TNT Sports announced Wednesday that it has reached a multiyear media rights agreement with new 3-on-3 women’s basketball league Unrivaled.
The inaugural Unrivaled season begins on Jan. 17, 2025, and every game will stream live on Max, along with some games airing on TNT and truTV. More than 45 games will air during the 2025 season, including primetime games on TNT on Mondays and Fridays, and on TruTV on Saturdays.
TNT Sports noted in a press release that the partnership will give Unrivaled “sustained stability and financial security for all players and stakeholders through at least 2028” due in part of TNT Sports making an undisclosed investment in the league.
TNT Sports Chairman and CEO Luis Silberwasser commented on the affiliation, saying:
“TNT Sports is proud to enter a multiyear agreement with Unrivaled and showcase this new women’s basketball league and many of the best players in the world in a distinct, fun and compelling way. Our TNT Sports portfolio centers on premium live sports and our media and equity partnership with Unrivaled deepens our commitment to further expanding the depth of content we offer our fans and presents an opportunity for us to amplify the continued growth of women’s basketball.”
Unrivaled was officially founded by WNBA stars and former UConn teammates Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier in July 2023. Coincidentally, Stewart’s New York Liberty and Collier’s Minnesota Lynx are currently facing each other in the 2024 WNBA Finals.
Stewart and Collier will both play in Unrivaled, and the league will also feature several other top WNBA stars since Unrivaled’s season takes place during the WNBA offseason.
Twenty-six of the league’s 30 players have already been announced, including WNBA All-Stars such as Angel Reese, Brittney Griner, Arike Ogunbowale, Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray, Jewell Loyd, Jackie Young and Skylar Diggins-Smith.
Unrivaled will feature six yet-to-be-revealed teams composed of five players each, and the league will have an eight-week-long season with the top four teams qualifying for the playoffs.
While Unrivaled will have some similarities to Ice Cube’s BIG3 basketball league, it figures to have an even higher ceiling in terms of popularity because of the quality of the players involved, most of whom are in their prime.
The WNBA enjoyed a historic season in 2024 with a record 54 million unique viewers and 22 regular-season games that averaged over 1 million viewers, plus its highest total attendance in 22 years.
Women’s basketball is arguably more popular than ever before, creating the ideal environment for a second league to flourish during the WNBA offseason.
