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The $8M Power Play: How Unrivaled Is Rewriting Women’s Sports Economics

Blunt Insights — A no-nonsense newsletter delivering sharp, data-heavy insights on sports, strategy, and growth. No fluff. Just the facts that matter.

Author

Samuel Rogers
June 19, 2025

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⚡️ The Data-Driven Power Shift in Women’s Basketball

Women’s sports just got its most aggressive financial bet ever.

Meet Unrivaled, a player-first, equity-backed 3x3 basketball league promising the highest average salary in U.S. women’s pro sports history—and it’s not just hype.

Let’s break the model down by the numbers:

Metric

Unrivaled

WNBA (2024)

% Difference

Avg. Salary

$222,222

$113,295

+96.1%

Max Base Salary

$250,000

$234,936

+6.4%

Player Count

36

~144

–75%

Equity Stake

Yes (all players)

No

N/A

Revenue Sharing

Yes

Limited CBA revenue sharing

N/A

TL;DR: Fewer players. More pay. And equity on the table. Unrivaled isn’t just leveling the field—it’s changing the whole sport-to-equity equation.

📈 First-Year Numbers: Demand Is Here

Audience Engagement (2025 Season)

KPI

Stat

📺 Average Viewers/Game

221,000 (TNT, truTV)

🔥 Peak Viewership

398,000 (Finals)

👁️ Total Season Viewership

11.9M

📱 Social Impressions

589M

⬆️ Instagram Growth

+104% YoY

That’s elite startup traction, especially for a brand-new property competing with March Madness, the WNBA, and the NBA in media mindshare.

💸 Economics of Empowerment: Follow the Money

Unrivaled isn’t VC vapor—it’s funded like a startup, run like a media company, and operated like a league.

💼 Financial Snapshot

Financial KPI

Value

💰 Series A Raised

$28M

💵 Total Capital

$35M

💸 First-Year Revenue

~$27M

🧾 Salaries Paid Out

$8M

📍 City Model

Miami-based single-site

🏀 Games Played

24 regular season + playoffs

Notable Investors:

  • 🏀 Stephen Curry

  • 🏀 Giannis Antetokounmpo

  • 🎾 Coco Gauff

  • 🏊 Michael Phelps

  • 🎤 Megan Rapinoe

  • 💰 Brooklyn Nets co-owners

Top Brand Partners:
Samsung, Ally, Wilson, Sephora, Under Armour, State Farm

“This is the NIL generation—Unrivaled gives athletes ownership, not just a jersey.”
— Kaitlyn Savage, Sports Capital Advisor

🧠 Strategic Design: What Makes It Work

Unlike the WNBA or NCAA, Unrivaled is:

  • 3x3 format → faster, more watchable, less coaching overhead

  • Single-city model → reduces cost, maximizes content output

  • Equity-incentivized athletes → higher performance, stronger loyalty

  • Off-season calendar → No conflict with overseas/WNBA contracts

  • Athlete as influencer → built for digital virality

⚔️ Format Details:

  • 18-second shot clock

  • Games to 35 points

  • 8 teams, 5 players each

  • 1-on-1 tournament built into playoffs

🌟 Talent Density = Must-Watch Basketball

This is the highest density of women's basketball talent in history. Yes—higher than the Olympics, the WNBA, and March Madness.

Star

Background

Breanna Stewart

2× WNBA MVP

Sabrina Ionescu

NY Liberty, NCAA All-time leader in triple-doubles

Napheesa Collier

Team USA

Angel Reese

LSU, WNBA Rookie of the Year frontrunner

Chelsea Gray

Finals MVP, Unrivaled Champion

And they’re all being paid like franchise players.

🚀 What Comes Next?

Unrivaled just proved that the economics of women’s sports are wildly undervalued when:

  • You pay top talent like top talent

  • You structure for digital-era content

  • You turn players into stakeholders

📍 2026 Roadmap

  • Expand beyond Miami (Atlanta, LA, NY in play)

  • Increase games from 24 to 40

  • Launch fan membership + merch tiers

  • Add a European summer showcase

📣 The Big Take

Unrivaled is what happens when you stop asking “How do we grow women’s sports?” and start funding them like winners.

The market didn’t grow because of visibility.
It grew because someone finally paid up.

📌 TL;DR

Unrivaled is a startup women’s basketball league offering:

  • The highest player salaries in U.S. women’s sports

  • Revenue sharing and equity for every athlete

  • A fan-first, digital-native, 3-on-3 format

  • Backing from Curry, Giannis, Gauff & Phelps

  • Massive traction in just Year 1 ($27M revenue, 11.9M viewers)

This isn’t evolution. It’s revolution.

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