Napheesa Collier BLAMES Angel Reese For UNRIVALED Viewership & ASKS Caitlin Clark To Join UNRIVALED!

Unrivaled League Struggles to Gain Traction as Caitlin Clark Rejects Recruitment Efforts

The Unrivaled basketball league is facing mounting challenges in its attempt to establish itself as a legitimate competitor to the WNBA. Despite bold claims of revolutionizing women’s basketball, the league’s reliance on star power—specifically, Caitlin Clark—exposes its deeper issues, including low viewership, frequent injuries, and a lack of real competition.

Napheesa Collier, one of Unrivaled’s key figures, has made multiple efforts to recruit Clark, but her desperation underscores the league’s struggles. Unrivaled’s failure to attract elite talent organically, combined with game cancellations due to player shortages, raises concerns about its long-term viability. Meanwhile, Clark continues to thrive in the WNBA, drawing record-breaking audiences and selling out arenas, reinforcing her decision to stay in the premier league of women’s basketball.

Unrivaled’s marketing approach prioritizes spectacle over substance, banking on Clark’s popularity rather than fostering a competitive environment. However, Clark’s success is independent of the league’s ambitions—her endorsements and growing legacy within the WNBA prove she doesn’t need Unrivaled to elevate her career.

With the WNBA experiencing unprecedented growth, Unrivaled’s inability to build a sustainable model puts its future in jeopardy. If the league hopes to survive, it must shift its focus from chasing superstars to developing a solid infrastructure, ensuring player health, and creating real competition—something the WNBA has already mastered.

Will Caitlin Clark join Unrivaled? Explaining new basketball league featuring Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers and more

Will Caitlin Clark join Unrivaled? Explaining new basketball league featuring Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers and more

There is a new professional league coming to women’s basketball this offseason.

For decades, women’s basketball stars had to take their talents overseas once the WNBA season ended to make a decent wage. Now, fans will be able to watch their favorite WNBA players compete in the United States in the offseason, thanks to the “Unrivaled” start-up league ignited by superstars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.

What is the Unrivaled, how will it work and who is participating? The Sporting News takes a deep dive below.

What is Unrivaled women’s basketball league?

Unrivaled is a new 3×3 women’s basketball league co-founded by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. Its inaugural season will tip off in January 2025 in Miami.

Unrivaled will give WNBA players an offseason league in the United States so they don’t have to play overseas to make a decent wage as a professional basketball player.

“The league is also setting a record with the highest average salaries in women’s sports history. All 30 initial players will receive equity ownership,” per the Unrivaled website.

On Oct. 31, Collier announced that the league will house 36 players, not 30 as initially planned.

With unprecedented salaries and ownership share for the players, Unrivaled is another example of the exploding interest in women’s basketball.

Unrivaled rules, explained

Unrivaled is a 3×3 league that will be played on a “compressed full-court” of 70×50 feet.

Games will be four quarters with a game clock and a shot clock. There will be six teams of five players. Each team will have two subs, a head coach, an assistant coach and a team manager.

The six teams will play in a round-robin schedule and the top-four teams will advance to the playoffs. The season will include eight weeks of total play, including the postseason.

Unrivaled will also feature a 1v1 single-elimination tournament played in February to determine the best 1v1 player in the world. League co-founder Collier recently revealed on X that the winner of the 1v1 tournament will earn a massive grand prize of $250,000 “minimum.”

Will Caitlin Clark join Unrivaled? 

Unrivaled is trying to recruit Caitlin Clark to its league, Front Office Sports reported on Oct. 17.

After her Rookie of the Year season with the Fever, Unrivaled is trying to get the star to join some of her WNBA peers with a “Lionel Messi-like” offer similar to Inter Miami CF’s successful bid to sign the Argentine star, which included partial ownership and broadcast revenue sharing. Unrivaled could offer Clark a $1 million salary, equity in the startup league and revenue sharing, Front Office Sports reported on Oct. 23.

Clark would be a massive addition for the league, as she’s helped spark an increase in TV ratings in the WNBA. She could do the same with Unrivaled, which recently earned a media rights deal with TNT Sports, in its inaugural season. During a previous Q&A on X, league co-founder Collier sparked some speculation about the WNBA star’s participation in Unrivaled.

A user asked Collier for a hint on the number of rookies playing in the league. Collier responded with a GIF of Snoop Dogg holding up four fingers, leaving fans excited about the potential of Clark’s inclusion as one of the four.

WNBA star Angel Reese has already been confirmed as one of the rookies, and Collier spoke highly of Reese’s decision to play from a business standpoint.

Las Vegas Aces rookie Kate Martin, who is one of Clark’s best friends, also hinted that she might be joining the league in an interview. With the league expanding to 36 players instead of the 30 initially planned, that offers even more opportunity to Clark to join Unrivaled’s corps.

Unrivaled will continue to recruit Clark, but it remains to be seen if she’ll officially take up an offer.