Women’s Pro Basketball League Unrivaled Scores $28 Million in Funding
Unrivaled, the new women’s professional 3×3 basketball league founded by WNBA players and Olympic champions Breanna Stewart (New York Liberty) and Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx), announced Monday that the organization has secured $28 million in its Series A funding round.
Investors include NBA power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, Olympian Michael Phelps and his wife Nicole, South Carolina women’s basketball Head Coach Dawn Staley, USC guard JuJu Watkins, and Minnesota Timberwolves forward Joe Ingles.
Stewart and Collier announced Unrivaled last year. “For years, women have relied heavily on off-court sponsorships for a majority of their income. With Unrivaled, we’re revolutionizing the game by prioritizing investments in our stars and ensuring their on-court performance is reflected in their pay,” Stewart said in a statement at the time.
“With the growing popularity of women’s basketball and the WNBA, this is an opportunity for us to extend our visibility into the traditional basketball season,” Collier said. “Breanna and I set out to create a league that would change the way women’s sports are viewed and ultimately how sports leagues operate. We may have had the vision, but this isn’t just our league—it belongs to the players, and the Unrivaled model reflects that.”
The league, which kicks off on Jan. 17, will consist of a 10-week season hosted in Miami and featuring some of the WNBA’s biggest names divided into six teams. They will be coached by Teresa Weatherspoon, Phil Handy, Adam Harrington, DJ Sackmann, Nola Henry and Andrew Wade.
In addition to Stewart and Collier, the list of players includes Jewell Loyd, Courtney Vandersloot, DiJonai Carrington, Rickea Jackson, Aaliyah Edwards, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Natasha Cloud, Allisha Gray, Shakira Austin, Jackie Young, Marina Mabrey, Tiffany Hayes, Satou Sabally, Brittney Griner, Chelsea Gray, Kahleah Copper, Brittney Sykes, Lexie Hull, Angel Reese, Azura Stevens, Arike Ogunbowale, Rhyne Howard, Jordin Canada, Rae Burrell, Dearica Hamby, Aliyah Boston, Courtney Williams, Kayla McBride, Kate Martin, Alyssa Thomas and Stefanie Dolson.
Games will be played on 70×50 foot full courts with two ends, (approximately three-fourths the size of the WNBA court), and will consist of four seven-minute quarters. The 3×3 format will be a departure from the standard 5×5 basketball played in the WNBA.
Unrivaled also offers its athletes the ability to stay in the United States during the off-season instead of traveling overseas to play basketball — a choice many women’s basketball players stars have been forced to make for decades. The athletes will be paid a minimum average salary of $222,000, well above the WNBA league minimum of $64,154 for players with two or fewer years of experience.
The inaugural season of Unrivaled will air on TNT and truTV and also stream on Max. Former ESPN president John Skipper and ex-Turner Networks president David Levy were among the first group of investors in the league in 2024. That group also included USNWT great Alex Morgan and Trybe Ventures, former NBA star Carmelo Anthony, longtime UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma, Moira Forbes, NBA brothers Tyus & Tre Jones, and actor Ashton Kutcher.
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