Unrivaled women's basketball league
now valued at $340M million after landing more celebrity funding
[September 09, 2025]
By ALANIS THAMES
Another group of big-name sports figures have invested in Napheesa
Collier and Breanna Stewart's 3-on-3 women's basketball league
Unrivaled as it aims to build on its promising inaugural season.
The league announced Monday that it is now valued at $340 million
after closing its oversubscribed Series B investment round led by
Bessemer Venture Partners — a massive figure for the young league
that just wrapped up its first season in March, and a reflection of
the increasing momentum and interest in women's sports.
Serena Williams’ venture capital firm Serena Ventures came on as an
investor, along with Atlanta Hawks star guard Trae Young, Franz and
Moritz Wagner of the Orlando Magic, University of Maryland president
Darryll J. Pines and his wife Sylvia, and prominent sports executive
Sam Rapoport.
Alex Morgan's Trybe Ventures and Warner Bros. Discovery also built
on their previous investments in the league.
“I think we have a huge sense of pride knowing that this wasn’t
built without the entire team behind it and everybody that’s
believed from Day 1 and invested,” said Stewart, the New York
Liberty’s star forward. "Just excited for what’s to come in the
future of Unrivaled, and it shows everyone else the valuation of
what our league is and where it’s going to continue to go.”
Unrivaled’s second season will tip off in January.
Stewart said the league is in the process of upgrading its
facilities at its arena in Medley, Florida, including building a
bigger training facility.
“I think that was, like, priority No. 1 is making sure that we have
enough people for everybody and really the space to do it,” she
said.
The latest round of investments comes after the league said it
secured more than $28 million in Series A funding last December to
go along with the $7 million raised during its seed round, which was
announced in May 2024.
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Plenty of other stars invested in Unrivaled ahead
of its first season, including NBA stars Stephen Curry, Giannis
Antetokounmpo and Carmelo Anthony, decorated coaches Geno Auriemma
and Dawn Staley, Coco Gauff, Michael Phelps, Billie Jean King and
Wanda Sykes.
“We’re continuing to align with partners who
elevate our league and accelerate our strategic growth. With
Bessemer Venture Partners leading this round, Unrivaled is in an
unprecedented position for a new sports league,” Unrivaled President
Alex Bazzell said in a statement, adding that this round of
investment proves “athlete-driven models can thrive at the highest
levels of business.”
Collier and Stewart, both stars in the WNBA, founded Unrivaled in
2023 to give top players another option to play in the U.S. in the
offseason while supplementing their WNBA incomes. Unrivaled debuted
in January with players earning the highest average salary in
women’s professional sports league history, and players had equity
stakes in the league.
The league wrapped up its eight-week season with Rose winning the
first championship.
While platforming some of the game’s biggest stars like the Chicago
Sky's Angel Reese, Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner and others,
Unrivaled averaged 221,000 viewers on TNT and truTV during its
regular season and two-day postseason sold out every game held at
its arena in Miami.
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AP Basketball Writer Doug Feinberg contributed to this report.
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