Dave Portnoy is standing behind Dan Patrick. The Barstool Sports founder says Commissioner Cathy Engelbert owes fans real answers following skipping out on her appearance on The Dan Patrick Show.
What We Know: Engelbert agreed to appear on The Dan Patrick Show Thursday, July 9, during the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe. Patrick’s crew waited nearly two hours before learning WNBA PR staff had told her not to do it. On Monday’s Wake Up Barstool, Portnoy defended Patrick’s account and criticized Engelbert’s excuse directly. He argued PR staff work for the commissioner, not the other way around.
What They Said: (All Quotes Via Wake Up Barstool via FS1)
Dave Portnoy on Dan Patrick’s transparency in explaining WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert’s absence from his program: “Dan Patrick to me had every right to do this. I hate when people cancel, a pet peeve of mine. You hear it across everything. I especially heard it when I was doing my BFF show, where we’d ask people to come on the program, and they’d be like, “Oh, I’d love to, but my agent or my PR firm won’t let me. These people work for you. You’re the commissioner of the WNBA. What do you mean your PR people won’t let you go on? It’s your decision. You’re their boss. So that’s a total lie, total cop out. She’s a total coward, and she has mismanaged this league from the word go.”
Dave Portnoy on WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert shying away from tough questions about the league: “She doesn’t know how to answer questions. She always plays the defense of you want to ask this if I was a male to basic questions. She is a disaster.”
What Remains Unclear: The WNBA has not commented further on Engelbert’s non-appearance with The Dan Patrick Show. Whether or not she will appear in the future is unknown.
What It Means: For Portnoy, this reinforces a running critique of Engelbert’s leadership and communication style. Consequently, scrutiny builds around how she handles Clark-related controversies and league scrutiny overall. Meanwhile, Patrick’s account adds pressure toward greater transparency from WNBA leadership moving forward, especially with expansion talks ongoing.
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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.