for the future of the WNBA, with the best yet to come.”

    Here’s a look at her most consequential moves, and where the league goes next:

    2022: Funding round

    Engelbert sold a 16% stake in the WNBA to a group of outside investors for $75 million in cash flow, to be used to fund marketing and infrastructure. Instead of the 50/50 ownership split between NBA and WNBA owners, the split is now 42/42/16.

    At the time, the deal was the largest funding round ever for women’s sports, and Engelbert valued the league at approximately $450 million. The average franchise is now worth approximately $460 million just four years later.

    Sixers managing partner Josh Harris (left), Detroit Pistons vice chairman Arn Tellem, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert, and Cleveland Cavaliers CEO Nic Barlage at a news conference announcing expansion teams for Philly, Detroit, and Cleveland.Jonathan Tannenwald

    September 2023: Expansion

    Starting in 2023 with the Golden State Valkyries, Engelbert began the process of expanding the WNBA for the first time since 2008. It was the first of six successful expansion bids under Engelbert’s tenure, and Golden State now is the league’s most valuable franchise, with an $850 million valuation, according to Sportico. In 2024, two additional expansion teams, in Toronto and Portland, were announced.

    In June 2025, the WNBA announced the addition of three more franchises, to bring the total up to 18: Cleveland to begin play in 2028, Detroit in 2029, and Philly in 2030. All teams were purchased by the corresponding city’s NBA team owner. Cleveland and Detroit were both home to previous, now defunct, WNBA franchises, while Philadelphia will be a WNBA city for the first time.

    “The demand for women’s basketball has never been higher,” Engelbert said in a statement.

    The WNBA’s next commissioner has to be a real leader | Mike Sielski

    Coming to Philly was personal for Engelbert. She hails from Collingswood, and her parents were Northeast Philly natives. Her dad, Kurt, was a men’s basketball star at St. Joseph’s and is in the school’s hall of fame.

    The WNBA last year also announced the sale and relocation of the Connecticut Sun to Houston. The franchise was purchased by Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, despite competing bids from Hartford, Conn., and Boston to buy and keep the franchise in New England.

    Caitlin Clark (left) and Angel Reese ushered in a new wave of WNBA fans.Tony Gutierrez

    2024: The Caitlin Clark Effect

    The exponential growth of the WNBA began in earnest with the 2024 WNBA draft, which brought college stars like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese into the league. Other young stars like Paige Bueckers soon followed.

    Clark, now a standout for the Indiana Fever, raised the bar for college basketball ratings, setting viewership records in 2023 with 9.9 million viewers for the national championship game, in which her Iowa squad lost to Reese and LSU, and the 2024 national title game, with 18.9 million viewers, was the first women’s national title game to outperform the men’s.

    (function(){function e(){window.addEventListener(`message`,function(e){if(e.data[`datawrapper-height`]!==void 0){var t=document.querySelectorAll(`iframe`);for(var n in e.data[`datawrapper-height`])for(var r=0,i;i=t[r];r++)if(i.contentWindow===e.source){var a=e.data[`datawrapper-height`][n]+`px`;i.style.height=a}}})}e()})();

    July 24, 2024: Media rights deal

    Engelbert took advantage of spiking ratings with the expiration of the WNBA’s media rights deal in 2024, signing a new contract worth $3.1 billion, expanding partnerships with ESPN, Prime Video, and NBC.

    “Partnering with Disney, Amazon and NBCU marks a monumental chapter in WNBA history and clearly demonstrates the significant rise in value and the historic level of interest in women’s basketball,” Engelbert said at the time. “These agreements allow the league to continue to build a long-term and sustainable growth model for the future of women’s basketball and sports which will benefit WNBA players, teams and fans.”

    The WNBA set viewership records in 2024, with a record 22 regular-season games attracting at least 1 million viewers. Fever games were the most-watched on ABC, ESPN2, CBS, and NBATV.

    March 24, 2026: CBA

    After a tense negotiation, the new collective bargaining agreement was ratified by players and by the league, increasing player salaries, providing player housing, and adding an expanded benefits package.

    Amid the negotiations, Napheesa Collier described Engelbert as “negligent” and said the WNBA has “the worst leadership in the world” in her exit interviews last season after officiating controversies.

    “This past February, I sat across from [Engelbert] and asked how she planned to address the officiating issues in our league,” Collier said. “Her response was, ‘Well, only the losers complain about the refs.’ I also asked how she planned to fix the fact that players like [Clark, Reese, and Bueckers], who are clearly driving massive revenue for the league and are making so little for their first four years.

    “Her response was, ‘[Clark] should be grateful. She makes $16 million off the court because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything.’ And in that same conversation, she told me, ‘Players should be on their knees, thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them.’”

    Before she helped negotiate the WNBA’s ‘life-changing’ CBA, this Philly lawyer hooped at Lower Merion and Penn

    Engelbert has also faced player backlash for a perceived lack of attention to threats from toxic fans and sports bettors.

    “I think as one of the main faces of our league, too, it creates a dialogue that needs to be had. It puts pressure on Cathy, who we’ve been begging to step up for us in these spaces,” said Natasha Cloud, a Broomall native and former St. Joe’s star.

    The league recently has run into conflict with former NBA players like Enes Kanter Freedom and figures like Riley Gaines for lacking a policy restricting trans athletes from competing in the league. There are no active trans women in the WNBA, nor are there any serious prospects to be drafted in the near future.

    But that hasn’t stopped figures like Freedom from coming to games and getting into altercations with players on the court, including Cloud. Engelbert said the league is being used as a “political football” by media members who do not watch or cover the league normally, in order to “sow divisiveness.”

  • Villanova’s Brynn McCurry to miss 2026-27 season after surgery to repair torn ACL and meniscus

    Villanova’s Brynn McCurry to miss 2026-27 season after surgery to repair torn ACL and meniscus

    Villanova senior forward Brynn McCurry announced Tuesday on social media that she underwent surgery to repair a torn right ACL and meniscus on Sept. 1. She will miss the 2026-27 season.

    “I’m walking into this next season of healing with a heart full of peace because this game has given me so much more than it took,” McCurry wrote in an Instagram post. “Basketball has always been such a meaningful part of my story, but it was never the entirety of it.”

    Losing McCurry is a major blow to Villanova. While the injury occurred in April and allowed coach Denise Dillon time to fill McCurry’s spot, it will be difficult to fill her workload.

    McCurry, a 6-foot-1 forward, was coming off a career-best campaign in which she started 29 of 33 games and was the team’s second-leading scorer with 10.7 points per game. She also won the Big East’s Most Improved Player award.

    Projected as one of four returning starters for Villanova, McCurry’s season-long absence will test Villanova’s depth at forward. The Wildcats have solid pieces in their frontcourt, headlined by 6-3 Quinnipiac transfer Anna Foley, and returning starters Jasmine Bascoe, Kelsey Joens, and Kennedy Henry.

    Dillon also will have to find a combination to fill McCurry’s minutes. She averaged 26.5 minutes last season, third most on the team behind Henry and Bascoe.

    Villanova women’s nonconference hoops slate highlighted by November trip to Rome to play Notre Dame

    McCurry suffered two prior knee injuries — she tore her left ACL and meniscus during her senior year of high school and tore her right ACL and meniscus before her sophomore season at Villanova. She then tore the UCL in her right arm before the start of her junior year and underwent Tommy John surgery this past April, two days after her third knee injury.

    The Wildcats open their season on Nov. 1 in Rome as a part of the Eternal City Tip-Off. They’ll face Notre Dame in their first meeting in eight years.

  • Cathy Engelbert did next to nothing to help the WNBA. Its next commissioner has to be a real leader.

    Cathy Engelbert did next to nothing to help the WNBA. Its next commissioner has to be a real leader.

    Cathy Engelbert was the Jalen Hurts of the WNBA, the subject of the same kind of questions about whether a prominent figure on a speeding ship was the captain or a passenger — except with her, the answers were more definitive and damning.

    For these last few years, for the period in which the league has made its greatest gains in popularity, relevance, and quality of play, she was at best a nonfactor and at worst an impediment. The people behind those gains were the players, one in particular, and with the announcement Friday that Engelbert, a Collingswood native, was “retiring,” the WNBA has a better chance of accelerating its growth and calming the churning waters around it.

    No one looks or will look at Engelbert’s tenure atop the WNBA and credit her for the league’s progress, and no one should. The rise of women’s sports in America, particularly of women’s basketball, already was a wind at her back when she became commissioner in 2019.

    Title IX had been doing its good work on behalf of girls and young women for nearly two generations by then. Because the WNBA, founded in 1996, rarely has players to enter the league after leaving college early, women’s college basketball has been a fertile garden of talent and star power, feeding the league long before Engelbert oversaw it. UConn, Tennessee, Notre Dame, Baylor: These programs and others like them pumped out stars who had spent four years in school setting records and competing in Final Fours, whose names and games had become familiar before they’d ever signed their first professional contracts.

    The WNBA’s biggest stars include Caitlin Clark (left), Aliyah Boston, A’Ja Wilson, Olivia Miles, and Jessica Shepard.Nam Y. Huh

    That tide turned into a wave that has crested with Caitlin Clark, with the woman who can lay claim to the title of the most popular and important female athlete in the United States. The NBA lifted off in the early 1980s — once talent poured in after the league merged with the ABA, once Magic Johnson and Larry Bird brought their rivalry to the Lakers and the Celtics — and the WNBA should be on its way to telling a similar story. It has Clark. It has A’ja Wilson and Paige Bueckers and Olivia Miles and Breanna Stewart. It has a depth and breadth of talent unmatched in its history. The games should matter more than they ever have. The games should matter most.

    Before she helped negotiate the WNBA’s ‘life-changing’ CBA, this Philly lawyer hooped at Lower Merion and Penn

    Except … they don’t. Who wants to hear that story now? Out of Engelbert’s lack of leadership, out of her inability and unwillingness to speak simple truths in plain language or take strong stands to benefit it, the WNBA has morphed into a cudgel in the culture war.

    On one side are the sexists and misogynists who don’t watch women’s basketball — and wouldn’t dare confess to tuning in even if they did — but whittle away their days complaining about the sport and attacking its athletes on Twitter/X. On the other are the activist players, coaches, fans and compliant media members so defensive and discomfited over the slightest criticism or question — about the inevitable byproducts of a major pro sport going mainstream and gaining a new audience — that they seem to wish that only people like them were permitted to play and watch and cover it.

    Engelbert let those sides squish her like a grape. It was bad enough for the league’s image, for its attempts to shake the perception that it was small-time in its operations and approach, that she botched the pronunciation of Golden State Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase’s last name when she presented Nakase (nuh-KAH-say) the WNBA Coach of the Year Award. That it took Clark’s presence and some timely social media posts before Engelbert stopped insisting teams fly commercial and instituted a charter flight program for the league. That her communication skills with the players were so poor that one, Napheesa Collier, felt emboldened enough to say that the league “had the worst leadership in the world.”

    No, what has been worse is Engelbert’s cowing in the face of obvious problems with obvious solutions. The league should have started hunting for better, more qualified officials years ago, rather than waiting until May to … form a task force about the topic. Engelbert must have been living in a dream world when, according to Collier, she said that Clark and the WNBA’s other stars “should be on their knees” thanking the league for the prominence it has given them … when it’s actually the other way around.

    But it’s the latest and silliest controversy — over the league’s policy, or lack thereof, on transgender athletes — that brought Engelbert’s weakness most clearly to bear.

    A.J. Brown and the Patriots vs. Jalen Hurts and the Eagles is the perfect rivalry for our hot-take age | Mike Sielski

    Royce White and Enes Kanter Freedom are clowns for their publicity campaign to declare themselves to be women so they can join the league. A commissioner with any spine would have swatted them away like gnats simply by pointing out what everyone can already see: Royce, you’re 6-foot-8. Enes, you’re 6-10. You guys played in the NBA! Do you have any idea how pathetic you are for begging to be in our league?

    A commissioner with any spine would have pointed out that FIBA, the IOC, and the USOPC already have policies that only biological females can compete in women’s sports, that the WNBA’s players follow those guidelines when they compete internationally — as they are right now, in the FIBA World Cup — and that the league’s policy reflects those policies. Instead, Engelbert has stayed silent, allowing the issue to fester, allowing this sideshow to dominate conversation about the sport.

    This is a critical moment for women’s athletics and for the WNBA. The league is expanding, adding three more franchises in the next four years, including one here in Philadelphia. It has an opportunity both to solidify its existing fan base and build upon it. It has an opportunity to climb to a level that, just a decade ago, few would have thought reachable. It will need a new commissioner who can be more than the one Cathy Engelbert was, more than someone sitting on the deck, doing nothing to avoid the swells and crashes, more than someone just along for the ride.

  • Ariana Andonian leaving the Blue Coats to become Los Angeles Sparks general manager

    Ariana Andonian leaving the Blue Coats to become Los Angeles Sparks general manager

    The WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks have plucked their new general manager from the 76ers front office.

    The Sparks are hiring Blue Coats general manager Ariana Andonian for the role, a source confirmed.

    Andonian came to the Sixers under former president of basketball operations Daryl Morey. Though she’s only 31 years old, she has had an extensive career working in college and the NBA, including stints under Morey with the Sixers and under Memphis Grizzlies general manager Zach Kleiman. She also consulted for Duke’s program while earning a graduate degree from the school, according to an Inquirer profile of Andonian from 2025.

    Five key stats to remember as the Sixers enter a season with title hopes

    The job will bring Andonian, a Los Angeles native who grew up a Lakers and Kobe Bryant fan, closer to home. Andonian first met Morey while in college at Southern Cal when she gave his daughter a tour of the USC campus and later joined the family for lunch.

    After that meeting, Andonian earned an internship with the Houston Rockets when Morey was the general manager there. She began as a scout and was coordinating the team’s college scouting group by age 23. A 2017 story from Bleacher Report cited her as the league’s only female scout at the time.

    Andonian’s career went from there to Duke, where she led the team’s high school scouting group while completing her MBA. She cites former coach Mike Krzyzewski and current coach Jon Scheyer as mentors.

    “It was almost like I had to tell her when she had to stop watching video,” Morey told The Inquirer of Andonian in 2025. “ … She picked up things quick and fit into a group.”