This past Friday was the much-ballyhooed debut of the Unrivaled League – the 3×3 full court women’s basketball season featuring many professional notables from the WNBA.
If the first weekend of Unrivaled was any indication, we women’s hoops aficionados are indeed in for a treat these next couple of months.
But while the teams, star power and social media hijinks have garnered a good bit of the attention relating to Unrivaled, another aspect of the upstart league has also garnered plenty of attention.
That is the presentation of the league. Having a big-budgeted television partner such as TNT certainly helps make the viewing experience every bit as enjoyable and pleasing to the eye as it would be if one were catching Unrivaled games in person. Having Candace Parker be part of studio coverage was another brilliant move.
Some on social media have even opined that the way in which TNT has presented Unrivaled should have made the WNBA ink its new television deal (that starts in 2026) with it as opposed to NBC or Amazon. Hopefully NBC and Amazon go big budget with the W.
The reason why Unrivaled was created was in order to create an opportunity for top-tier WNBA talent to sharpen their skills without having to endure the rigorous wear and tear of going overseas. The idea of players going overseas is especially a taboo one after what Brittney Griner endured three years ago in Russia.
And a massive reason for why Unrivaled can fulfill those financial needs is because of the sponsorships that have been lined up. Among those pacts include the financial services company Morgan Stanley. Also, Unrivaled got just what it needs when Wayfair bought the naming rights to its arena in Miami.
Among its sponsorships also include two that are familiar to basketball fans. One is with Icy Hot – which became a household name among hoops heads for its ads with Shaquille O’Neal over the years. The other is with Sprite – which used to be a longtime NBA sponsor. Sprite used to be the sponsor of the NBA’s Slam Dunk contest at All-Star weekend.
If Unrivaled’s presentation is or is not meant to be a warning shot at the WNBA regarding collective bargaining agreement negotiations, Napheesa Collier – a league co-founder – understands that the opportunity is there to get the W’s attention.
Something we knew from the very beginning is we wanted to give equity to every player that played so we can start to grow that generational wealth and start to pay these players what we think we deserve.
–Napheesa Collier (TNT interview)
The executive director of the WNBPA, Terri Jackson, even said in remarks to Front Office Sports that she hopes “there’s a movie” that gets made regarding what is happening.
Another of Unrivaled’s many notables – Angel Reese – mentioned during media availability prior to the league’s Friday tip-off how elaborate the setup is for the players.
I come in here. I get breakfast. I get treatment. I can come in and get in the gym anytime … I just have everything here that I need, and everybody has everything here we need.
–Angel Reese
There is a case to be made that if part of Unrivaled’s objective is to get the attention of the WNBA, it may not be to put the league as a whole on notice – but individual franchises.
After all, it was recently announced that the Indiana Fever will open a new $78 million practice facility that is slated to debut prior to the 2027 season. Facilities and team amenities have been much of the talk lately in WNBA circles with franchises such as the Las Vegas Aces, New York Liberty, Minnesota Lynx, Phoenix Mercury, Seattle Storm and even the expansion Golden State Valkyries being seen as standard bearers in this area.
Meanwhile, teams in large markets such as the Los Angeles Sparks and Chicago Sky have been looked at as being late on this issue. The Sky recently broke ground on a $38 million facility set to open in the suburb of Bedford Park. Also – the Connecticut Sun having to practice in a recreational league facility prior to a playoff game against the Fever was not a good look either for the W.
The official WNBA social media accounts sent out posts wishing good luck to the 36 players that will be competing in Unrivaled competition from now until March. Perhaps the same WNBA, that wants to add four more games to the regular season and two more to its Finals, will recognize that if Unrivaled can roll out the red carpet to the best players in the world for two months that it certainly can for six.
