WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the women’s basketball league would consider hosting a game in Saudi Arabia if the opportunity arose.
“I think we would evaluate it across what our global games platform looks like,” Engelbert said in an interview at the Bloomberg Invest conference Wednesday. “It wouldn’t be the first place I went, for sure, but we had this opportunity in Canada, Europe, Asia and Africa.”
Her comments follow the surprising partnership between the PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf. In May the WNBA hosted a game in Canada at the Toronto Raptors’ Scotiabank Arena, the league’s third international game.
“We would look at it the context of EMEA games,” Engelbert said of potentially playing in Saudi Arabia. “It is something that I think we would think through. We’re running a very player-led league and I would go to them first and say: ‘Where do you want to play?’”
The NBA has also hosted international games in countries such as China, Mexico, India and the United Arab Emirates.
