A massive women’s hoops inflection point, plus NFL firings

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Rivals? Unrivaled’s big opportunity ahead

Every moment of the past two years has felt like an inflection point for women’s basketball in America. Viewership is surging. Will they capitalize? 

It kind of defeats the entire definition of an inflection point, but if there really is one, the sport has arrived at its doorstep now. Consider: 

The WNBA, after a spike in popularity, is undergoing a contentious negotiation for a new collective bargaining agreement. Salaries and revenue are set to explode. The question is just how the players and league will agree to share the boom.
The sport’s rise has manifested in other ways. As recently as a couple years ago, it was standard for WNBA players — afforded meager salaries compared to those in other pro sports — to travel overseas to make big money during the offseason.
Enter new leagues like Unrivaled, which opened its second season last night, and Project B, a new venture that will launch in November. While there are differences — Unrivaled is a three-on-three sport, while Project B is more akin to the full game but with a wide travel schedule — they offer similar things: more money, and player equity in the league. 

Unrivaled started its sophomore year with four games last night, highlighted by the Mist, an expansion franchise, winning its first game, and Rose, the defending champions, winning by 20. My favorite bit about watching these games: The league uses a modified version of the Elam Ending, in which teams play three timed quarters, but the fourth quarter is untimed. The first team to reach a certain point total (11 points more than the leading team has after three quarters) wins. 

I asked Ben Pickman, who wrote an excellent preview of the Unrivaled year yesterday, about whether he thinks the league has a chance to make an imprint on the larger sports world this year: 

“Unrivaled already excels at creating social media content that puts WNBA players fully onto viewer radars during the winter. What will be interesting is how its viewership continues to grow and whether fans become more invested in the nightly results of its games. The league’s viewership on TNT and truTV in Year 1 was comparable to the NWSL’s viewership on ESPN networks this past season, and though it is far behind the WNBA’s viewership, the two leagues are of course at varying points in their history.” 

Ben also made an interesting point to me: With the NBA off TNT, Paige Bueckers, who plays for the Breeze, is the second-most famous athlete broadcast by TNT Sports, behind only Shohei Ohtani.

These are exciting things. Let’s move on to something a little more dour:

International Pink Slips: Black Monday, indeed

We discussed the looming specter of “Black Monday” yesterday — the day most NFL coaches get fired. That part came to fruition. What we didn’t expect was the firings to extend beyond the American version of football. 

Let’s start stateside: 

Cleveland canned Kevin Stefanski after six years in charge, which saw two playoff appearances, a disastrous trade for Deshaun Watson and a sack record all achieved amid boggling highs and lows. Jason Lloyd writes that, despite those temporary highs, Stefanski leaves behind a lot of bad things.
The Cardinals fired Jonathan Gannon after three largely unsuccessful seasons. He finishes his tenure 15-36 with no playoff appearances. Tough timing after the team’s X account wished him a happy birthday Sunday.
Pete Carroll is officially one-and-done in Las Vegas, which feels like a sad line in what probably will be a Hall of Fame career (a convo for another day). General manager John Spytek, hired last offseason with Carroll, will remain in his role and help Tom Brady with the coaching search. What a weird year. 

We’ll have to wait on movement for replacements, as plenty of those candidates are still coaching for playoff teams. One curious name to consider, though: Philip Rivers. 

Now, to the surprising news from across the ocean we briefly mentioned yesterday: 

Manchester United is done with manager Ruben Amorim after a maddening 14-month tenure that began with lofty promise. Amorim’s critics viewed him as inflexible, though his tactics were successful elsewhere. Man Utd finished 15th in the Premier League table last season and sits sixth right now. One thing will be missed: Amorim’s bizarre news conferences.
In other soccer sacking news, Celtic parted with Wilfried Nancy after just 33 days in charge. He joined Dec. 3 after a stint with the Columbus Crew. His early dismissal set records. 

Woof. Let’s move on to some more … normal news.

News to Know

Brett Davis / Imagn Images

Hawks, Young working on tradeAtlanta and star guard Trae Young are discussing a possible trade, a source confirmed to The Athletic, which has been a long time coming on a few different levels. Young is still just 27 and in his prime, and still possesses the ability to be an elite scorer. But it’s very clear the Hawks are a better team without him this year, and he can enter free agency after the season. Read our full story here, which includes a potential suitor.

Montana State wins wild FCS title gameMontana State won its first FCS championship since 1984 last night, 35-34 over Illinois State, which had become the Cinderella of the FCS tournament bracket. The game itself was unhinged, and ended after the Bobcats converted a fourth-and-10 for a touchdown in overtime on a pass from quarterback Justin Lamson to Taco Dowler (sweet name). That was merely the caboose for what transpired in the minutes before. The full recap is worth a read.

More news

Sweden outlasted Czechia to win its first World Juniors gold medal since 2012 yesterday. More details inside.
Indiana and Alabama drew a record 23.9 million viewers for their Rose Bowl matchup. Yowza.
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is open to a fresh start with a new team. Hm.
Colts cornerback Charvarius Ward Sr. said yesterday he is considering retirement after suffering three concussions this season. Read the 29-year-old’s full comments.
Tough flip: Notre Dame quarterback Kenny Minchey is heading to Kentucky, just hours after he committed to Nebraska.
F1 driver Checo Pérez said being Max Verstappen’s teammate at Red Bull was the “worst job.” Yikes.

📰 Find more news here 24/7.

Watch Guide

📺 NCAAM: Duke at Louisville7 p.m. ET on ESPNThe Blue Devils are ranked No. 6 and have the star power, while the Cardinals are No. 20 and still favored in this game. Sounds like a good sell to me. 

📺 NHL: Panthers at Maple Leafs7:30 p.m. ET on TNT and HBO MaxThe defending champions have steadied a bit after a tough start to the season, while Toronto remains moribund, which has been a slow-burn surprise. Related: I still can’t believe Sam Bennett didn’t make the Canadian Olympic roster. 

📺 NBA: Heat at Timberwolves8 p.m. ET on NBC and PeacockThe best NBA game of the evening is here, and it’s funny that the 23-13 Timberwolves are flying under the proverbial radar a bit. Still great with a Tier 1 scorer, but sitting sixth in the West and biding time until the playoffs. Don’t sleep on them, though.

Get tickets to games like these here.

Pulse Picks

We had a scheduling mix-up last week, for which we apologize. Here is the excellent story we promised you then: Katie Whyatt’s look at how sex workers have increasingly used European soccer clubs as sort of a brand boost on social media. Read it here. 

 Nick Baumgardner has a new 2026 NFL mock draft with Oregon QB Dante Moore going No. 1 to Las Vegas. Moore might be deciding between being the No. 1 pick and staying in college. 

Dan Duggan tore into Giants ownership yesterday for retaining general manager Joe Schoen, arguing the franchise has “no standards anymore.” Make time for this one. 

Important table-setter: Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon update us on where the Cubs, Yankees and Blue Jays stand as the MLB offseason withers away. 

Most-clicked in the newsletter yesterday: NFL playoff schedule. 

Most-read on the website yesterday: Our projections of every NFL playoff team’s odds to win the Super Bowl. 

📫 That’s all for now! Say hello at thepulse@theathletic.com, and check out our other newsletters.