Unrivaled, a new three-on-three basketball league headlined by top WNBA players, revealed the names of its six teams Thursday.
The Laces, Lunar Owls, Mist, Rose, Phantom and Vinyl will compete in the league, which has pledged to become the highest-paying league in the history of women’s professional sports. All of the teams have “Basketball Club” at the end of their official name.
Players who join Unrivaled will receive equity in the league.
Unrivaled tips off on Jan. 17. The league aims to ignite a revolution in basketball by generating fandom in a unique way.
“With no city affiliations to tie to, we had to ground our teams in what makes women’s basketball special — the community,” the league said in a video announcement Thursday.
“You see, in the world’s biggest sport, soccer, football clubs have come to represent unity and community around the game — a single crest that unifies players and fans that have been there since the beginning. In professional basketball leagues, clubs don’t exist yet, but we’re changing that.
“We’re starting a new tradition this week and inviting you to imagine what is possible for the future of our basketball clubs with us.”
Unrivaled will run for eight weeks during the WNBA’s offseason. The top four teams to emerge from the regular season’s round-robin format will make the playoffs.
Thirty players will join the league, leaving each squad with five players once rosters are finalized.
New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart and Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, former UConn teammates who co-founded Unrivaled, are among the top WNBA players joining the league.
Other stars include Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese, Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd and Dallas Wings guard Arike Ogunbowale.
Unrivaled plans to make an aggressive bid to add Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, with an offer of more than $1 million per season expected, Front Office Sports reported this week.
–Field Level Media