How the WNBA became a political prop in the culture wars

Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever, right, drives to the basket against Sydney Taylor of the Chicago Sky on Aug. 23. Michael Reaves/Getty Images hide caption

The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is having a landmark year. Viewership and attendance are up, team valuations are soaring and the league just signed a massive $3.1 billion media rights deal .

Journalist Sabreena Merchant, who covers the WNBA for The Athletic, says in many ways the league is in a better place than ever: "There's so much talent. The quality of play in the league is better than it ever has been. The playoff field is really exciting and it's kind of open. So no one really knows who's gonna win the title in 2026."

But Merchant also acknowledges that the league has become embroiled in controversy and culture wars. According to Media Matters, since June 25, Fox News has dedicated at least 206 segments to the WNBA, largely aimed at stoking tensions related to race and trans athletes.

"Everything in the WNBA seems to take on a political lens far beyond what is actually happening on the court," Merchant says. "And I think it's because people see an opportunity to use the league as a political prop."

The management of the Chicago Sky has disclosed that it is enlisting help from national security experts in an effort to protect its players off the court. Meanwhile, league commissioner Cathy Engelbert recently announced her plans to step down at the end of the calendar year.

"There is just a lack of control of the narrative of the WNBA, and I don't think the commissioner is entirely to blame," Merchant says. But, she adds, "I think they want a commissioner who is better able to control the story around the WNBA and prevent it from being a political prop in all of these culture wars."

I think part of it is an element of misogyny. There's a segment of the population that thinks that it's protecting women by preventing them from being in any spaces where they may be, I don't know, like beaten up a little bit, like on a basketball court. There's a lot of people who don't think that women should be engaging in physical labor, which athletics very much are. And that is the undercurrent to me of any objections towards physicality in women's pro-athletics because a lot of people don't believe women should be playing professional sports as is.