Women's Basketball might have just changed forever. A new experience has just launched called UNRIVALED. Unlike traditional 3 on 3 basketball, Unrivaled plays on a condensed full court, giving the game an exciting and fast paced feel. The first weekend of games have come and gone and it feels electric! With the highest salaries in women's basketball history, and equity in the brand. Unrivaled is the new standard for the sport.
Borrowing the club format of soccer, the teams in Unrivaled are not based on location but instead based on six unique identities. As the league is in it's infancy it will be up to the players, coaches and social media managers to help build the character of these clubs that people can come to love and identify with.
Many viewers have already staked claim to a club, myself included. From the reveal, I was Phantom for life. Thankfully The club drafted some of my favorite players. Unrivaled's social media channels have been practically overflowing with content from Vinyl clowning on coach Teresa Weatherspoon, to the Rose's "That's So Raven" parody. Each player has brought a piece of their unique identity to club that will only become more tangible as time goes on.
The league comes at a necessary time in the sports as Women's basketball is getting more and more eyes on it with each passing season. Many players seek opportunities overseas during the American offseason to supplement income from the WNBA. Unrivaled is giving those players an alternative to continue to build their brand and hone their craft domestically, while still giving them a well earned break. 2024 Playoff rivals Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart are the co-founders of Unrivaled. Both of which are mothers who, understandably don't want to spend 5 months of the year away from their families, a sentiment that is shared with, well everyone I think. Unrivaled is based in Miami, Florida. The compound where players train and compete was built from the ground up just for Unrivaled. The original funding goals of the company was around 28 million dollars, but closed with around 35 million in December. This was thanks to their many sponsors like Wayfair, State farm, Under Armour, Sephora, Sprite, and Warner Bros. Discovery, which claimed a multiyear media rights deal which was included in their investment. All Unrivaled games are available on MAX, and available on Youtube for international viewers, making this the most accessible women's basketball league in the world. Their first broadcast went without a visible flaw. Their production was crisp and not a moment of its lightning quick action was missed. Its accessibility and flawlessness should put the WNBA on notice, as the biggest challenge across all professional Basketball is accessibility. How can I follow a league if I don't know where to watch every game?
The inaugural game began with its co-founders across the court from each other. Lunar Owls and Mist started it all, Breanna Stewart fittingly scoring the first field goal in Unrivaled history. From the moment of tip off, the energy of the arena was radiating through my screen. Unrivaled games feature three 7-minute quarters with the final quarter being an untimed race to the winning score. That point target is set by the leading team's total plus 11. In the example of their opening game, at the end of the third quarter, The score was 73-67, meaning the winning score for this game became 84. Don't worry though, you're not the one doing the math each game. For the last quarter Mist only needed 11 more points to win, where as Lunar Owls needed 17. The game became incredibly close as before the winning shot, the score was 80-81. Skylar Diggins-Smith nailed a three-pointer securing the victory for the Lunar Owls. As the final points were made, It sounded like the roof was blown off the building. SDS was celebrating before anyone could process the victory leading the rest of her club sprinting to her to celebrate with her.
The second game of the evening featured the Rose and the Vinyl. A game that was just as furious. Rhyne Howard blazed through the game ending with a monstrous 33 points, the highest scorer of the night in either game. However just because the Rose lost does not negate Angel Reese fantastic 14 rebounds. The game came to an end with an amazing pass from Arike Ogunbowale to Dearica Hamby for the winning score of 79 points.
The final two teams played on Saturday afternoon, Phantom BC and Laces BC. This game was brutal. The laces walked out with a 38 point lead, the final score 86-48. Kayla McBride scored a strong 28 points, what is more impressive that ever player on the laces scored more than 12 points. Phantom BC looked devastated by the end of the game, and rightfully so. The loss was so bad, The Laces posted Ghostbuster memes. Hopefully Phantoms can get some momentum as the season continues and maybe even get a win back on the lace when they play each other again in February.
The first full weekend of games has concluded. Unrivaled airs all their games on MAX, each Friday, Saturday, and Monday. The season will last 9 weeks. If you're not on board yet, you should be. You can find all information about Unrivaled at www.unrivaled.basketball. A new standard has been set for women's basketball, The highest salaries, equity in the organization, state of the art facilities, it's hard to not be excited about this as a women's sports fan. Go pick a club and start cheering, or just tune and see who you click with. This is a great time to get into Women's Basketball before the WNBA starts up in May. With only 36 players and six clubs, you can easily get familiar with them, before they are split up and return to their one of 13 teams for the WNBA. The future is truly unrivaled.
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