Women's Sports

SBJ’s Rachel Axon looks back at 2026 WNBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago, taking us inside the biggest panels, fan activations, exclusive events, and behind-the-scenes moments from one of basketball’s premier celebrations. From Chicago Sky co-owner Nadia Rawlinson’s stirring welcome to official book si...

The WNBA’s announcement of a centralized replay center beginning with the 2027 season is a “big move” to devote more resources toward addressing the “quality -- or lack thereof -- of WNBA officiating,” which has dominated discourse over the past several years, according to Isabel Gonzalez of CBSSPOR...

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said no “discipline will be recommended or imposed” stemming from the league’s investigation into the Aces’ sponsorship agreement with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, according to Doug Feinberg of the AP. The LVCVA reached a deal in May 2024 to pay ...

WNBA All-Star Weekend returned to Chicago for the first time since 2022, and the event was “almost unrecognizable only four years later,” according to Sabreena Merchant of THE ATHLETIC. The league’s growth “manifests most clearly in the size and scope of its midseason showcase.” In 2022, the skills ...

Toronto Tempo President Teresa Resch said the organization “put together a team that usually comes together over about six months” in just 16 days after the WNBA’s new CBA was agreed upon. Appearing on Fast Company’s “Rapid Response,” Resch noted when someone is “doing everything for the first time ...

Conversations with “more than 20 stakeholders” in and around the WNBA suggest that, for as much business growth Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has overseen, she is “not the right person to navigate the demands the league currently faces and what its stakeholders now need,” according to Alexa Philippou...

SBJ on Monday announced its 2026 class of Game Changers: Women in Sports Business. View the full list here.

Before Saturday’s WNBA All-Star Game, Commissioner Cathy Engelbert acknowledged communication with the players needs to improve. She said, “We need to be better at it. There’s no doubt. I need to be better.”

CHICAGO -- WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert made a commitment for 2027, but it wasn’t about her future with the league.

Togethxr SVP/Brand Partnerships Lauren Tolila takes SBJ inside the company’s WNBA All-Star Weekend activation, where brands like Xfinity, Barbie and Reebok are turning fan engagement into immersive experiences. Get a look at how the space is bringing community, culture and brand access together in t...

Former President Barack Obama “surprised the WNBA All-Stars” before their practice at his new Presidential Center on Friday. He “spoke to the players for a few minutes before taking a group photo.” Obama then “spent about 10 minutes shaking hands with the players and taking photos with them,” includ...

The get-in price for Saturday’s WNBA All-Star Game in Chicago has surged more than 200% in the last month, going from $75 to $213, according to TicketData.com. The price has risen 18% in the last three days. That puts it near the get-in price for the 2023 NHL All-Star Game in Florida ($196) and the ...

Aces F Brianna Turner said on social media that her former team, the Fever, “encouraged her and her teammates to stay quiet about a male staffer who was fired for sexual harassment last year,” according to Chloe Peterson of the INDIANAPOLIS STAR. Turner took to social media to “show her support for ...

Trump officials are “amplifying” Fever G Sophie Cunningham’s comments that transgender athletes should “not participate in women’s sports, seizing on her remarks to reinforce” President Trump’s position on the issue, according to Diamond & Maese of the WASHINGTON POST. White House press secretar...

Disney has more than doubled its advertising revenue around the WNBA All-Star Game for a second consecutive year while selling out its available inventory earlier than it did in 2025, Disney Advertising VP/Revenue and Yield Management Jacqueline Dobies told SBJ.

CHICAGO -- From Google Pixel’s galactic basketballs to Nike’s walk through WNBA history, WNBA Live offered a chance for the league’s sponsors to show up in a big way. The event, which is presented by AWS, opened on Thursday, gave WNBA sponsors the biggest stage yet to engage with the league’s fans. ...

WNBA All-Star weekend returns to Chicago this weekend, and the league’s fan fest “has grown to a sprawling three-day event at McCormick Place.” The WNBA “expects 30,000 fans to attend the fest that features 34 brands.” On Thursday, “many influential people in women’s basketball gathered” at the WNBA...

The Gainbridge Super League and the USL Players Association on Thursday announced a “tentative agreement over key terms” of its first CBA. The agreement would give players of the first-division women’s soccer league “standardized rights” for the first time since launching in 2024, including “minimum...

The Athletes Unlimited Softball League on Saturday will play the “first professional softball game ever telecast on broadcast TV” when ABC broadcasts Game 1 of the league’s championship series, and Disney is activating around the game with some of its most popular characters. “Toy Story” characters ...

Aflac and the WNBPA are expanding their partnership by increasing supplemental prize awards for players competing in the Friday night events of the WNBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago. OneTeam Partners negotiated the deal on behalf of the WNBPA. Aflac is bringing a new multi-tier payout structure. Afla...