Unrivaled’s second season: a success or failure?
In professional sports, viewership is often treated as the ultimate measure of success, but Unrivaled’s second season challenges that assumption entirely. The Unrivaled basketball league saw tremendous success in its first season in 2024-2025, following the rise in popularity of the WNBA. The beginning of Unrivaled was marked with revolutionary pay for players and high viewership to accompany the league’s first season. The following year, the 2025-26 season, did not match the viewership, and as a result made the league feel less popular.
Although there was a decrease in viewers watching from home, every other revenue metric was increasing drastically, including game attendance, merchandise sales, and social media impressions. Despite the seemingly unpopular view of Unrivaled from the viewership standpoint, the league proved to be a success in more subtle ways, growing the league inside with the most dedicated fans.
Unrivaled basketball is a revolutionary basketball league composed of WNBA players playing for 8 different clubs in a 3v3 format. Spanning from January through March, this league uses key timing from the WNBA offseason for fans wanting women’s basketball all year round. The games are played on full courts but sectioned to one side which creates a different transition defense. There is also a shorter shot clock which creates a shorter, faster game format with nonstop action. There are fewer stoppages compared to frequent stops in the WNBA for continuous play.
Founded by New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart and Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, Unrivaled was a great success upon launching due to the pay prioritizing players, as well as its location in the United States. Due to the low salary from the WNBA, many top players would go overseas in the offseason, earning good money but having to be away from family for months at a time.
Unrivaled provided players with the opportunity to play close to home and for their pay to reflect their performance. Collier states that it is “a league that belongs to the players.” This attention to the players’ needs and desires is seen through the social media content and on-court play, which has shown them having fun and enjoying this league. This joy from the players, accompanied by the fast paced 3v3 format is what drew so many fans in.
But that initial draw only proved so successful for the first season, and especially as the league faced new challenges for the sophomore season. The overall playoff viewership dropped 9% compared to the inaugural season. Additionally, the final between the Mist and the Phantom saw average viewership drop 14% compared to the 2025 final.
A large part of the dip in viewership could be excused, given that the college football playoffs, NFL playoffs and the 2026 Olympics overlapped with the league’s season. In addition to the various sports events and tournaments, many fair weather fans, who became interested in the WNBA due to its initial rise and certain top players, were not as interested going into the second season. Additionally, the games were shown only on truTv broadcasts which hurt overall visibility, as it is a smaller platform.
The dip in viewership was only one part of the complicated puzzle of failure and success in Unrivaled’s second season. With the success of the first season, the league expanded by adding additional teams and touring games in more cities. In year 1, Unrivaled took place only in Miami, which made it difficult for the average fan to watch. With the expansion to Philadelphia and Brooklyn, there was a surge in ticket sales with many sold-out games in the two cities. The Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia marked Unrivaled’s first ever tour stop where they broke an all-time attendance record for any professional basketball game - men’s or women’s - at this arena. The ticket sales across all games increased by 249%, proving that Unrivaled’s second season is not an unpopular or unattended league.
Additionally, merchandise sales and social media presence were key indicators of Unrivaled’s success. Those who are invested in the players and teams are more likely to buy merchandise and stay updated on social media. The merchandise revenue increased by 130%, marking the growth in invested fans resulting in increased revenue. Unrivaled’s social media presence grew on a variety of platforms which can be seen through increased followers, impressions, and interactions. The vast audience Unrivaled is reaching demonstrates the amount of fans and interest the league is generating. These two metrics, merchandise and social media, are measures of success that come from very interested fans who continue to show their interest in ways that are growing the league.
Looking forward, the WNBA has now increased both the average and starting salary in the new CBA, paying players more than ever before for the upcoming 2026 season. Collier, somewhat controversially, also played a key role in negotiating this deal for the WNBA, once again advocating for the players. One of the biggest draws for players was the large pay incentive from Unrivaled, but now the WNBA is starting to match that pay.
More changes are due in the coming years for the WNBA as well, something Unrivaled will surely have to adapt to. The five-on-five league is adding two teams this season, and one more team a year for the next three years thereafter. With a new $2 billion dollar rights deal for the W, the increasing success of the official league will have to be something Unrivaled will have to compete with.
Looking forward to the future of Unrivaled, will players opt out of participating without the reliance on the pay from the league in addition to the WNBA with the new CBA? Will attendance and interest continue to go up as Unrivaled hopes to keep expanding tour stops? How will Unrivaled figure out how to be more “popular” and increase viewership for fans at home? Only time will tell what the future of women’s basketball has in store.
Sources:
https://www.unrivaled.basketball/news/unrivaled-numbers-in-season-2-2xxhf3n3q35f
https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/48146436/unrivaled-sells-arenas-sees-ratings-dip-2nd-season