Unrivaled: An Alternative to Playing Overseas
Will playing overseas become history for future and current WNBA players? This reality appears to be achievable with the new league Unrivaled. Co-founded by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, the new three-on-three league will begin this Friday, January 17th on TNT Sports and last until March 17th. The amount of support that has been given since its announcement in October 2024 has been monumental.
Recently, Icy Hot has been named the Unrivaled League’s recovery partner. Icy Hot joins the following: Ally Financial, Mediapro North America, Miller Lite, Opill, Samsung Galaxy, Sephora, State Farm, Ticketmaster, TNT Sports, Under Armour, VistaPrint, and Wilson. Not to mention, the very talented Coco Gauff has jumped at this opportunity to push women’s sports forward as an investor to Unrivaled. It is truly amazing the amount of progress made in a short amount of time when resources are put together.
The investment into Unrivaled is so important because most WNBA players still need to play year-round to make a liveable wage. Most WNBA player salaries begin at five figures with the supermax deals being capped at only $200,000. Then, players still need the resources to train in the offseason, hire trainers, eat well, and get recovery treatment. With the low salaries, not much would be left for living needs or their families. However, Unrivaled brings more income to WNBA players and was specifically planned to fit within the WNBA’s offseason schedule.
Unrivaled brings supplemental income to the 36 players they have among its six teams. According to Unrivaled’s President, Alex Bazzell, the salary pool is over eight million dollars, which would make each inaugural player’s base pay a groundbreaking six figures. Plus, each player will be receiving equity and revenue-sharing payments. This will ensure that they make money beyond their salaries as well.
The birth of Unrivaled has shown us so much before a game has even been played. Every game is set to be nationally televised on TNT and truTV. In addition to that, all games will be streamed Max. This is a welcomed difference as the WNBA has a lower percentage of nationally televised games compared to the NBA. In the span of two months, we will see 14 regular season games followed by a quick playoff series that will last from March 16th to the 17th. Adding to the fun, there will be a mid-season one-on-one tournament where the winner will receive a $250,000 prize. The support from companies and the equity each player chosen for this league has is building Unrivaled’s momentum up.
Angel Reese and other rising talents are using platforms like TikTok to gain a global audience. They are promoting the league in new ways, bringing players, sponsors, and executives together as true partners. With the promotion they’ve done, they’ve made so much traction, with their Instagram currently sitting at 130,000 followers. This, along with all the sponsorships, further proves the vast amount of value there is in women’s sports. Unrivaled is building upon the traction made in recent years for the popularity of the WNBA while creating a sustainable model that could be followed by current and future leagues.
