The new Unrivaled women’s basketball 3-on-3 league will have its games aired on TNT and its sports channels.
The league announced a multi-year partnership with the network to broadcast more than 45 games from its first season, which starts in January. Games will be shown three nights a week, with two of those nights on TNT—specifically Mondays and Fridays. Saturday games will air on truTV.
The games kick off on January 17 and will take place in Miami.
“Our TNT Sports portfolio focuses on high-quality live sports, and our media and equity partnership with Unrivaled strengthens our commitment to expanding the variety of top-tier women’s sports programming we provide for our fans and allows us to help grow women’s basketball,” said Luis Silberwasser, chairman and CEO of TNT Sports.
The league features 30 of the best women’s basketball players divided into six teams and was co-founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.
“To have a network like that supporting us, especially in Year 1, is a huge sign of how much women’s basketball is growing,” Collier told The Associated Press during shootaround before Game 3 of the WNBA Finals on Thursday.
Having all the games on one platform is important for the new league. They were also in talks with ESPN, Amazon, ION, and the CW.
“We had a lot of interest, as you can imagine, and we considered dividing the games among different networks, but credit goes to Luis for his vision. He wanted it all,” said former Turner President David Levy, who is the co-founder and co-CEO of Horizon Sports & Experiences and helped secure the media rights deal.
“He thought this was a smart move for the league, and after discussing it, we decided it was best to go with one strong entity.” TNT will host a studio show on at least one of the two nights it airs games.
“Being on TNT for two of the three nights is really important, not just to help grow this league, but also for the women who play in it,” said Levy. “They grew up watching TNT. And let’s not forget Bleacher Report and House of Highlights. That’s where all the Gen Z’ers are.”
Unrivaled President Alex Bazzell mentioned that the players reacted very positively to being on TV.
“I think there’s a lot of nostalgia that goes along with this for the athletes,” he said. “We have an obligation to choose a partner they can be proud of, and I think they are really proud of this partnership. I’ve received many texts from our athletes saying they are excited.”
Salaries for the new league will be in the six figures. Pay was important for players, many of whom have spent their offseasons playing overseas to supplement their WNBA earnings.
The average WNBA base salary is around $130,000, with top players able to earn over $500,000 through salary, marketing deals, an in-season tournament, and bonuses. Many players will also have an ownership stake in the league.
The league will last for eight weeks with 30 players divided into six teams. The teams will play two games each week on a court about two-thirds the size of a WNBA court. The teams will remain the same throughout the season.
