Chicago Sky head coach Theresa Weatherspoon makes an appeal to her players during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the New York Liberty on May 23, 2024.
Frank Franklin II | Associated Press
New basketball league Unrivaled announced on Monday the completion of Series A financing, raising an additional $28 million before its debut season.
“Our players haven’t even hit the field yet, and the foundation we’re building with our partners combines unparalleled expertise, strategic insights and incredible products,” Unrivaled President Alex Bazzell said in a release. “We will Together we will lay the foundation for Unrivaled in the coming years.”
The 3×3 Women’s Basketball League has secured $7 million in a seed round announced in May, meaning the league has secured $35 million in total funding through 2024. Champion Giannis Antetokounmpo and 28-time Olympic medalist Michael Phelps, among others.
Unrivaled was co-founded in 2023 by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, and touts the player-owned organization as giving each Unrivaled player “an equity stake and a vested interest in their success,” according to a press release.
The league has signed 36 top players and says its average salary is the highest of any women’s professional sports league.
While the Women’s National Basketball Association has grown exponentially over the past few years, superstar rookies Kaitlyn Clark and Angel Reese earn base salaries of just over $70,000, while the National Basketball Association’s star rookies earn several in their first years. million dollars.
Unrivaled announced last week that it had signed Under Armor as its official uniform partner. It has also signed exclusive, multi-year media rights agreements with Warner Bros. Discovery Its games air on TNT and truTV, as well as on the streaming platform Max. WBD participated in the Series A round, the alliance said Monday.
The round also included private investor Marc Lasry, University of South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley and USC guard JuJu Watkins. Previous investors include football star Alex Morgan and actor and investor Ashton Kutcher.
The first season begins on January 17th.
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