January 14, 2025
Unrivaled, Up Next: FAQs for Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart’s new league
Brittney Griner: Unrivaled is 'filling a void'
It seems like there has been so much Unrivaled news: all the investors, the players and coaches, the team names and rosters. So much hype and enthusiasm and money poured into this brand new league – it’s wild to think that there has not been a second of basketball played yet.
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That all changes this weekend.
With opening weekend of Unrivaled upon is, it’s time to launch The Next’s weekly column: Unrivaled, Up Next. On Tuesdays during the league’s first season, we will break down news, highlights, and more from the previous week’s games, while looking ahead to what is coming up.
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Without any actual basketball to discuss this week, this is more of an introduction. Why did we need Unrivaled to begin with? Are they trying to replace the WNBA? Will it last?
Sports fans, meet Unrivaled.
What is Unrivaled?
Founded by WNBA players Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, Unrivaled was created in order to give WNBA players another offseason option. There has been a lot of conversation over the past few years about WNBA players having to play in Europe, China, Australia and other places while the WNBA is out in order to make money. As Collier mentioned in an Unrivaled player availability last week, going overseas “isn’t a bad option, it just shouldn’t be the only option.”
There are a few complications when it comes to the best and most experienced WNBA players going overseas from October/November until May. It means they have to play all year round with no breaks, often for years on end, which not only increases the chances of them getting injured but is also a lot on them mentally.
There is also the issue of prioritization in the WNBA, a rule enforced in the CBA where players with more than 2 years’ WNBA experience must report on time to training camp or be suspended for the season. With many European leagues overlapping with the WNBA’s season (especially as they continue to add games to it every year), these players were faced with tough choices about where to commit to.
It’s not that they didn’t want to play as much as they could year-round, as Brittney Griner explained in her Unrivaled availability. Griner, who stopped playing overseas after being detained in Russia for nearly a year while traveling for her offseason’s team, said Unrivaled is “filling a void” she has had since not playing in the offseasons.
Some players started to opt out of playing in the offseason all together and getting other work. People like Kia Nurse or Skylar Diggins-Smith took jobs in broadcasting. Other players relied on their endorsement deals to be able to stay in North America during the offseason. With WNBA salaries starting in the five figures and even the supermax only topping $200,000 by a bit in recent years, supplementing income was vital for many players. Players still need to train in offseason, rent our gym space, hire personal trainers, eat well and get treatment done. It adds up, especially when your contracts are worth a fraction of men’s basketball salaries.
Unrivaled solved a few of those problems for these players. The first is that the average salary for these three months of the season is six figures — not only higher than their WNBA salaries, but coming in addition to them. The season was planned specifically not to overlap with the WNBA’s schedule, and it’s shorter than many of the international seasons, giving these players more genuine time off. The league also provided equity opportunities for inaugural signees, giving these players a piece of what they are helping to build.
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Is Unrivaled trying to replace the WNBA?
Not at all. The idea is for Unrivaled to be an offseason development league to help players with their specific training goals as well as becoming more well-rounded players. The unique 3×3 format on a condensed court will help in variety of aspects including pace, defense, spacing, handling, and playmaking. FIBA’s 3×3 format surged in popularity in recent years, and some of Unrivaled’s players have experience in that format. It’s a fun take on an exciting way to play basketball.
Players and coaches have all been extremely transparent on the communication going on not just in their practices with their teams, but with their players’ WNBA teams as well. The point is to make sure these players have an excellent offseason development option for themselves, in the United States.
That doesn’t mean Unrivaled won’t impact the WNBA. The WNBPA opted out of the current collective bargaining agreement, and negotiations are underway for the new one, with the current pact set to expire at the end of the 2025 season. Everything from player perks to salaries to broadcasting will be on the table — and Unrivaled will provide a potential path for how it all will look.
Buying into Unrivaled’s hype
Unrivaled has scored some big name investors and brand partners. On the investment side, people like Coco Gauff, JuJu Watkins (who just straight up invested instead of doing an NIL deal like Paige Bueckers and Flau’jae Johnson), Dawn Staley, NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Olympian Michael Phelps, to name a few.
In terms of brand partnerships, the league has brought on Under Armour as it’s uniform partner. Samsung, State Farm, Miller Lite and Sephora are already announced as partners as well. To top it all off, Unrivaled signed a multi-year broadcasting rights deal with Warner Brothers in order to air the league’s games on TNT Sports.
All of the league’s games will be played in the same arena in Miami, a TV-centric arena that will only hold about 800 seats for fans. With plans to expand in later years to possibly more cities, the hope is to still make Unrivaled as accessible to watch as possible.
Overall, $35 million has been invested into this league as of December 2024. That’s quite a lot of belief in the vision of Unrivaled.
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So, let’s play some ball?
If it feels like we have been waiting SO long to watch this league in action, well, it’s finally here.
Unrivaled kicks off on Friday January 17 with of course Stewart’s Mist BC and Collier’s Lunar Owls BC with the first game. That’s at 7 p.m. ET on TNT Sports.
Here is the rest of the weekend’s schedule, all ET:
Friday January 17, 8:15 p.m: Rose BC vs Vinyl BC
Saturday January 18, 2:00 p.m.: Phantom BC vs Laces BC
Saturday January 18, 3:00 p.m.: Lunar Owls BC vs Rose BC
Monday January 20, 8:00 p.m.: Vinyl BC vs Phantom BC
Monday January 20, 9:15 p.m.: Laces BC vs Mist BC
Games will be on Fridays, Saturdays, and Mondays weekly, with Saturday games on TruTV and every other game on TNT Sports. Games will also be available to stream on Max.
It will be everyone’s first look at what this league will be. Check back in next Tuesday for a closer look at opening weekend and what’s ahead.
