Why investors are pouring money into the WNBA offseason

For years, WNBA players have been heading overseas in the offseason to continue playing competitive basketball and supplement their incomes. Top players can earn four to fives time their WNBA salary by playing for well-funded international leagues. But for some, it’s an exhausting affair, being away from family and friends, playing year-round, and risking injury—or worse. WNBA Star Brittney Griner was famously arrested and wrongfully detained in a Russian prison for 10 months while traveling to rejoin her UMMC Ekaterinburg team. Such are the limited options for a WNBA player. 

That’s about to change, as investors finally see opportunity in domestic off-season leagues. 

First came Athletes Unlimited, cofounded by investor Jonathan Soros. For the past two years, it’s offered a stateside women’s professional basketball league with an innovative format. And now comes a new league from former college teammates (UConn) and current WNBA All-Stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier. In early July, they announced the formation of Unrivaled, which intends to recruit the top 30 players in the WNBA in games of three-on-three. They expect to begin play next year.

The timing of the announcement makes sense. There’s been growing momentum in women’s college basketball, combined with NIL opportunities, as well as a surge in women’s sports overall that can’t be ignored. Viewership and fan engagement for the 2022 WNBA season was the highest since 2006 across ESPN channels, and the 2023 NCAA Women’s Championship game averaged a record-setting 9.9 million viewers this past spring. 

“I don’t think we’re anywhere near tapping the audience that already exists for women’s basketball,” says Athletes Unlimited’s Soros. “I think at this point, anything that brings more attention to any of the sports that we’re involved in is good for everybody.”

Launched in March 2020, the company now features pro basketball, softball, volleyball, and lacrosse leagues. During the leagues’ dynamic, five-week-long seasons, teams are shuffled up weekly, and athletes earn points for their team and individual performances. At the end of the season, the player with the most is crowned champion. Athletes are also at the center of the company. At least one from each division sits on the Board of Governors, and the public benefit corporation is structured so that every athlete has a long-term financial interest in the company. 

When the company added basketball to its roster in 2022, Soros didn’t realize how many people had floated offseason leagues ideas before but weren’t able to garner enough support and financial investment. Athletes Unlimited was the first to offer a viable alternative.

Held in Dallas from late February through March, the 2023 Athletes Unlimited season was streamed live via the WNBA’s in-house streaming service, League Pass, which allowed for cross-promotion. Select games were also aired on CBS Sports Network. (Athletes Unlimited is currently shopping its broadcasting rights for 2024). Forty-four players took part, with NaLyssa Smith, a forward for the Indiana Fever, taking the title of champion.

Athletes Unlimited declined to disclose the base salary for players in 2023, though point guard Layshia Clarendon has said that she made $11,000 in her first season. That number likely changes depending on the player and how many years they’ve been in the league. In addition to salaries and benefits, which include housing, transportation, childcare, and mental health and professional development resources, the league has a bonus pool of $1 million, which gets distributed to players throughout the season.

“My favorite thing is how much control the players have,” says L.A. Sparks guard Lexie Brown, who has played in AU’s offseason league for the past two seasons and serves as chairperson for its Player Executive Committee. “It’s something that I’m really passionate about: growing the opportunity for women’s basketball, from the grassroots level to the professional level. I think women’s basketball deserves more than it’s getting.” Athletes Unlimited is now looking to grow its broadcasting deals and expand its brand partnerships, which already include Nike, Gatorade, and Topps. 

Unrivaled, on the other hand, is just getting started. When reached for comment, co-founder Alex Bazzell (Collier’s husband) said they are in the early stages of fundraising and securing partnerships. Still, the prospect of the league and its setup is intriguing. 

Unrivaled will also hold its season in a single location: Miami. The cofounders plan to play in a state-of-the-art, custom-made facility featuring a smaller, 65-foot basketball court, fan seating, and even content studios. The league plans to run for a period of ten weeks from January 2024 through March—putting it, presumably, in direct competition with Athletes Unlimited. It will hold three three-on-three games per week, along with a single-elimination 1-on-1 tournament and additional events. 

The compensation plan is as bold as Unrivaled’s aggressive timeline to launch. According to Just Women’s Sports, in addition to offering financial stake in the league, players will be offered salaries comparable with current WNBA and overseas salaries. The max base salary for top WNBA players is $234,936. 

“I think top players, they want to be playing, right? They want to be home, they want to be playing, but it has to make sense. It has to be right and the money has to be right. And I think that’s what Unrivaled is trying to do,” Stewart told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. 

Stewart also referenced the recent impact of the WNBA prioritization rule written in the current collective bargaining agreement as a motivating factor to get things moving. The rule took effect this season and fined players with over two years of experience if they were not with their designated team by May 1. (Some international leagues run into late spring and early summer.) In 2024, players risk suspension for the entire season if they are not back in time for WNBA training camp. 

But is there enough room for two offseason leagues—and possibly more—on the horizon?

“If we’re able to all work together—Athletes Unlimited, the WNBA, and Unrivaled—to continue to enhance the landscape of women’s basketball, it could be positive for everybody involved,” says Brown. “At the end of the day, you have to put your money where your mouth is. . . . To see that investors are taking notice and care about the growth of women’s sports is really amazing.”