Dan Patrick took over the sports media news cycle last week when he publicly shared his story of WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert agreeing to join the show in a conversation with executive producer Todd Fritz, before eventually backing out of the interview.
Many have defended Patrick’s handling and used it as another way to beat up the WNBA leadership for another PR screw-up. Others have made the case that Patrick went too far. There’s always nuance to a story like this. For news/talk radio hosts, there are valuable lessons to be learned from it.
First, if your takeaway from Patrick’s moment is to rip your guest if they miss or back out of an appearance on your show, you’ve completely missed the point. Patrick used the moment and the play-by-play of how the situation unfolded to deftly explain how the interview went from “on” to “off” suddenly.
And there was a broader narrative he tied into this story about how this league, despite its growth in popularity, has often been its own worst enemy in public relations, media response, and general social awareness. They’ve largely flopped on all fronts in recent years, as the sport has grown in popularity, thanks largely to Caitlin Clark.
A Platform Earned Over Decades
The details Patrick shared, specifically about her backing out after the PR team told her to, offered a fascinating insight into the lack of leadership from a commissioner who is catching plenty of heat from multiple angles.
Then, there was Patrick defending his platform, which he has earned over a Hall-of-Fame career. “If you want to be treated as a serious league, this is what happens. These are tough questions, but this is a fair outlet for you. I will treat you with respect,” Patrick said.
And he’s right. He’s earned that reputation over several decades. Dan Patrick can make those statements.
If you’re relatively new to a market, still building your brand, and you decide you’re going to go after a local city councilman who blew off an interview, you might want to think twice. Can a rant on the subject be an entertaining few minutes of radio? Possibly. But it can backfire on you in a way that you will come to regret.
At this point in Dan Patrick’s career, there’s not much that can backfire on him. And this certainly wasn’t it.
Substance Over Spectacle
Combine this with Patrick’s conversational style, which was at no point flamboyant, over-the-top, or angry, but rather passionate, explanatory, and opinionated, and you have a great radio segment.
And even if you’re a veteran in your market, there has to be some greater value to the conversation beyond, “Can you believe I got blown off?” Patrick kept bringing it back to the league itself, and how this has impacted its present, and can impact its future. That brought it back to the fan.
Lastly, Dan did not come off as the WNBA’s enemy. He portrayed himself as someone rooting for the WNBA to succeed. And I believe that he is rooting for the league’s success. He came off like the disappointed father watching his teenager screw up once again and having to give them “the talk.” He was not the fire-breathing pee-wee rec coach treating a regular-season summer league game like it was the World Series.
In many ways, it was Dan Patrick at his best. But it was the nuance of his approach that made it a home run. This was not a “rip the guest who didn’t show” moment. It was the latest example of a commissioner trying to find her way, and who seems to be in over her head. And in this latest example, it was The Dan Patrick Show that was the story.
And the broadcast cutting to Engelbert shanking a sand wedge as Patrick is going on with his story was visual gold. But that credit has to go to the TV production team, not Patrick.
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Pete Mundo is a weekly columnist for Barrett Media, and the Vice President of News/Talk for Cumulus Media, while also hosting “Mundo in the Morning” and programming KCMO Talk Radio in Kansas City. Previously, he was a fill-in host nationally on FOX News Radio and CBS Sports Radio, while anchoring for WFAN, WCBS News Radio 880, and Bloomberg Radio. He’s also the owner of the Big 12-focused digital media outlet Heartland College Sports. To interact, find him on X @PeteMundo.