The first season of Unrivaled saw its conclusion on Monday night with Rose BC defeating Vinyl BC 62-54 with Brittany Sykes sinking a winning free throw for the victory and confetti drop.
Monday night was not only historic as the 3-on-3 women’s basketball league concluded with its final matchup but also saw the league’s only two Black female coaches Teresa Weatherspoon (formerly of the WNBA’s Chicago Sky) and Nola Henry (recently hired assistant coach for the Dallas Wings) face off in the championship.
Again, in a season of firsts, Unrivaled was able to not only secure $35 million from investors which most recently included Golden State’s Steph Curry, but also gain the rights to an exclusive broadcasting partnership with TNT Sports.
During this first season, Unrivaled reached more than 11.4 million total viewers in the regular season across TNT and truTV. Additionally, the ten most watched women’s basketball games ever on Warner Bros. Discovery networks and their streaming service Max belonged to Unrivaled.
Similar to the trends from this WNBA season where networks like ION Sports saw a large growth in their female viewership, women made up 57% of Unrivaled game viewership across TNT & truTV, the highest concentration of that demographic among major women’s sports properties. More specifically, Unrivaled averaged 104k Women 2+ viewers (across TNT and truTV), up 126% vs. WNBA regular season games on cable (81k, excluding Caitlin Clark games on NBA TV, ESPN, ESPN2).
For TNT and their networks, the boom of women’s basketball fans was dually noted as a factor in the decision making of becoming the exclusive broadcast partner of Unrivaled. Craig Barry, Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer for TNT Sports indicated the league brought in unique fans, again, capturing an important target market for TNT.
“What we are seeing is that brand has its own audience and that is really what you are trying to achieve. Yes you have sports fans, but you have bespoke fans for Unrivaled that are coming and making up the majority of the audience,” Barry said.
Furthermore, Barry acknowledged the ability to provide a product that women’s basketball fans particularly craved as fans have traditionally had to endure a multi-month hiatus from their favorite players as most have had to move and play overseas during the WNBA’s off season. Unrivaled and its format supplied a new product, but also an investment opportunity for TNT.
Barry said, “Unrivaled had looked at what worked and what didn’t work – in previous attempts they came in with a new vision, a reduced full court format, along with the professional athletes and understanding that it would be smart to do a shortened season in a central location and being able to consolidate the whole experience. When we all looked at it, we said this looks smart and it should be something that we explore.”
As the league moves forward and considers a second season, it is not without growing pains. The league consistently had issues with injuries and had to rely on injury reserve players that rotated between the six clubs. Additionally, some of the larger stars not only sustained injuries, but had other sponsorship commitments that resulted in them missing large and extended chunks of the season (i.e., Sabrina Ionescu from the New York Liberty exiting the league to embark on her first Asia Tour with Nike) . Although the single entity location worked this season for a new league just beginning to establish itself, critics and TNT Sports itself have noted that the league should invest in a multisite format moving forward.
Despite growing pains, Unrivaled season two will see WNBA rookie class sensation Cameron Brink, who was unable to participate due to ACL post-surgery recovery, as well as stronger pushes and pressure to bring in new players. Barry said, “We have an opportunity to grow the league. In season two, you are going to have influx of new players, so what we are trying to do – with Unrivaled – is create a league that is really engaging and accessible and can amplify these athletes at the highest level. In return, the athletes amplify the league. It is one of the first adjacent leagues that really has an opportunity to be sustainable.”
Despite the league’s inability to convince WNBA supestars A’ja Wilson and Caitlin Clark to join this season, there will undoubtedly be even more of a campaign to capture these pivotal players for season two. Season two could also see the debut of 2025 Unrivaled ambassadors and women’s collegiate basketball trendsetters Paige Bueckers (UConn) and Flau’jae Johnson (LSU) who bring in their own massive followings and fans.
With the addition of fan favorites and new stars, engagement numbers are bound to grow past the numbers from this year. Across, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and B/R W, Unrivaled content delivered 160 million cross-platform views and 12.5 million cross-platform engagements throughout the inaugural season.
Thus, it seems TNT Sports is looking continue to invest and collaborate with the league as it looks towards 2026 with Barry explaining, “The league has been really smart at how they have presented this season and if there are more opportunities to be innovative around showcasing the competition of these world class athletes, I think we all would be open to those opportunities.”
About Allison Smith
Dr. Allison Smith is a former Division I and II softball student athlete who is now an assistant professor of sport administration who studies and writes about the current state of women in sport. Outside of writing about women in sport, Allison has taught sport management and marketing courses for over ten years at various undergraduate and graduate programs. Follow Allison on Twitter @allisonbsmith15.