Val Ackerman, the woman who put the ‘W’ on NBA, says goodbye on top. The 66-year-old sports executive announced her retirement from the Big East Conference on Aug. 31, marking the end of a 36-year career in professional sports. Ackerman leaves her post as commissioner of the Big East just weeks after she turned 66, the same age her grandfather was when he died.
For Ackerman, the journey from a New Jersey driveway to the boardroom began with a hoop under a dogwood tree. Raised in Pennington, N.J., she was a tomboy who dominated games against neighborhood boys, often beating them with her shooting. Her father, Randy, a high school athletic director, built a floodlight so she could play day and night.
The driveway became her only outlet when she refused to try out for the middle school boys’ team, feeling it was too intimidating. This experience served her well in her future career.
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That backyard resilience served her well when she became the first female president of the WNBA in 1996. Ackerman, then 36, was hired by NBA Commissioner David Stern to launch the league. She oversaw logo designs, uniforms, and the famous “We Got Next” slogan. She faced skepticism and financial struggles in the league’s infancy, often described by colleagues as wearing the weight of the world on her shoulders.
After leaving the WNBA in 2005, Ackerman took on another startup challenge: reviving the Big East Conference. The conference, fractured by football schools leaving for other leagues, had no staff, website, or physical address when she took over in 2013. She negotiated a $500 million media rights deal with Fox Sports and lured the University of Connecticut back to the conference in 2019.
Her tenure restored the league’s basketball-centric identity and secured its home at Madison Square Garden. The conference’s success is a direct result of her efforts.
Val Ackerman’s career is defined by a specific kind of grit. Unlike Stern, who was blunt and often rude, Ackerman was described as “relentless” but quiet about her struggles. Friends joked she never smiled and was always too thin, urging her to “eat a sandwich.” Her reserved nature allowed her to move through male-dominated rooms without causing a scene, a skill she honed watching her grandfather, George, a coach who won over a football team with a halftime pep talk.
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The Big East faced its own internal challenges under Ackerman. She had to manage relationships with schools that generated revenue primarily through football while trying to improve the basketball product.
During her final All-Star Game reunion in Chicago, Ackerman delivered a speech that looked back at her three decades in the sport. She spoke about the WNBA’s evolution from infancy to adulthood, acknowledging the league’s recent divisiveness. “The league was never meant to pit anybody against anybody else, except on the basketball court,” she told the crowd, referencing the late David Stern, who would have been proud of the league’s growth.
Ackerman’s retirement comes as the Big East continues to expand its reach. The conference recently signed a six-year deal with ESPN and a three-year extension with Mohegan Sun Arena for th