Another group of big-name sports figures have invested in Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart’s 3-on-3 women’s basketball league Unrivaled as it aims to build on its promising inaugural season.
The league announced Monday that it is now valued at $340 million after closing its oversubscribed Series B investment round led by Bessemer Venture Partners — a massive figure for the young league that just wrapped up its first season in March, and a reflection of the increasing momentum and interest in women’s sports.
Serena Williams’ venture capital firm Serena Ventures came on as an investor, along with Atlanta Hawks star guard Trae Young, Franz and Moritz Wagner of the Orlando Magic, University of Maryland president Darryll J. Pines and his wife Sylvia, and prominent sports executive Sam Rapoport.
Alex Morgan’s Trybe Ventures and Warner Bros. Discovery also built on their previous investments in the league.
“I think we have a huge sense of pride knowing that this wasn’t built without the entire team behind it and everybody that’s believed from Day 1 and invested,” said Stewart, the New York Liberty’s star forward. “Just excited for what’s to come in the future of Unrivaled, and it shows everyone else the valuation of what our league is and where it’s going to continue to go.”
Unrivaled’s second season will tip off in January.
Stewart said the league is in the process of upgrading its facilities at its arena in Medley, Florida, including building a bigger training facility.
“I think that was, like, priority No. 1 is making sure that we have enough people for everybody and really the space to do it,” she said.
The latest round of investments comes after the league said it secured more than $28 million in Series A funding last December to go along with the $7 million raised during its seed round, which was announced in May 2024.
Plenty of other stars invested in Unrivaled ahead of its first season, including NBA stars Stephen Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Carmelo Anthony, decorated coaches Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley, Coco Gauff, Michael Phelps, Billie Jean King and Wanda Sykes.
“We’re continuing to align with partners who elevate our league and accelerate our strategic growth. With Bessemer Venture Partners leading this round, Unrivaled is in an unprecedented position for a new sports league,” Unrivaled President Alex Bazzell said in a statement, adding that this round of investment proves “athlete-driven models can thrive at the highest levels of business.”
Collier and Stewart, both stars in the WNBA, founded Unrivaled in 2023 to give top players another option to play in the U.S. in the offseason while supplementing their WNBA incomes. Unrivaled debuted in January with players earning the highest average salary in women’s professional sports league history, and players had equity stakes in the league.
The league wrapped up its eight-week season with Rose winning the first championship.
While platforming some of the game’s biggest stars like the Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese, Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner and others, Unrivaled averaged 221,000 viewers on TNT and truTV during its regular season and two-day postseason sold out every game held at its arena in Miami.
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AP Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg contributed to this report.
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
