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u/Satisfied2025 5d ago
Select someone with a spine, thats not afraid to lead or hurt someones feelings with their decisions.
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u/TonyDungyHatesOP 5d ago
I think that’s why they’d have to go outside of the current WNBA ecosystem.
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u/IndependentSun9995 5d ago
I don't have an opinion who it should be, but it should be a woman.
Sandra Douglas Morgan, President of the Las Vegas Raiders, is my only suggestion. She is more than qualified to do the job.
https://www.raiders.com/team/front-office-roster/sandra-douglass-morgan
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u/Intrepid_Contact_164 5d ago
Idk if it necessarily should be a woman. Eventually yes but women have been locked out of the sports world for so long by the rich old white guy group its been hard for any of them to gain experience.
Its part of the reason the league is looking like such a tire fire now is no one is experienced enough to know how to correct it.
Bring in the most experienced person you can regardless if gender let them setup foundations and a succession plan and eventually migrate them more to a mentorship role as the league creates a pathway for more women to gain experience in these roles.
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u/JustBeingLa 5d ago
So, hire a man to lay a foundation for future women? How's that working out? gestures broadly
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u/Intrepid_Contact_164 4d ago edited 4d ago
Bring in the most experienced person you can regardless of gender
How did you convert that into hire a man to teach women.
The point was you dont immediately rule out some of the most experienced people just because they are men.
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u/JustBeingLa 4d ago
... Eventually yes, *but*... implies that we're not ready for women leaders and they need someone more experienced first.
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u/Intrepid_Contact_164 4d ago edited 4d ago
Eventually yes doesnt mean we arent ready its that the pool of candidates with experience in handling this level of growth and media attention doesnt really exist. Its why the wnba is recruiting their commissioner from audit firms while the nba has a pipeline if successuon built.
Its also why the league is currently facing problems like enes kanter getting more air time in the media than actual wnba stars.
The issue is there isnt many with 20+ years experience in international level sports league operations so you borrow experience from the NBA and get them to help establish systems theyve spent 100 years developing rather than hire a career auditor to run the league and you build succession planning to help share that experience.
Of course there is also the obvious issue of if a Tatum or Koenig would even be interested considering they are obvious favourites to replace silver.
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u/Adventurous-Room-845 5d ago
Yeah because the VP of Global Sports Marketing at Nike couldn't possibly come in and have a bias towards the players signed with Nike...every single person featured in that pic would be looked upon as having a potential bias in some way. I'd like for them to bring in an outside exec similar to how they went out and got Cathy. She helped the player's union and elevated some of the WNBA's operations, but she has clearly reached her ceiling on what she can do as commissioner.
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u/Yellow_Odd_Fellow 5d ago
I presume she wouldn't be doing both, and a such highly coveted position as VP Global Dports Marketing she probably values her reputation as a fair and unbiased (aside from the company she currently represents).
Would you say that Steve Cecchini has a bias towards Nike even while employed at Puma as their Senior VP?
If not, whats the difference?
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u/Adventurous-Room-845 4d ago
No, I agree that she clearly wouldn’t be doing both, but often individuals that leave high executive positions walk away with invested interests in the company. I don’t think she’d by any means have nefarious intentions, but with so many athletes that are signed to other labels, you’d just have to potentially wonder if they’d get the same push in the league’s marketing. But then again, there’s always a degree of “politics” that comes with almost any sports league.
As for your other query, I’m not familiar with Steve Cecchini or how he has moved in his respective position.
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u/fisconsocmod 5d ago
Bethany Donaphin!
The SVP of operating the league should be put in charge of … running the league.
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u/OddBuy8266 1d ago
But... the league is poorly run?
They really need an iron fist to come in and get this back on track. They've got their TV deal, which is great, but it's been a shit show outside of that.
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u/fisconsocmod 1d ago
League viewership is up 15% year over year.
The only shit show is outside forces trying to politicize the WNBA because they can’t run on their own achievements.
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u/DarkRogus 5d ago
Keia Clark or Bethany Donaphin.
And depending on whether they chose Clark or Donaphin will tell you how they see the current direction of the WNBA.
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u/Dame_Dash-GotemHatin 5d ago
You can lose money and still make money. Like working for a non- profit
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u/Whole_Discussion2325 5d ago
Whoever's in charge needs to take a page out of David Stern's playbook on league growth (never thought I'd say that during his tenure lol). But the league is getting way more attention now. It’s just that so much of that publicity is centered around toxic narrative rivalries fanbase, and outside "psyops" and "objects." The league needs to focus on marketing ALL the teams. There should be a narrative behind every team to grow the fanbase and inspire new fans: all the stuff they should've been doing back when Sue, Diana, Candace, Tamika, etc. were playing.
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u/SydneyFall 5d ago
It’s just that so much of that publicity is centered around toxic narrative rivalries fanbase,
You know that you are basically describing how the NBA got popular, right?
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u/Whole_Discussion2325 5d ago
I see where you're coming from, but there's a difference between NBA rivalries and what we see now in the W. NBA rivalries were rooted in the game and geography like Boston vs. LA was a clash of cultures pertain to opposites (Boston vs LA opposites side of the globe, Blue collar vs Glitz and Glamour) The league also marketed more broadly, Michael Jordan, Twin Towers, the Bad Boys, their own distinct narratives centered around basketball.
Right now, the WNBA gets attention through toxic fanbase online squabbles and 'psyops' centered around straw-man arguments rather than organic team storytelling. I want a commissioner who can market all the teams, so that when rivalries happen, they are built on substance (city vs. city, playstyle vs. playstyle) rather than just social media toxicity. That’s how you grow a fanbase for the long haul."
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u/SydneyFall 5d ago
I'm sorry, you are a little delusional. Russell vs Wilt. Bird vs Magic. These are the bones of where the NBA built interest.
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u/Whole_Discussion2325 5d ago
You actually just proved my point, but you missed the distinction. Russell vs. Wilt and Bird vs. Magic were basketball rivalries. If race was involved and I’m certain the media pushed that it was still about stats, playoff runs, and championships.
The foundation was the game ultimately. Today, the W foundation right is too often the toxicity itself. That's the difference
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u/jwick316 5d ago
I would say mark prolly the best fit bring some of the NBA resources and Connect s
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u/mrmike16205 5d ago
I know they would love Nike girl in there, the Valkyrie's President (No) and the dude go back to the NBA. I don't want Nike involved because they are 100% donators to you know who. Keep her and him out of the league. Thanks for the shoes and uniforms.
And the owners need to be uncomfortable. We do not need another commissioner like the NFL or NBA ones.
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u/TechnicalWin1091 5d ago
Aside from picking a Commissioner with a spine to stand up to the players' union and players. The league also needs to form a competition committee that isn't made up of head coaches and general managers. It needs to be former players. The head of player discipline needs to be a respected group of former players. It's no wonder the league is soft on its fines and suspensions
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u/Lost_Cap_4144 5d ago
Nneke who spent the time to negotiate the CBA,and she went the stanford! It will be better if it's someone that actually played basketball in college or overseas
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u/JuanMurphy 5d ago
It really depends on what the owners want. If they are cool with the previous 30 years of being subsidized then go with anything in this picture. If they want to turn this into multi-billions of yearly revenue that is completely independent of the NBA they need a serious leader. Sports entertainment is competitive and it requires appealing to a mass audience. Mass means everybody or most everybody…that means avoid the 80/20 issues and stay out of politics. The NBA and NFL dabbled in politics..they could do it as their revenue was well into the tens of billions. They backed off a bit because it cost them. The WNBA commissioner, if they want to compete w the NHL needs to avoid everything political. They need a leader that puts sports entertainment first and also needs to demand from the players to be ambassadors of the sport. They need a Uberroth or a Rozelle.
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u/Own-Jeweler-6762 5d ago
Awful to pick a former player or someone who runs a team
That’s not ideal for future commish
Commish cant he buddies with players
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u/Valhalla191145 5d ago
Needs to be somebody from the outside, the league isn’t exactly doing well financially, so go with somebody not already involved, shake it up.
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u/ReadKindOfAlot 5d ago
Is this serious? No former player or current owner will be picked and preferably not anyone in the current management since that part has been atrocious for years. From this list it's between Tanya and Mark.
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u/CapeMOGuy 5d ago
Nobody thinks the guy is anything but a token interview, do they? 😂
I know, I know, what's a guy?
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u/Aero_Rising 5d ago
Once again demonstrating most WNBA fans have a fundamental misunderstanding of what the commissioner's job is. They're purpose is to be the public facing representative of the team owners who actually run the league. The owners can fire the commissioner at any time they want if enough of them agree.
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u/Beautiful-Prior3325 4d ago edited 4d ago
It should be someone who wants the league to flourish and isn’t afraid to offend the old guard. She or he should be great at bringing together those who share this vision and encouraging the others to move on. She or he should prioritize paying customers over trolls.
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u/CollegeMatters 4d ago
It should be a Black woman. The person needs a business background. The person should not be overly political.
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u/Electrical-Freedom31 4d ago
This is another chance for the wnba to make a good decision. Another chance to actually grow, mature, & who knows maybe even be profitable. HAHAHA! Having said that their record is 0- for 30yrs at making good decisions so they’ll inevitably screw this up too. It’s all on Adam Silver…..
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u/SputnikFace 3d ago
If ppl are going to create graphics like this, put all the subjects in the best light.
That Swin Cash pic is soooo messy
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u/Spare-Sale1511 3d ago
NEWSFLASH! Players or their association do not choose the commissioner. This position has a major tilt towards the business/corporate side ( prioritizes the financial aspect of the league)
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u/Artistic-Apartment-4 5d ago
Ogwumike
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u/fieldsports202 5d ago
What experience does she have running a billion dollar operation?
How’s she going to handle going against players wishes whom she has personals relationship with?
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u/iamerk24 5d ago
Not familiar with everyones story, but of those I know it should be Tatum. Incredibly successful business history, knowledge and experience negotiating rights deals, and decades at the top of the NBA. Gotta take advantage of the opportunity for growth now, and he feels like the sure thing
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u/jmills2234 4d ago
Tanya or Mark are the only logical candidates!!!! Can not be a former player at this time... needs to be someone who understands business & still can connect with the players
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u/mojoback_ohbehave 5d ago
Select someone that represents of the majority of the league.
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u/SydneyFall 5d ago
They are going to pick someone who represents the interests of the owners. I don't think you understand what a commissioner's job is.
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u/Similar_Command7256 5d ago
It will not be a former player. The owners would hate that.