A made-for-TV event or a pioneering league to change women’s 3×3 basketball? Almost two years in the making, but Unrivaled has finally done it. From fog machines and blaring music to a cheering crowd, Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier have put the $28m in funds to the right use. And the buzz? Over 300,000 viewers tuned in, and it was indeed a game-changer for women’s sports. But, as is often the case, not everyone was clapping in unison. The achievement was celebrated. However, it was met with some important questions. Was it too flashy? Let’s talk numbers first because they’re impressive.

Debuting January 17, 2025, Unrivaled included 36 of the top WNBA players, including Stewart and Collier. The league’s goal? A dream come true for players to show off and build their 3×3 skills during the WNBA offseason while earning competitive 6-figure salaries right at home. While no doubt the players are loving it, seems like fans couldn’t get enough either. The opening night averaged 313,000 viewers for its two games, rivaling or even outshining some WNBA regular-season games. Not only viewers, but the abundance of cash flow in the league was visible throughout.

Logos of sponsoring companies Samsung, Miller Lite, Sprite, State Farm, Wayfair, and Sephora covered the court and basket. Samsung Galaxy had a sticker on the court, and Miller Lite had its logo on each baseline. The makeup company was, however, the most visible of the partners, with its signature black-and-white stripes covering the arms of the officials, chairs in its sponsored baseline suite, and “Sephora Sounds” DJ booth in the corner of the arena (though those stripes were Unrivaled’s signature purple). This is what not everyone was completely sold with.

Rachel DeMita pointed out on her YouTube, “We need to be able to be more honest with our constructive criticism of women’s basketball,” she said. “The commentary, sideline interviews, and pre-game show, the postgame show, it felt like all of those were put in place as a marketing tool for the play on the court and it was just overwhelming praise, praise, praise, praise, praise!”

It is the inaugural week of the Miami-based league and everything looked too perfect to be true. Surely, when names like Candace Parker and Lisa Leslie come up for commentators, things would be golden. But selling itself too much has become a problem for the league. However, she still is all for celebrating milestones.

“While I’m in agreement. This is such a cool thing that Napheesa Collier has done and that Breanna Stewart has put together, the fact that these players do not have to go play overseas and that players who have been in the WNBA for many, many years getting to stay home, getting to train in world-class facilities. All the things they did are incredible and that is all great things to point out.”

The primary purpose of creating Unrivaled was to give women’s basketball players a source of earning in the country itself. Most athletes would leave US soil to play for international clubs. Playing in other countries indeed provided them with financial stability and experience. However, it also meant a lot of restrictions and not being able to rest properly or give time to their family back home. Unrivaled has certainly solved this problem and also given some of the best facilities for player conditioning. Only to raise another. Sugar coating much?

Giving more insights on her thoughts, DeMita further added, “But we don’t need to, during the games, just be constantly praising and not calling out certain things like regular play-by-play commentary, in-studio shows would be doing.”

Top Comment by Way2Go

She lowkey sounds like a hater… they’ll work out the commentary kinks… can we just celebrate the moment and then...more

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Debate

The fan engagement and marketing for the plays were on point, to say the least. However, that is not how the usual professional basketball plays are called. The good decisions were pointed out, but what about the bad ones? No one commented on how DJ Sackmann, the Lunar Owls’ head coach, did not want to sub out Collier. Or how the two coaches planning strategies with the team were easily audible.

But here’s the catch: DeMita wants a balance of praise and criticism. “If you flip on an NBA game and one of the teams is getting blown out by 30, you’re going to have some things to say about it in that studio show to constructively criticize what’s going on. And for me, that was somewhat of a turn off with the commentary,” she explained. Indeed, every basketball lover is going to have something to say about every field goal made or a shot blocked. And that is exactly what DeMita raised the concern for. Nevertheless, it would be cruel to say that the opening week did not bear fruits for Unrivaled.

The first game starring not only Stewart and Collier but also Skylar Diggins Smith and Jewell Loyd in Lunar Owls vs. Mist captured 313,000 viewers (290,000 on TNT, 23,000 on truTV). The second game (Vinyl vs. Rose) grabbed 311,000 viewers (284,000 on TNT, 27,000 on truTV). Peak viewership in the first game’s nail-biting final moments went all the way up to 364,000. It was a record-breaking night for TNT Sports, their most-watched women’s basketball audience ever. Talking about making history, Unrivaled truly pulled some right chords.

How does it stack up for Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier’s Unrivaled?

When you compare Unrivaled’s debut to other leagues this season, it’s clear this was no ordinary night. It outshone ION’s 2024 WNBA games, like Mystics-Sun (290,000 viewers) and Storm-Lynx (266,000). Only nine games in the 2024 NWSL season managed higher numbers, and those were all on major broadcast TV.

The debut crushed the NWL’s 2024 season average of 152,000 viewers on ESPN. For context, last year, TNT aired “Terminator: Dark Fate” during the same time slot, and it pulled 343,000 viewers. Unrivaled came remarkably close.

Here’s the kicker: Unrivaled wasn’t just up against empty airtime. Friday night was packed with heavy hitters. WWE’s “SmackDown” pulled in 1.4 million viewers. Indiana-Ohio State men’s basketball got 1.17 million viewers. The Magic-Celtics NBA game hit 1.15 million viewers. Other events, like college basketball and women’s gymnastics, hovered between 181,000 and 245,000 viewers. Still, Unrivaled held its own—no small feat.

The league’s digital game was equally strong. Bleacher Report’s Unrivaled content on TikTok averaged 1.75 million views during the week, a whopping 3.5x increase compared to last season’s women’s basketball content. In total, they pulled in 31 million views across platforms. Safe to say, the digital crowd is hooked.

Unrivaled’s debut has broken records and changed perceptions of what women’s basketball is capable of. Yet, the league must welcome both applause and constructive feedback in order for it to keep this momentum going. There’s no doubt Unrivaled is here to stay, with stars like Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier leading the charge. The challenge now? Taking it to the next level and keep the buzz alive.