What: Unrivaled, a 3v3 women’s basketball league. 3v3 is an Olympic sport, typically played on a half-court. In the Unrivaled league, they’ll play 3v3 on a full court.
Who: Six teams full of your favorite players! The teams are Laces, Mist, Rose, Lunar Owls, Phantom, and Vinyl. The league was founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier. It’s been backed by more iconic women’s athletes like NWSL stars Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, and tennis player Coco Gauff. Not to mention the scores of industry partners they’ve signed with.
Why: Not to sound trite, but this is a league FOR players, BY players. Literally owned by players! And not just the initial ownership group or investment group, but all Unrivaled athletes have equity in the league. It also has the highest average salary in women’s professional sports league history. If that’s not enough, it’ll also be damn entertaining basketball. It already has been entertaining, honestly, if their on-court product is anything like their rollout has been. I love that the team main pages show the rosters as illustrations of each player with their nickname attached. Give us more personality in sports!!!!!
Where: For now, all six teams will play in Miami in an arena purpose-built by the league on the campus of Mediapro US, a company that handles audiovisual production. The arena seats 850 attendees, and the building will also house training and childcare facilities, as well as a studio for filming content. They want to focus on the player experience and the television product.
How: For anyone not local to Miami, you can watch games on TNT or its affiliates (i.e. Tru TV). All games will also be streamed on Max. Or! If you’re one of the lucky people living nearby an official watch party venue, you can go in person to enjoy a game. The league has organized watch parties at women’s sport bars and other bars in multiple cities, and you can get more information on those locations here.
When: Games start tonight, Jan. 17! The first matchups are Mist vs Lunar Owls at 7 p.m. Eastern, followed by Rose vs Vinyl at 8 p.m. Eastern. Check out the Unrivaled site for the complete schedule, as well as links to each team and their rosters.
