Chicago Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon calls out players during the first half of the team’s WNBA basketball game against the New York Liberty on May 23, 2024, in New York.
Frank Franklin II | Ap
Basketball league startup Unrivaled announced Monday that it has closed a Series A funding round, raising an additional $28 million. Before its inaugural season.
“Our players have yet to take the court and the foundation we’re building with our partners combines unmatched expertise, strategic insight and an incredible product,” Uncontested President Alex Bazel said in a press release. “Together, we’re setting an unrivaled stage for years to come.”
The 3×3 Women’s Hoops League already secured $7 million in a seed round announced in May, meaning the league has a total of $35 million in funding through 2024. The latest round was led by the Berman family and included NBA champion Giannis Antetokounmpo and 28-times. Olympic medalist Michael Phelps among others.
Unrivaled was co-founded in 2023 by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier and advertises that the player-owned company will give each Unrivaled player “equity and a vested interest in her success,” according to the press release.
The league has contracted 36 top players and says it pays the highest average salary of any women’s professional sports league.
Although the Women’s National Basketball Association has seen significant growth in the past few years, superstar rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese received just over $70,000 in base salary compared to the National Basketball Association’s star rookies who received millions in their first year.
Rival announced last week it had signed Under Armour As its official uniform partner. It signed an exclusive, multi-year media rights deal A Warner Bros. invention TNT and truTV, as well as to broadcast its games on streaming platform Max. WBD participated in the Series A funding round, the league said Monday.
The round also included private investor Mark Lasseri, University of South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley and USC guard Juju Watkins. Previous investors include football phenom Alex Morgan and actor and investor Ashton Kutcher.
The inaugural season begins on January 17.
