Unrivaled, the upstart 3-on-3 women’s basketball league is prepared to offer Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark over $1 million and “significant equity” in the league should she choose to join, per Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal.
The league, set to compete during the WNBA offseason, is scheduled to begin play in January. Unrivaled’s co-founder, four-time WNBA All-Star Napheesa Collier, announced Thursday that the league is expanding its roster of players from 30 to 36. Most players will receive salaries in the $250,000 range for a three-month season, above the current rate of a WNBA supermax contract.
Earlier this month, TNT Sports announced it would be the exclusive media rights partner for the league in a deal worth approximately $100 million and also take an equity stake in the venture. Games are set to air on Mondays and Fridays on TNT, with other inventory landings on truTV.
As for Clark, according to SBJ, sources speculate that the WNBA superstar is “60/40” to play in the league. Unrivaled has strategically gone after some of Clark’s closest friends and teammates — Fever guard Lexie Hull and former Iowa teammate Kate Martin — in an attempt to woo her. The league is also eyeing Fever forward Aliyah Boston as another young talent for its roster.
Unrivaled has already secured commitments from many of the most well-known WNBA stars, including Breanna Stewart, Angel Reese, Chelsea Gray, and Arike Ogunbowale. As such, Unrivaled does not see Clark’s participation as do-or-die but rather as an acquisition that would help jump-start the league.
One league source told SBJ, “Ultimately, they’re not applying pressure and just building the league, and hopefully she joins, because if she does, it would have a dramatic impact in a positive way.
“I think one way or another, any player that doesn’t play this year, I think once they see it, it’s just going to be hard not to want to join.”
There’s little doubt that Clark’s participation in the league would immediately raise its profile in an immense way. During the 2024 WNBA season, the league drew 31 audiences of over one million viewers. 24 of those audiences either featured Clark, or followed one of her games.
Per the SBJ report, Clark’s decision “comes down to mental health, stress or playing ball.” The rookie guard is coming off a long season that started in November 2023 with the Iowa Hawkeyes and didn’t end until the Fever exited the playoffs in late September.
However, Unrivaled is surely giving Clark plenty to think about. A seven-figure payday for three months of work and an equity stake in the league may be hard to pass up. And Clark is known to be a competitor. It’s hard to imagine she wants to sit on the couch and watch the best women’s basketball players in the world compete without her.
For that reason alone, it doesn’t seem like the league feels the need to full-court press her on a decision. Sources say she can “take as long as she wants” to decide. But even if Unrivaled is playing it cool now, you can bet that they want to see #22 on the court come January.
About Drew Lerner
Drew Lerner is a staff writer for Awful Announcing and an aspiring cable subscriber. He previously covered sports media for Sports Media Watch. Future beat writer for the Oasis reunion tour.