Co-founders Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart raised $34 million to redefine women’s basketball and created the most equitable league in pro sports.

BY XIMENA N. BELTRAN QUAN KIU @XIMENANBQK

(L) Skylar Diggins-Smith of the Lunar Owls guarding Natasha Cloud of the Phantom Basketball Club; (R) Rae Burrell of the Vinyl Basketball Club jumps to shoot. Illustration: Inc.; Photo: Courtesy Unrivaled

Businesses are betting big on Unrivaled, the three-on-three basketball league founded by WNBA powerhouse players Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. Since its launch announcement in 2023, the startup has raised $7 million in seed money and another $27 million in a Series A round to bring the world’s best 36 female basketball players to Miami for an eight-week run during the W’s offseason.

The W attracted an all-time record of 54 million viewers in 2024, and all of the players on Unrivaled’s six club teams (Laces, Lunar Owls, Mist, Phantom, Rose and Vinyl) play for the W. Removing two players from the WNBA’s traditional five-on-five matchups translates to faster games and stunning upsets, since it eliminates double- and triple-teams on sharpshooters. Games are played on a smaller court, keeping the action quick and constant. Instead of the W’s 10-minute quarters, game time is shrunk to seven minutes a quarter—with a twist: The last quarter is untimed. The highest score at the end of the third quarter get 11 points added to it and the first team to reach that number in the final quarter wins. So, if the score is 50-45, the first team to 61 wins.

Unrivaled........

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