MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The new Unrivaled women’s basketball 3-on-3 league will have its games broadcast on TNT and its sports platforms.
The league announced a multiyear partnership with the network to show more than 45 games from the inaugural season that begins in January. Matchups will be shown three nights a week with twice-weekly games on TNT on Mondays and Fridays. Games that are played on Saturday will be shown on truTV.
Games begin on Jan. 17 and will be played in Miami.
“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 top tier women’s sports programming we offer our fans and presents an opportunity for us to shape and amplify the continued growth of women’s basketball,” said Luis Silberwasser, chairman and CEO of TNT Sports.
The league features 30 of the top women’s basketball players across six teams and was co-founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.
“I mean, to be able to have a network like that that supports us, especially in Year 1, I think is just a huge testament to women’s basketball right now and how much it’s growing,” Collier told The Associated Press at shootaround before Game 3 of the WNBA Finals on Thursday.
Having all the games on one platform was huge for the new league. The league was also having discussions with ESPN, Amazon, ION and the CW.
“We had a lot of interest as you could imagine and you know, we thought about carving this up in certain ways, but to give credit to Luis and the vision that he had, he wanted it all,” said former Turner President David Levy, who is the co-founder and co-CEO of Horizon Sports & Experiences and helped secure the media rights deal. “He thought it was smart for the league. And we talked about it, and we ended up deciding that maybe it is right to go with one entity, and a strong entity.”
TNT will have a studio show at least one of the two nights it’s showing games.
“Being on TNT, you know, for two of the three nights is really important, not just to help grow this league, but also to the women who play in it,” said Levy. “You know, they they grew up watching TNT. And then let’s not forget Bleacher Report and House of Highlights. That’s where all the Gen Z’ers are.”
Unrivaled President Alex Bazzell said that being on TV was received really well by the players.
“I think there’s a lot of nostalgia that goes along with this for the athletes,” he said. “We have an obligation with whichever partner it is that it’s someone they’re proud of and I think that first and foremost they’re really proud of this partnership. I’ve gotten tons of texts that our athletes are pumped up.”
Salaries for the new league will be in the six figures. Compensation was key for players, many of whom have spent their offseason overseas supplementing their WNBA incomes. The average WNBA base salary is about $130,000 with the top stars able to earn more than $500,000 through salary, marketing agreements, an in-season tournament and bonuses. Many of the players also will have an equity stake in the league.
The league will run for eight weeks with the 30 players divided into six teams. The squads will play two games a week with the contests taking place on a court about two-thirds the size of a WNBA one. The teams will stay the same throughout the season.
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