The Unrivaled 3-on-3 women’s basketball league has piled up tens of millions of dollars in funding and a nine-figure broadcast deal with TNT Sports, but it is truly just getting off the ground.
After a strong debut on TNT with nearly 400,000 viewers, average Unrivaled viewership over the full regular season was about half that. As the league looks to grow from this foundation, Sports Business Journal media reporter Mollie Cahillane spoke with TNT Sports executives who have big ideas for Year 2 of Unrivaled — including going on tour.
Cahillane wrote that TNT and Unrivaled are not certain they will move away from the single-site model as soon as 2026, but she cited two TNT producers who are pushing pretty hard for it.
“There are so many ways we can grow,” said live production director Morgan Weinbrecht. “(Unrivaled) was played for eight weeks in Miami. What if it goes and plays a week in New York? What if it goes and plays a week in California? What if it moves around every week? What does it look like to bring this even closer to the fans? We want to be able to have an impact on more viewers, fans, champions.”
It is somewhat unusual to hear a network partner opine about the structure of a league publicly, but TNT Sports also made an investment in the league when it struck the media rights deal, according to Front Office Sports.
And while taking the show on the road would seemingly affect more of the gate and sponsorship revenue streams, the broadcast could use some more life as well. Beyond keeping the league in Miami all season, Unrivaled also made the choice to play games on a court built into a production studio in Medley, Florida.
The viewing experience is similar to that of the NBA and WNBA “Bubbles” from 2020, with limited crowd reaction and a fairly small scope.
TNT Sports supervisory producer Ann Lutzenkirchen, who also endorsed the idea of a multisite format in 2026, gave voice to those concerns via Cahillane.
“It is a very repetitive broadcast every week because it’s the same arena,” Lutzenkirchen said. “So if it was up to me, I would say let’s go on the road all the time. It’s exciting that people are even talking about that, because it’s showing that, hey, there’s an appetite and there’s a success story here.”
Of course, the real inflection points for fan engagement and viewership will come if and when Unrivaled can lure reigning MVP A’ja Wilson and Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark. Both players left the door open for participating in future cycles, and Unrivaled is expected to welcome young stars like Cameron Brink, Paige Bueckers and Flau-jae Johnson in coming seasons as well.
The growth of the star pool could come in South Florida, but TNT isn’t being shy about its hopes that the scope of the league broadens geographically as well as with who plays.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.