By now, most WNBA followers have heard about Unequalled, the brand new skilled ladies’s 3-on-3 basketball league set to launch subsequent month in Miami.
The league, co-founded by UConn teammates and WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, has generated headlines in current months with its strategic rollout of the identities of its 33 taking part WNBA gamers, in addition to by promising unprecedented salaries and signing a large media rights deal with TNT.
However, how did Unequalled come about?
Why did high-profile basketball stars like Angel Reese, Brittney Griner, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Satou Sabally, and dozens of others decide to take part?
Why did TNT Sports activities and Below Armour select to put money into such a significant method?
And the way will such a brand new league measure success?
As a part of our weekly WNBA Defined sequence, SB Nation sat down with Alex Bazzell — the president of Unequalled, who additionally occurs to be Collier’s husband — for a prolonged interview.
Bazzell, a basketball coach himself, has been with Collier all through the whole lot of her skilled profession and intimately understands simply how completely different WNBA offseasons are from NBA offseasons, which are typically way more centered on participant growth.
Whereas traditionally, WNBA gamers have gone abroad through the offseason to earn supplementary revenue, NBA gamers
“It’s simply a possibility to create one thing actually distinctive for the gamers and for the followers, to be fairly sincere,” Bazzell advised SB Nation.
Why Unequalled prioritized full-court 3-on-3 basketball
One of many distinctive traits of the league is that every one video games can be performed in a 3-on-3 format on a compressed, 70-foot full-court (an ordinary WNBA courtroom is 90 by 50 toes). Sometimes, aggressive 3-on-3 basketball is performed on a half-court (comparable to in FIBA worldwide play), however Unequalled took the extra unorthodox method.
However why not simply play offseason 5-on-5?
For one, the 3-on-3 format would be sure that the league could be importantly seen as distinct from, and never in competitors with, the WNBA.
As well as, since fewer gamers are required for a 3-on-3 league, common salaries could possibly be considerably greater, one thing that was a key precedence from the league’s inception. As a result of there are solely 33 gamers, it was additionally possible to provide every inaugural athlete an fairness stake.
“It labored from a enterprise perspective,” Bazzell stated.
On the courtroom, the visionaries behind Unequalled are additionally massive proponents of the idea of the 3-on-3 format.
“It’s simply meant to area the ground, showcase expertise, be ultra-competitive, considerably be a yin and yang in comparison with the WNBA and their product,” Bazzell stated. “Each actually complement one another within the grand scheme of issues.”
With more room, gamers can showcase particular person expertise, and fewer time should be spent studying performs which can be particular to Unequalled golf equipment.
Every participant may also profit from extra touches and time with the ball of their fingers.
“Basketball, in my view, ought to nonetheless have an up-and-down movement — the place gamers can transition, they’ll stroll the ball up the courtroom, they’ll get in units,” Bazzell stated. “They will expose alternatives, which occurs on a regular basis, in 5-on-5.”
Nonetheless, how 3-on-3 full-court will play out on an expert stays to be seen.
“It’s by no means actually been achieved at this stage, so it’ll be fascinating,” stated New York Liberty guard Courtney Vandersloot, who, at 35, is without doubt one of the oldest gamers taking part. “I feel it’s going to learn me as a result of I play at that type of tempo — that’s a power of mine.”
How Unequalled is centering participant growth
If you discuss to individuals concerned in Unequalled — whether or not coaches, management, or the gamers themselves — it’s evident that participant growth is central to the league’s mission.
Bazzell, a longtime basketball coach who has labored with a myriad of NBA and WNBA stars, has a participant growth background himself.
“For our head coaches, we’ve tended to go in direction of individuals who have extra of a participant growth background,” Bazzell stated.
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Picture by David Becker/NBAE by way of Getty Photos
All six of the golf equipment’ head coaches — Nola Henry, Adam Harrington, DJ Sackmann, Andrew Wade, Teresa Weatherspoon, and Phil Helpful — have a powerful participant growth background.
Unequalled is constructing a 20,000-square-foot venue in Miami, which incorporates two full basketball courts, was additionally constructed to prioritize gamers’ growth and luxury.
“We constructed extensions to the venue for added area for locker rooms, for chilly tubs, and every thing genuinely for the athletes to have nice experiences,” Bazzell stated. “That’s one part of participant growth — simply hiring the correct individuals, and giving them the correct sources.”
Susan Borchardt, a efficiency coach for USA Ladies’s Basketball, will function Unequalled’s Director of Efficiency and Restoration. The league has additionally employed practically a dozen private trainers and therapeutic massage therapists.
The venue itself goals to supply all Unequalled athletes the facilities and companies that they want — together with moms who select to deliver their youngsters with them to the 9-week league. The venue features a hair and make-up room, a childcare heart, and extra.
“We’re going to supply daycare servicing for the moms on arrival,” Bazzell stated. “It’s every thing that the athletes want beneath one roof relating to something and every thing — on-court or off-court for them.”
That is the primary time many of the taking part WNBA gamers will spend their offseason with a lot of these facilities at their fingertips.
“I’m fairly excited simply to get the gamers available in the market, and to get them beneath this facility, and having them enhance, and getting the sources that I really feel like they’ve all the time deserved for his or her offseasons — however have but to essentially, really expertise from a participant growth aspect,” Bazzell stated.
How Unequalled received TNT and different main corporations on board
In October, Unequalled made waves after saying an official media partnership with Turner Sports activities: all the league’s video games can be streamed on Max. As well as, video games performed on Friday and Monday will sometimes be broadcast on TNT, whereas Saturday night time video games can be broadcast on TruTV.
Alex Bazzell pointed to the widespread elevated curiosity in ladies’s sports activities as a giant a part of why Turner Sports activities selected to come back aboard. Throughout 24 video games, the 2024 WNBA common season on ESPN platforms averaged 1.2 million viewers per sport, which marked a 170% improve from 2023.
“The info is evident,” Bazzell stated. “If you take a look at ladies’s sports activities and the place it’s going, it’s not an oversaturated market proper now. In males’s sports activities, you possibly can go down the road and watch a lot of completely different leagues or groups. Ladies’s sports activities are nonetheless at that tipping level. You’re going to see extra progress within the coming years. And once you take a look at viewership numbers, ladies’s basketball is the top of that viewership.”
Bazzell stated telling particular person gamers’ tales can be a key precedence of the media partnership between Unequalled and Turner Sports activities. Turner has broadcast NBA video games since 1988, and their deep-rooted observe document elevating skilled basketball within the U.S. made them an excellent match for Unequalled.
“[TNT] is betting on stars which have all the time produced viewership or simply engagement on social media,” Bazzell stated. “That call was not an straightforward determination, however it was a calculated determination for Turner. They’ve been the house of basketball for a very long time and had been nice storytellers for a very long time.”
Earlier this week, Unequalled additionally introduced a partnership with Below Armour; the sportswear firm will present athletes with athletic gear, sneakers, and uniforms. It’s the most recent in a string of high-profile partnerships between the 3-on-3 league and main corporations.
“Why now?” Bazell stated. “Timing is every thing. We’ve hit this vital mass progress inside ladies’s basketball, and fairly actually, we hope to maintain that continuation going and bringing the celebrities to the winter, and preserving them seen. I feel it helps everybody. All these issues led to why everybody’s excited, not simply Turner, however our different companions which can be approaching board.”
First-year participant salaries are shaping as much as be unprecedented
Unequalled’s whole wage pool is above $8 million, Bazzell stated. With 33 gamers at the moment slated to take part, the common wage at the moment is available in at round $242,000. As compared, the common WNBA wage is lower than half of that determine, regardless of the WNBA season being greater than twice as lengthy. In truth, the common Unequalled wage is greater than the WNBA supermax, which was $241,984 in 2024.
That $8 million determine doesn’t bear in mind fairness or income shares, each of which can be added to gamers’ salaries.
“We’re actually altering the outlook of the ecosystem holistically,” Bazzell stated. “You’re seeing extra leagues bumping up their pay as a result of that’s the place the area is now. We’re proud to play a component in that progress of simply the economics of those gamers being paid some huge cash to play basketball. That’s the place we wish to get to. It’s nice to have model offers, it’s nice to have all this off-court stuff, however on the finish of the day, we would like to have the ability to pay them excessive salaries on the courtroom.”
Collier is thrilled with the progress Unequalled has made in such a restricted period of time.
“It’s superb to have the ability to create one thing that we really feel like is such a sport changer within the discipline of ladies’s basketball,” Collier advised SB Nation in an interview final month.
Unequalled started increasing months earlier than the league even tipped off
Initially, Unequalled was going to incorporate six groups of 5 gamers every, for a complete of 30 WNBA gamers.
However, since monetary projections had been higher than anticipated, the league opted so as to add 4 extra spots, subsequently recruiting Alyssa Thomas (Connecticut Solar), Stefanie Dolson (Washington Mystics), Rae Burrell (Los Angeles Sparks), and Jordin Canada (Atlanta Dream) to hitch.
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Picture by M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Photos
The improved monetary projections meant extra athletes would get alternatives.
“It allowed us to open up extra roster spots, and to create much more competitors, to deliver extra athletes into the fold,” Bazzell stated.
Since Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum not too long ago dropped out of Unequalled, citing private causes, three spots within the league stay open. Whether or not or not they are going to be crammed stays to be seen, however because it at the moment stands, three golf equipment — the Laces, the Lunar Owls, and the Phantom — have undetermined Wild Card spots.
Unequalled could be very snug starting the season with lower than full rosters. However, down the street, continued enlargement is the objective.
“We wish to be a spot the place now we have extra alternatives, not much less alternatives,” Bazzell stated.
For Collier, the truth that the league has already expanded is a good signal.
“I feel it simply reveals the extent of pleasure and the way a lot ladies’s sports activities is on the rise —that we had been in a position to develop in 12 months one, that we’re having these superb partnerships,” Collier stated.
How Unequalled will consider its early success
Unequalled is a enterprise — not a charity. Bazzell made that crystal clear.
“Stewie and Phee have been adamant about it — this can be a enterprise that we’re operating, and we hope to over-produce for all of our companions,” Bazzell stated.
However, he additionally made positive to notice that the league’s main measure of early success can be participant satisfaction.
“When gamers depart, [we want them to feel] this was one of the best low season they’ve ever had,” Bazzell stated. “In fact, they’re part of one thing actually distinctive. It’s high-level competitors, however it’s additionally an opportunity for them to work on their video games and enhance. On an extended schedule, within the 5-on-5 common season, there’s simply not as a lot alternative for that. It’s not an issue. It’s simply the truth. And we’re attempting to do one thing a bit bit completely different relating to our athletes, contemplating that this can be a likelihood for them to prepare for his or her WNBA season as properly.”
Bazzell desires the gamers who opted to play within the inaugural 12 months to need to come back again for future seasons.
“In the event that they benefit from the expertise, and so they wish to proceed to double down or take a look at this as a long-term alternative — which is what we imagine proper now — we gained,” he stated. “So the main target for us is at the moment on the athletes and their expertise and what they get out of it.”
After participant satisfaction, the second main goal of Unequalled is placing out an incredible product for the followers — each those that come to Miami to look at video games in individual and those that tune in on TV.
“That is going to be a really aggressive ambiance. This isn’t an all-star sport the place you roll the ball out and it’s type of a gimmick,” Bazzell stated. “It’s high-level competitors.”
Unequalled’s management is setting sensible first-year expectations, and the league is just not anticipating viewership numbers to rival the WNBA’s.
“It’s simply not potential,” Bazzell stated. “You need to construct a basis, and I feel we’re constructing that proper now by digital and we’re hoping to maintain the long-lasting WNBA followers that wish to proceed to have a contact level with these stars within the offseason.”
“You hope individuals tune in and watch video games, and are actually excited in regards to the product that they see, however… we’re 12 months one. You bought to stroll earlier than you run.”
This text is the third installment of SB Nation’s new “WNBA Defined” sequence, a weekly column diving deep into completely different subjects associated to ladies’s basketball. You may learn the earlier installments: “Historical past says profitable the draft lottery is a very, actually massive deal” right here and “Every part you have to know in regards to the Golden State Valkyries enlargement draft” right here.
