An exciting new spin on women’s basketball tipped off Jan. 17 when Unrivaled, a 3-on-3 league, had its debut game in the league’s new custom built stadium in Miami, Florida.
Unrivaled was co-founded by two WNBA players and Olympians, Breanna Stewert and Napheesa Collier. The league was founded to financially support players during the offseason and hone their skills without having to play in overseas leagues during the offseason.
Each of the initial 36 players will receive equal equity ownership.
During the league’s debut weekend, more than 3 million viewers tuned in to watch the debut of the new professional women’s basketball league. In comparison, the last full season of the regular WNBA averaged a viewer count of 1.2 million viewers per game.
This boost in viewership is a testament to how fresh the Unrivaled style of play is to the general audience. League games are structured in a similar way to pick up games at local parks and gym courts.
Games consist of 3-on-3 play with three seven-minute-long quarters and an additional fourth quarter, where there is no timer. During the fourth quarter, teams play to a winning score which is decided by adding 11 points to the leading teams score prior to the beginning of the fourth quarter.
The format is familiar to audiences who play casual basketball, while also being the first time this format has been done on a large scale for viewers at home. It is different from Olympic 3-on-3 basketball, as it is a compressed full court instead of a half court.
The league also hosts a 1-on-1 tournament amongst the 36 players in the league. The total prize pool is $350,000 and the cash is split between the winner, each clubmate of the winner, runner-up and semi-finalists. The winner gets $200,000 from the overall cash prize.
Co-founder Napheesa Collier was crowned the winner of the tournament this season, beating out Aliyah Edwards 2-1 in the final series.
For support, the league garnered outside funding from numerous celebrities and pro athletes who were happy to help with the expansion of the WNBA and women’s sports. Some of the athletes that helped fund the league are Michael Phillps, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Coco Gauff.
This additional funding allows Unrivaled to provide its players with the highest average salary for any professional women’s sports league in the world.
Unrivaled places a lot of its focus on its players. WNBA free agent Satou Sabally spoke to ESPN about Unrivaled and her experiences with it.
“I think Unrivaled is just setting a great standard in that way of what we deserve, and we will all come back and also demand it for our teams.” Sabally said.
Last year the WNBA had its most successful year to date following a thrilling draft class consisting of names like Caitlyn Clark, Angel Reese and Cameron Brink. Unrivaled aims to contribute to that success.
With Unrivaled, the WNBA is able to keep people interested in women’s basketball during the offseason.
Unrivaled airs on Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays on TNT. The 3-on-3 league will continue through February into March, and the championship game will be played March 17.
