If you haven’t figured out yet, anything I write connected with women’s pro basketball starts with “Caitlin Clark” in the headline.
Breanna Stewart (NY LIberty) and Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx) are the brains behind forming a new women’s pro league. They want to strike while the iron is hot. It will be a unique league. It is a 3 on 3 league with 6 teams. Each team will have 5 players on its rosters (so 3 playing and 2 subs). For now, their plan is for all games to be played in Miami. (I am guessing part of the interest in locating to Miami is that Miami is where many NBA and WNBA players train in the off-season.)
Unrivaled League will be a 3 on 3 full court. I have no imagination, I thought originally the three point shot would be a non-factor in HS girls basketball, and we had the girl who set the State record for threes in a season. But I have always thought 3 on 3 full court was a bad game. Too many 2 on 1 and 3 on 2 situations- but maybe with pro players it will be interesting.
To help out, it will be 3 on 3 full court but playing on what they call a “compressed” 70 foot court. For perspective- HS court is 84 feet and college/pro 84 feet. I don’t know if it will be narrowed down at all, I would doubt that because that would eliminate any corner threes. Their hope is that fewer players and compressed size will give players to showcase their skills. It is designed to be an “offensive” league.
The league has notable sports stars as sponsors to start- Alex Morgan (soccer), Carmelo Anthony (basketball), Steve Nash (basketball), Megan Rapinoe (soccer), Michelle Wie (golf), and Ashton Kutcher. They have former ESPN exec, John Shippier working on a media rights deal. They claim they will become the highest paying women’s professional sport in the world. And players will be given equity options to gain ownership themselves.
The league plans to tip off in January of 2025 and finish before the WNBA season. It hopes to fill a void in women’s pro ball, gain exposure during traditional basketball season, and allow athletes to stay in the States vs go over seas to play. That said, it appears it will only have places for 30 of the 144 WNBA players.
Presently they have six players committed- Stewart, Collier, Chelsea Gray, Anike Ogunbowabe, Jewel Loyd, and Kelsey Plum. They claim they will be dropping one new name about every week or two.
I have two thoughts about this venture-
1- This could be interesting to watch at the start just to see what it looks like. It may be that the some of the teams will be interesting with just 30 players total- it could be that each team is full of all-stars.
2- Sadly, I fear it may be like much of the WNBA- doing things without high quality business & marketing people thinking it out. Right now the WNBA seems headed in a great direction. I am not sure the present “drivers” of the WNBA car are the one’s qualified to steer it down the road to great success. And I am even more concerned whether this venture by Collier and Stewart has been thought out in terms of figuring whether this venture will help the WNBA going forward or if it will perhaps water down the fans interest in the WNBA if this turns out to be a bad, gimmicky product.
Maybe interest in this league will be off the charts. I just wish I was confident in the leadership of this league and the WNBA that they will steer the car in the right direction going forward.
Oh- and no, Caitlin Clark is not committed to this league at this time.
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