Unrivaled 3-On-3 Women’s Basketball League ‘Almost Broke Even’ In Debut Season

The league brought in over $27 million in revenue in its first year in business

Nearly two years ago, WNBA players Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart announced a new 3-on-3 basketball league that would be “Unrivaled.” After its first season, the league said it ‘almost broke even’ in its inaugural debut.

Unrivaled commissioner Micky Lawler admitted that the league did not do too badly this year, bringing in over $27 million in revenue in its first year in business. She informed the media outlet that the new league almost broke even and that more could be done to make the league successful. She anticipates that Unrivaled could start seeing a profit in its second year.

“We almost broke even in the first year,” Lawler said. “We know there’s more that we can do.”

With a deal with TNT and several major sponsors supporting the league, Unrivaled was able to snare some prominent WNBA players to participate in the new venture. The average salary for the 36 women who played this past season was $200,000. Statistica reported that the average salary in the WNBA, which also plays a longer season than Unrivaled, is around $120,000. The first season saw the league average 221,000 viewers during the regular season and the playoffs, with the championship game bringing in 364,000.

League president Alex Bazzell said that, after Unrivaled’s first year’s success, there are plans to generate more revenue for the upcoming season.

“We ended up doing, I believe, $1.4 or $1.5 million in merchandise sales this year,” Bazzell said. “How do we double or triple that right away just by being more efficient? Ticket revenue, we know we’re going to add seats to our venue. We want to remove the back panel area where players walk in that you’re going to see on TV, create more seating which increases our revenue from that standpoint.”

The league played its games at one arena but plans to take them to additional venues. It has not been determined where, but they anticipate playing in two cities outside its Miami base.

“This is sustainable,” Lawler said. “There’s definitely an appetite and great support for it.”