One court’s not enough for New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart.
Details surrounding Stewart’s latest endeavor, an offseason professional women’s basketball league labeled “Unrivaled,” have emerged in reports from Shams Charania of The Athletic and Alex Weprin of The Hollywood Reporter. The project, also featuring Minnesota Lynx star and Stewart’s fellow University of Connecticut alumna Napheesa Collier, boasts some major backing behind it and is set to tip off in January, in the thick of the WNBA offseason.
Charania’s report declares that the new league will be “setting the record for paying the highest average salary in pro female team sports history” while Weprin’s revealed some of the high-profile investors. Former New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony is among them and the batch is headlined by John Skipper and David Levy, the respective presidents of ESPN and Turner Sports who inked the networks’ last NBA deals.
“I do believe there’s going to be a lot of interest from multiple parties,” Levy said in the THR report. “Everybody’s got to kick the tires now, because you’re seeing growth in viewership and ratings, both in the NCAA as well as in the WNBA.”
“I’m not talking single digit growth, we’re talking double and triple digit growth on certain aspects of it, you’re also seeing attendance rise, ticket sales, sponsorship sales, because brands are shifting dollars.”
Partly led by Stewart and her fellowship of All-Stars on the Liberty, women’s basketball has enjoyed a surge in popularity over recent seasons. The phenomenon came to a head during the most recent NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, whose Final Four featured the talents of Paige Bueckers, Most Oustanding Player Kamilla Cardoso, and top overall WNBA pick Caitlin Clark.
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