Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart are currently doing battle in the WNBA Finals as the leaders of the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty, but off the court, the two are the founders of a new 3-on-3 women’s basketball league, Unrivaled, that will begin play in January 2025.
The six-team, 30-player league will play all games in Miami this winter, allowing players an opportunity to supplement their WNBA income by staying stateside, rather than going overseas to play in the offseason. On Wednesday, Unrivaled announced its lead broadcast partner will be TNT Sports, which is also taking an equity stake in the league, and will broadcast more than 45 primetime regular season games three nights per week across TNT, truTV, and Max. Mondays and Fridays will feature games on TNT, with Saturday games on truTV.
Getting a national broadcast partner for a fledgling league is a big deal, as it provides not only an easy option for fans seeking out the league to watch games, but presents an opportunity for others to come across games scrolling through the TV guide and discover the league that way. For TNT, it continues their efforts in filling out their sports calendar now that they are headed into the last year of their broadcast deal with the NBA. They already had MLB and NHL deals, but have added the French Open (tennis), NASCAR, college football, and now Unrivaled to maintain a basketball foothold and get in on the women’s basketball boom.
Unrivaled currently has 26 of their 30 player spots filled for next season, featuring a number of big names headlined by their co-founders, Collier and Stewart, along with the likes of Arike Ogunbowale, Chelsea Gray, Angel Reese, Kelsey Plum, Jackie Young, Jewell Loyd, and Kahleah Copper. The remaining four slots remain TBD, but will be announced before games begin on January 17, 2025 in Miami.