A successor to outgoing WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has yet to be named, but one soon-to-be-former member of congress has eagerly inserted her name into the discussion.
‘If the WNBA called, that’s the one job my wife would say, “Take the call,” at this moment in time.’ Representative Angie Craig (Democrat, Minnesota) told The Minnesota Star Tribune’s Sydney Kashiwagi.
Craig didn’t share any specific plans for the league, but rather said she was interested because: ‘WNBA commissioner is every middle-aged lesbian’s dream job.’
A married mother of four, the 54-year-old was speaking to The Star Tribune in her waning months as the US congresswoman for Minnesota’s second district – an area south of Minneapolis. Craig opted against re-election and instead lost a senate primary to current Democratic nominee Peggy Flanagan. Consequently she is currently looking for work, as she mentioned when Engelbert retired last month.
‘I’m a free agent in January,’ Craig wrote in a September post on X, referring to the end of her term in office.
As Craig told the Star Tribune, she promised her wife Cheryl she wouldn’t make any immediate plans before ultimately sharing her interest in the WNBA post.
Representative Angie Craig didn’t share any specific plans for the league, but rather said she was interested because: ‘WNBA commissioner is every middle-aged lesbian’s dream job’
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert has faced criticism amid the league’s rising fortunes
US Senator Tina Smith and US Representative Angie Craig takes a selfie with Jessica McDonald, Kristen Hamilton, Sam Mewis, and Megan Rapinoe at a Lynx game in 2019
Craig is a lifelong basketball fan. Not only is she a regular at Minnesota Lynx games at the Target Center in Minneapolis, but in 2024, she traveled to New York to watch the team’s doomed effort against the Liberty in the WNBA Finals.
Afterwards, she had some harsh words for Engelbert & Co. As she wrote in a 2025 statement aimed at addressing equal pay between men and women: ‘The WNBA wanted the Liberty to win [in 2024].
‘Big-market team,’ she continued. ‘Superstar faces. A tidy storyline for the league office and league Commissioner who literally wore the New York City skyline on her dress that night. And Minnesota? We were the wrong script. Too gritty. Too real. Too inconvenient.’
There has been no shortage of controversies in the WNBA over Engelbert’s seven-year tenure.
While players have questioned Engelbert’s leadership on issues such as player compensation, officiating and safety concerns, fans of Caitlin Clark have attacked the league office over a perceived failure to protect the Indiana Fever guard from hard fouls.
Some of the criticism aimed at Engelbert focuses on her handling of Clark’s rising popularity
Craig isn’t the only politician to pursue a WNBA job after losing a US Senate primary in Minnesota. Royce White (pictured) has declared his eligibility for the WNBA Draft
More recently, conservatives have attacked the WNBA for refusing to explicitly ban transgender athletes assigned ‘male’ at birth. And much of that criticism has come from Royce White, a former NBA player and failed Republican political candidate in Minnesota.
After losing a Republican congressional primary in 2022, a US Senate general election in 2024 and another Republican senate primary earlier this year, White has declared himself eligible for the 2027 WNBA Draft. Along with another former NBA player, Enes Kanter Freedom, the pair hope to pressure the league into clarifying what they see as the league’s vague policies on gender inclusion.
Regardless, league sources have repeatedly told media outlets the pair remains ineligible to play in the league.
Although the WNBA has faced significant criticism during Engelbert’s tenure, the league has enjoyed a sharp spike in revenue, viewership and overall franchise valuations.
For instance, the WNBA now makes around $200 million a year from its national media deal, or about $175 million more annually than it did before Engelbert arrived. As a result, the league has seen its revenue grow tenfold to nearly $400 million, annually.
And whereas $15 million could get you a WNBA franchise in 2019, that price is now somewhere between $250 million and $1 billion for top franchises, according to Forbes.
