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Unrivaled is barely a year old, but its rapid rise has already positioned it as one of the boldest experiments in women’s basketball. Now, with a $340 million valuation, major new investors, and 36 players signed for Season 2, Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier are aiming even higher.

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Breanna Stewart was a guest on the recent episode of the ‘First We Meet’ podcast. As the interview with the WNBA star came to a close, host Sean Evans asked her about the dream she has for Unrivaled’s growth. Stewart said, “When I think about my dream and what I want for Unrivaled, I think about us expanding. You know, we were able to plan this facility where we could hold probably 3 to 5,000 people, but we want 20, 25 on a nightly basis, and paying everybody seven figures.”

Unrivaled’s disruptor status comes largely from its salary model. According to Front Office Sports, the league paid an average of $220,000 in its inaugural season—more than the WNBA’s average of under $150,000. No Unrivaled player reportedly made less than six figures, compared to the WNBA’s minimum of around $66,000.

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Collier confirmed on Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe’s A Touch More podcast that salaries will increase in Season 2, to enable players to build “generational wealth.” Stewart emphasized: “All of these professional women’s basketball players need to be valued, and at Unrivaled, we value everybody.

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Napheesa Collier’s husband, Alex Bazzell, also serves as the league’s president. According to him, Unrivaled is doing immensely well, since “The numbers are going up because the business outperformed every metric that we had, It’s part of our business model that we built from the ground up, which is that as the business continues to drive more revenue, the revenue is going to get funneled back into the players.” Therefore, the league can certainly afford to spend money to ensure that, as the Minnesota Lynx star said, players can create “generational wealth” for themselves.

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“I think that’s something that everybody deserves because all of these professional women’s basketball players, they need to be valued and at Unrivaled, we value everybody,” Stewart added. “So, more money, more attendance, and we can go a little global. We could do some some overseas, some franchising.”

With Unrivaled only entering its 2nd season, it is still too early to predict how the league will fare. However, people have faith in it. They have faith in how Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart are presenting an alternate and higher means of earning for female basketball players. As a result, they have no shortage of players.

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36/48 Players Signed With Unrivaled After Serena Williams and Trae Young Aided In $340 Million Valuation

According to reports, Unrivaled has now signed 36 out of its planned 48 players, aka 90% of the roster.

While last year’s notable stars like Angel Reese and Sabrina Ionescu are yet to sign on, other renowned names like Natasha Cloud, Alyssa Thomas, Satou Sabally, and Lexie Hull have signed on for another season. Additionally, the league is also bringing in some new blood. Paige Bueckers, aka the 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year and the newest inducted member of the 2025 WNBA All-Rookie Team, is set to make her Unrivaled debut. Joining her would be Kiki Iriafen, Veronica Burton, Erica Wheeler, Sonia Citron, etc.

These signings came around the same time that it was announced that Unrivaled had closed a series B investment round that took the value of the league to $340 million. This marks a 10x rise in the valuation from 2024.

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According to reports, some notable names were a part of Unrivaled’s recent investment round. Tennis legend Serena Williams’s fund, Serena Ventures, was involved, along with Warner Bros. Discovery and Alex Morgan’s Trybe Ventures, who added to their previous investments in the league. According to Front Office Sports, the NBA and WNBA did not respond to an inquiry about whether or not league owners were permitted to invest in Unrivaled. Despite that, Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young and Orlando Magic stars Franz and Moritz Wagner got themselves involved in the Series B round.

Do you believe that the Unrivaled founders will meet their goal of ensuring 7-figure pay for their players? Let us know in the comments section down below.

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