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

Ahead of the All-Start Game, Engelbert announced that the WNBA would launch a replay center for the 2027 season, even as she sidestepped a question about her future beyond this season.

The announcement comes as the league and Engelbert have endured weeks of criticism for how they have handled threats to player safety, communication with players and with the media.

For her part, Engelbert’s long-winded answer evaded saying whether she would be back to lead the league where she has been commissioner since 2019.

“To be at the helm of this league during this incredible hyper growth period, so blessed that these players are putting a product on the court they are every night,” she said. “They stand for the values that the W has long sought for. So I will just continue to do my job, execute the strategy because it has been working.”

Part of the strategy included implementing the replay center, which will utilize the NBA replay center in Secaucus, N.J. The decision includes a technological investment to put cameras in each of the non-NBA arenas that WNBA teams play in.

Neither Engelbert nor the league released details on the operational costs associated with standing up the operation, which will involve significant staffing.

While coaches have applauded changes to officiating made this season – a result of a task forced aimed at reducing the physicality of the game – issues remained with missed calls, length of reviews and consistency.

“We’re still finalizing the operational details,” Engelbert said. “We’re really excited about this project, the value it’ll bring to the game. And we have a lot of people working on it behind the scenes to bring it to fruition for the start of next season.”

Despite the news, Engelbert faced questions about her relationship with players with her handling of recent incidents putting her future in doubt.

Lynx star Napheesa Collier called out Engelbert’s leadership in her exit interview last season. A report from ESPN earlier this week cited more than 20 stakeholders from around the league who, while lauding Engelbert’s role in growing the business, say she has lacked a personal touch in dealing with players.

That has been evident in recent weeks.

In a game last month, Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas pushed her fist into Caitlin Clark’s neck while the Fever guard was down on the floor. Thomas has said the contact was incidental, but she later received a flagrant foul and was suspended for one game – a decision, Sports Business Journal reported, that came at the urging of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

Thomas shared that she received harassment and death threats in the wake of the incident. Las Vegas guard Chelsea Gray also shared that she has been harassed with racist language following a loss to the Fever earlier this month.

Neither has heard from Engelbert directly, according to reports.

Asked before the All-Star Game about players’ relationship with Engelbert, four-time MVP A’ja Wilson said, “My only relationship with Cathy is when she hands me awards, which is great. I love to see her in that light.”

The league and WNBPA met earlier this week to discuss abusive messages and online harassment, saying jointly that the league would commit to enhancing security resources.

Engelbert said the league made the players aware of reporting resources and other tools already available to them while committing to do more to ensure their safety.

“We’ll continue to have those important conversations, a lot of listening and making investments necessary to ensure every player feels as safe and supported as possible,” she said.

Here is the full exchange between Cathy Engelbert and a reporter related to her future as commissioner:

Q. Just wanted to ask you directly: Do you expect to be commissioner of the WNBA at the start of the 2027 season?

CATHY ENGELBERT: Thanks. Like your jersey there. And you’re losing your voice. Maybe not too many parties over the past couple days (smiling). We’ve all been at them.

Obviously, I am so blessed to be at the helm of this league during this incredible hypergrowth period. So blessed that these players are putting the product on the court they are every night, that they stand for the values that the W has long sought for.

I will just continue to do my job, execute the strategy, because it has been working. Make sure we listen to the players, communicate with the players. So absolutely just love this league and blessed to have had the career I had before and the career I have now.

Mostly the team we’ve built at the league. I mean, the capability. Remember, I came in here and I’ve told some of you, there were 12 people working at the league. There’s 12 people probably for the 24 years before I got here. Now we have almost a hundred people working full time. We have a lot of others that help us. We leverage off the NBA model as well.

The enormous capability we’ve built in digital, social. We have engineers and WordPress, marketers and brand. We have data, analytics, data scientists. That’s what I’m most proud of. We have built a powerhouse team. That is what I focus on, is leading that team, and leading that team to help, again, this game continue to grow, so that young girls who typically drop out of sports too quick can see our players as their role models. That’s what keeps me going.

Just having the Nike national EYBL players here is just incredible because I’ve spent time with so many of them over WNBA Live and in the hotel. Just how they view this league and role models.

I can’t tell you how many come up to me and say, Cathy, I want you to draft me in 2033 or 2034. I’m like, Oh, boy. But they’re really excited about this league. That’s what keeps us all going.