If you’ve worked in sports radio in any fashion, you’ve likely been stood up by a guest before. Whether it was a miscommunication or a scheduling mishap, the ability to lock in a guest and keep the appointment fails from time to time. That happened last week with The Dan Patrick Show and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
On Friday’s program, Patrick revealed that Engelbert agreed to join the show in a conversation with executive producer Todd Fritz. The agreement was between Engelbert and Patrick’s team specifically. It isn’t uncommon for personalities to agree to appearances without first running the opportunity past their representatives. That happens all the time. However, the explanation and transparency Patrick provided to his audience was something worth examining.
Make no mistake about it, having access to the top names in sports is what Dan Patrick’s program is built on. It is an interview-first program because Patrick is widely considered the best in the format at conducting conversations. Those who agree to appear on his program know questions are not provided in advance. The discussion will be tough, and softballs are rarely part of the equation.
However, every interview is more conversation than interrogation. When you join Dan Patrick, it’s not a testimony, but facts come out.
Engelbert has made national interview appearances on sports talk programs before, most recently on The Pat McAfee Show in April ahead of the current WNBA season. However, this season has been filled with incidents that demand answers, from possible expansion to recent moments involving Caitlin Clark and Alyssa Thomas.
Process Matters
From the start, the request wasn’t handled properly. Fritz did his job. Like any other intrepid producer, the goal is to secure the guest by any means necessary. According to Patrick, Engelbert made the agreement with Fritz specifically, not WNBA public relations, the league’s communications team, or any representative assigned to her at the American Century Invitational.
If that account is accurate, the people responsible for handling those arrangements were never involved. Fritz circumvented the system, which isn’t uncommon in sports media. When you build relationships with high profile people, you can gain access without the system in place being needed. Relationships are built on trust, something the Patrick program has yet to build with Engelbert.
However, those who were bypassed by the request are often the ones who ultimately hold the process to account.
Following a delay in Engelbert’s appearance, the program revealed that she explained her absence. She told the show that her communications team would “not allow her” to make the appearance.
Again, this isn’t an uncommon occurrence. Anyone who has worked in the media has experienced it. Myself included. However, Patrick’s level of transparency and his follow-through after the cancellation went a step too far.
Yes, the WNBA needs to provide answers to tough questions. The league also must do a better job of communicating statements from the commissioner when incidents warrant a response. Just three weeks ago, Patrick criticized the league for not responding to the show’s requests for comment on Caitlin Clark’s absence from a WNBA 30th anniversary poster.
“Just a note to the WNBA. Have somebody available,” said Patrick on June 26. “We were one of the few outlets that called looking for a quote. We couldn’t even get a quote out of anybody… Like, have somebody available. Alright? You have to answer tough questions sometimes. This is a time when you have to answer a tough question. But, have somebody available. That’s all.”
Professional To Personal
The error lies in the response. Following Engelbert’s no-show, Patrick made the situation more about Engelbert than the failures of the league’s communications team. Engelbert and the league employ people to shield and guide her through every issue the league faces. Their job is to grant access, provide clarification, and work with media outlets to find solutions.
It’s no different than any other league.
Are league commissioners required to answer tough questions from sports media outlets? Not necessarily. However, it is the communications staff’s job to create situations that put the commissioner in the best position possible to address those issues.
None of that happened when Engelbert was approached by the show’s production staff. Therefore, the outcome was something the program should have anticipated. Instead, Patrick made the situation more about Engelbert than the likely result of how the request was made in the first place.
“We’re just trying to be a journalist here, that’s all,” said Patrick on Friday. “Don’t say yes. Then all of a sudden, somebody probably said, in my opinion, ‘Oh. Maybe we shouldn’t do this.’ At some point, you have to do this. 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, and I will treat you with respect.”
Patrick called Engelbert’s response “feeble” and insisted he would have understood if she had declined the invitation from the beginning. However, the mistake wasn’t the outcome. It began with an attempt to work around the system the league has in place.
Shifting The Spotlight
Patrick is right about one thing: The WNBA needs to become more comfortable answering difficult questions. That is part of growing into a mature sports property, and avoiding those conversations rarely serves the league well. But that’s a separate issue from what happened here.
Guests cancel. Public relations departments intervene. Interview requests that seem secure suddenly disappear because someone higher up decides the timing isn’t right. It happens in sports media every single day.
That’s why Patrick’s reaction felt so unusual. The lengthy explanation wasn’t really for the audience. It was for the host. Listeners don’t need a detailed accounting of every behind-the-scenes booking dispute because, frankly, they don’t care. They care about what comes next, not why an interview never happened.
Transparency has value, but so does perspective. In this case, Patrick devoted far more attention to a routine media occurrence than it deserved. The story wasn’t that a guest canceled. The story became Patrick’s response to it.
For a broadcaster with decades of experience, that should have been the most predictable part of the entire episode.
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John Mamola is Barrett Media’s sports editor and daily sports columnist. He brings over two decades of experience (Chicago, Tampa/St Petersburg) in the broadcast industry with expertise in brand management, sales, promotions, producing, imaging, hosting, talent coaching, talent development, web development, social media strategy and design, video production, creative writing, partnership building, communication/networking with a long track record of growth and success. He is a five-time recognized top 20 program director in a major market via Barrett Medi’s Top 20 series and has been honored internally multiple times as station/brand of the year (Tampa, FL) and employee of the month (Tampa, FL) by iHeartMedia. Connect with John by email at John@BarrettMedia.com.