Unparalleled 3-on-3 women’s basketball league
Offered by: Unparalleled
Unrivaled, a new 3-on-3 women’s professional basketball league, opens Friday, offering both a huge challenge and opportunity to raise the profile of the growing women’s sport in the United States.
The league, co-founded by WNBA superstars Napheesa Collier and Brianna Stewart, has already announced deals with more than a dozen sponsors and raised $35 million in funding. Collier told CNBC that the league has already shown it has “immense” potential and opportunity.
“If we invest in our players and invest in women’s sports, I think we’re already seeing the return,” she said. “This is just the beginning for us. This is our first year and we have already achieved this, so we are really looking forward to the future.”
the game will be broadcast Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery The TNT Sports platform has a multi-year media rights agreement. Lee Burke, president and CEO of sports consulting firm LHB Sports Entertainment & Media, said TV ratings are not just about total viewers, but also about demographics.
“We’re looking for an audience that skews young, male, female. We’re looking for audience size,” Burke told CNBC. “There’s obviously a lot of hype for opening day. You want to see the audience expand and grow as the season progresses.”
Here’s what you need to know about Unrivaled ahead of the first tip-off.
League structure
The first season of Unrivaled will feature six teams competing over two months. The season culminates in a four-team playoff tournament, with the championship held on March 17th. A mid-season 1-on-1 player tournament is also set.
Games are played in a 3-on-3 format and are played on smaller courts compared to those in the WNBA. The show is one hour long and airs on TNT on Fridays and Mondays and on TruTV on Saturdays. The game can also be streamed on Max on WBD.
All games will be played at the MediaPro US venue in Medley, Florida, just outside of Miami. The season will take place during the WNBA’s offseason and is intended to provide an alternative to playing overseas.
Many WNBA players spend their offseasons playing for teams in Russia, China, and other countries to supplement their income. However, under the WNBA Collective Bargaining Agreement signed in 2020, players currently face a season-long suspension without pay if they miss training camp from overseas teams. WNBA training camp begins April 27th.
“This is trying to fill a void in players’ calendars. It’s expanding the path to professional basketball,” Alex Buzzell, president of Unrivaled and Collier’s husband, previously told CNBC.
Player payment methods
Unrivaled will also pay many players higher salaries than the WNBA. Buzzell told SB Nation the total payroll is more than $8 million, with an average of about $242,000 per player this season. Players will also receive stock and revenue sharing from the league, which claims to offer the highest average annual salary in the history of a women’s professional sports league.
At Friday’s press conference, Buzzell said the league has no minimum or maximum salary, but that some of its salaries are based on what competitors and other women’s sports leagues pay.
“When you look at the landscape and the ecosystem as a whole, we’re very proactive,” Buzzell said. “We’re trying to look at a lot of things: What are we potentially making overseas? What are we making in the WNBA? For what it’s worth, frankly. How can we exceed that number?”
WNBA salaries currently range from a minimum of $66,079 to a maximum of $249,244 for core players. Only one player per WNBA team can be designated as a core player and earn that amount.
Invincible Basketball League: Ray Burrell
Offered by: Unparalleled
who is involved
The league had 36 participants in its first season, all of whom played in the WNBA last year. There are 15 2024 WNBA All-Stars on the roster, led by All-WNBA First Team honorees Collier, Stewart and Alyssa Thomas. Other notable players include Sabrina Ionescu, Brittney Greiner, Angel Reese, and more.
Unrivaled has raised $35 million in Seed and Series A rounds from a number of prominent investors. Backers include basketball stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Carmelo Anthony, as well as Olympic athletes like Alex Morgan and Michael Phelps. Tennis great Coco Gauff was announced as a new investor on January 6th.
Collier said that while everyone is now focused on the rise of women’s sports, sports officials recognized the value of the industry early on.
“I think the sports community has known this for a long time,” Collier said. “It’s really encouraging to see the support of the other athletes. They believe in us so much, so it’s really nice to see that.”
Collier added that Unrivaled’s corporate partners are aligned with their vision to grow the sport.
“We’ve said for a long time that this is not a charity. This is a great business opportunity, and these brands recognize that,” Collier said. “They’re not just doing this out of good intentions, they believe in the growth of women’s sport, but they’re also doing it because they know it has the potential to be of great benefit. .”
About a dozen companies have sponsorship deals with Unrivaled, including Sephora, State Farm, Wilson, Ally Financial and Samsung. Most recently, Unrivaled named Sprite as its 1-on-1 tournament presenter and Bodyarmor as its official sports drink.
“This is very impressive, both in terms of the number of sponsors, the quality of the sponsors and the fact that these are non-traditional sports sponsors,” Burke said.
Announcers and studio hosts for TNT Sports’ Unrivaled coverage include Basketball Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie and two-time WNBA MVP Candice Parker.
why is it important
Unrivaled’s debut comes amid growing public interest in women’s sports, especially basketball.
The WNBA was particularly exciting, with former college stars Caitlin Clark, Cameron Brink and Reese leading a promising rookie class. The league announced that unique viewers for the season exceeded 54 million viewers, a new all-time record, and in-person attendance was the highest in 22 years.
Last year’s WNBA Finals, in which the New York Liberty defeated the Minnesota Lynx in five games, was the league’s most-watched championship series in the last 25 years, according to ESPN.
Starting next year, the WNBA will expand the Finals from a best-of-five format to a best-of-seven format. A 13th franchise, the Golden State Valkyries, will also debut next season, with plans to add teams in Toronto and Portland, Oregon in 2026.
The WNBA and its players are poised to capitalize on this momentum.
CNBC previously reported that the league could reevaluate its current 11-year, $2.2 billion media rights deal after 2028, with the WNBA Players Association opting out of the current collective bargaining agreement in October. did. A new agreement that goes into effect starting next season could give players higher wages and more benefits, and increased attention to WNBA players could give them more leverage at the negotiating table. It will be.
Collier told CNBC that Unrivaled will have a huge impact on the business of women’s basketball.
“We’re already seeing things escalating. Overseas contracts are increasing, other domestic league contracts are increasing as well,” Collier said. “We are looking to expand the usual thinking about the business of women’s sports, so there is no doubt that we will be driving the same thing with the CBA.”
—CNBC’s Lillian Rizzo, Jake Piazza and Alex Sherman contributed to this report.
