Unrivaled one of the most successful start-up leagues in women’s sport history
Unrivaled is making significant strides in women’s basketball, with fans and investors alike displaying a shared interest in the one of the most equitable leagues in professional sports.
As an off-season tournament premised on collaboration with the biggest stars of the WNBA, Unrivaled has seen enviable success since its launch amid much fanfare in January.
Co-founders Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart have so far managed to raise $34 million for the fledgling league in a sign that businesses are willing to bet big on women’s sport if the project is right.
Sports News Blitz writer Shameeka Voyiya analyses the new tournament’s success.
Tournament format
Unrivaled does a few things differently when it comes to the rules of the game.
By removing two players per side from basketball’s traditional five-on-five match-ups and playing on a smaller court, the league encourages faster-paced games, constant action, and stunning upsets.
Game time is also reduced to seven minutes per quarter – instead of 10 minutes in the WNBA and 12 minutes in the NBA – and the last quarter is moreover untimed.
The match ends when one of the teams reaches a score that is 11 points more than the highest score at three-quarter time.
While these rules are somewhat audacious, fans are tuning in and investors continue to circle the tournament, so it is clearly working.
READ MORE: Unrivaled news: Groundbreaking tournament a game-changer for women’s basketball
Increasing interest and investment
Co-founder and WNBA star Collier is optimistic about the league’s long-term ability to fundraise.
“Not only is it something that you should support, because we honestly want to get away from that narrative where ‘you should support us because it’s the right thing to do,’” she said. “You should watch because it’s exciting, and you should invest in it because it’s a great business decision. We’ve proven that.”
Corporate sponsors to have boarded the Unrivaled boat include Sephora, Sprite, Wayfair, Wilson, and Opill, while sports stars such as WNBA veteran Dawn Stanley, football legend Megan Rapinoe, and tennis prodigy Coco Gauff have also signed on.
As a result, Unrivaled has a salary pool of $8 million, placing the players among the highest earners in women’s sport.
Exact salaries are not publicly disclosed, but estimates put the average remuneration at $220 000 plus a share of league equity.
“Salaries going up is one of the big things we’re pushing for,” Collier claimed.
“But then also [elevating] the player experience. [In the WNBA,] we have players practicing in rec centres with the general public. They’re changing in front of strangers and it’s becoming a safety issue in a league that is growing so fast, where we are becoming more popular and more recognizable.
“We want to raise the standard. [At Unrivaled,] we are giving the players the experience we think we deserve,” she continued. “We don’t want to go back to anything less after this.”
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Unrivaled success
Unrivaled is being set up for long-term success, with the front-office team still hard at work securing more funding partnerships with major sponsors.
“Most startup leagues are living year-to-year and hoping that the next wave of funding comes in, or that brands extend because they’re on one-year deals,” said league president Alex Bazzell.
“We built multi-year deals with almost every brand partner. We’ve certainly built that with our TV rights deal, so it’s allowed us to solely focus on the product and the players and not have to move our focus into other areas that take our eye off the prize.”
The deal in question – a multi-year media rights agreement with Warner Bros. – is undoubtedly one of the league’s biggest wins.
On its debut in January, Unrivaled brought in 364 000 viewers on TNT and, according to Bleacher Report, the tournament has delivered 31 million views across its platforms since.
“It feels like we’re changing the ecosystem of women’s basketball,” observes Collier.
“Overseas contracts are going up. Other domestic leagues, contracts are going up. From the very beginning, we exceeded our financial expectations. In my mind, it’s already been successful.”
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