Everybody Loves Unrivaled
...But Is It Here to Stay?
January is an odd time for sports. For some, (American) soccer and baseball are on hiatus so it seems like a slow time. If you’re about the football, NBA, pro wrestling and hockey life it’s the high season. One summer sport that’s looking to crossover into that second category is women’s basketball, which has seen a meteoric rise in fandom, ratings, and revenue.
So while the WNBA sleeps, the nascent Unrivaled league made its debut this past weekend. Unrivaled, (or more informally but kind of formally the ‘Unrivaled Basketball League’) is a winter 3-on-3 circuit that features WNBA players, WNBA alums, and stars of the international game. Founded by Napheesa Collier and current WNBA champ Breanna Stewart, Unrivaled is a faster-paced game that looks like games takes place at the club.
To be fair, the league is playing out in Miami and everything that takes place in Miami looks like it’s at the club. It’s probably a law. Here are the teams:
And while I wish there was more information about the reasoning behind the names (like, is a Lunar Owl the same as a Night Owl…?), people came out on TBS and TruTv to check it out this past weekend. And while there are going to be contrarian opinions about the impact, ratings indicate it’s was grand ol’ time and a landmark moment for not only women’s basketball, but women’s sports in general. You could argue that Unrivaled could open the door for more American sports leagues regardless of gender to fund competitive “off-season leagues” sort of like how baseball has winter ball leagues in the Caribbean, but that is another topic for another time. From The Athletic:
As fans filed into the 850-seat Wayfair Arena on Friday night for the opening night of Unrivaled, they sported a tapestry of WNBA gear. But many wanted new apparel, too, crowding into the gift shop an hour before tipoff. The least expensive single ticket cost north of $300, but fans flocked to support their favorite WNBA stars and witness a new chapter of women’s basketball history…
In its opening weekend of games, Unrivaled has undoubtedly commanded attention. But to carve out a permanent space in women’s basketball, it needs to accomplish what many other start-up sports leagues have historically failed to do: sustain. - The Athletic
Novelty can only get a sports league so far. Indeed, when Major League Soccer debuted with its American take on “football” (complete with having games end with shootouts and a game clock that ticked to zero as opposed to climbing to ninety minutes), the novelty quickly evaporated. MLS had to close a couple of teams and take on strict financial control to keep the league viable, and even that pushed the organization to the brink. But if the early numbers are any indication,
…things are looking bright. I hate to sound like an online influencer, but if Unrivaled finds a unique voice on social and multimedia platforms, they can make a play for cultural cache beyond TV viewership. Because frankly, sports content creators are a thirsty dime a dozen lot, myself included. If Unrivaled shows us something different visually, offers content creators a relatively easier path for press access, and keeps the quality of games up, I can almost guarantee that the Internet would do the heavy lifting for them.
Don’t believe me? There’s not one, but multiple professional leagues devoted to the combat sport of…um…slapping people?
Yeah, I’d rather watch basketball.