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A NEW 3 ON 3 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL LEAGUE HAS PUT THE WNBA ON NOTICE. “WE’RE PAYING THE BEST PLAYERS IN THE WORLD, YOU SHOULD TOO.” THE “UNRIVALED BASKETBALL LEAGUE” TIPS OFF FRIDAY NIGHT AND ITS CO-FOUNDERS SAY IT’S THE PERFECT OFF-SEASON SPOTLIGHT TO GROW THE GAME.
TWO OF THE BIGGEST STARS IN THE SPORT, BREANNA STEWART AND NAPHEESA COLLIER, COLLEGE TEAMMATES AT UCONN CAME UP WITH THE IDEA. THREE MONTHS AGO, THE PAIR BATTLED IT OUT IN THE WNBA FINALS. NOW THEY’RE HOPING TO CAPITALIZE ON THE GROWING POPULARITY OF WOMEN’S SPORTS.
“The people who have been in it, we’ve known for so long that the product that we have is so good and it’s really rewarding to see everyone else catching up and to see the game growing and to see stars in our sport become superstars is really fun to be a part of because change usually happens slowly but it’s happening so quickly. To see it happening in real time and to be a part of that has been such a cool experience”
THE FULL COURT THREE ON THREE GAMES WILL BE PLAYED AT A FACILITY IN MIAMI AND BROADCAST ON THE TURNER FAMILY OF NETWORKS.
THE LEAGUE WILL PLAY THREE TIMES A WEEK FOR TWO FULL MONTHS COVERING THE WNBA’S OFFSEASON. THE IDEA IS TO KEEP PLAYERS HOME DURING THAT TIME INSTEAD OF HAVING TO GO OVERSEAS TO SUPPLEMENT THEIR WNBA PAYCHECKS.
“Unrivaled is definitely replacing us playing abroad, ‘Phee and I have definitely done our time overseas and as we continue to build this league from year one to year two to hopefully many, many more down the road, we hope to expand and bring more and more players in“
SOME OF THE BIGGEST STARS IN THE WNBA WILL PLAY THIS SEASON AND STEWART SAYS THEIR SALARIES ARE THE HIGHEST EVER FOR A WOMEN’S SPORTS LEAGUE, OVER $240,000 PER PLAYER ON AVERAGE. THAT’S 60% HIGHER THAN THE AVERAGE SALARY IN THE WNBA.
EVERY PLAYER ALSO RECEIVES EQUITY AND REVENUE SHARES FROM THE LEAGUE. WOMEN’S BASKETBALL GREAT CANDACE PARKER WHO WILL BE PART OF THE BROADCAST TEAM SAYS COMPETITION IS A GOOD THING.
“I think it’s gonna force the WNBA to look at themselves and think about what they can do better and how to better the player experience. I really valued looking at unrivaled and seeing how intentional they were about ensuring the players were taken care of, because guess what? When you’re a player and you’re taken care of and you’re needs are met, you’re paid well, there’s gonna be some pretty good basketball ”
THERE ARE BIG BUCKS BEHIND THIS LEAGUE TOO, MORE THAN A DOZEN MAJOR CORPORATE SPONSORS HAVE SIGNED ON. INDIVIDUALLY, SEVERAL NBA PLAYERS, OLYMPIANS LIKE MICHAEL PHELPS, ALEX MORGAN AND TENNIS GREAT COCO GAUFF HAVE PUT UP CASH TOTALLING OVER $35 MILLION. FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, I’M CHRIS FRANCIS
