This Week in Women’s Basketball: Paige is Unrivaled

Unrivaled continues to establish itself as a ground breaker in the women’s pro basketball space, signing UConn star Paige Bueckers to an NIL deal. Here’s more on Bueckers’ big move and other women’s basketball news.

With the women’s 5×5 and 3×3 basketball competitions at the 2024 Olympic Games capturing the attention of the women’s hoops world, catch up on recent news and developments:

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Paige is Unrivaled

Paige Bueckers has signed an NIL deal with Unrivaled, the forthcoming professional 3×3 league co-founded by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania. The rising fifth-year UConn star will not play in Unrivaled until after her first WNBA season, but, like all Unrivaled players, she will gain ownership equity in the league, becoming the first college athlete to have such a stake in a pro league.

Unrivaled, a 30-player, six-team 3×3 league set to begin play in January 2025 in Miami, has thus far announced 10 participating players for the inaugural season: Stewart, Collier, Chelsea Gray, Arike Ogunbowale, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Rhyne Howard, Kahleah Copper, Jackie Young and Angel Reese.

It also recently was announced that Bueckers will be the first college athlete to with a Nike collaboration, with Bueckers’ Nike GT Hustle 3 colorway scheduled to be revealed on Sept. 12.

BG speaks on homecomings for Whelan, Gershkovich

On Thursday, the United States, Russia and other countries agreed to a 24-prisoner exchange, the largest since the Cold War. The exchange allowed wrongfully-detained Americans Paul Whelan, a former Marine and corporate security executive, and Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter, to return to the United States.

Brittney Griner, who was detained in a Russian prison for 10 months before returning home as part of a high-profile prisoner swap in December 2022, was asked about the news following Team USA’s victory over Belgium at the Paris Olympics. Griner said:

Great day. It’s a great day. It’s a great day. We’ll talk more about it later. But head over heels happy for the families right now. Any day that Americans come home, that’s a win. That’s a win.

She added, “I’m sure it’ll be emotional even more a little bit later on. Yeah. I’m just happy. Like this is a big win. A huge win.”

Since returning to the United States, Griner has been involved with Bring Our Families Home, a group formed by family members of American hostages and wrongful detainees. She also has spoken to President Biden on two occasions, urging him to keep wrongfully-detained Americans “on the forefront of everyone’s mind.”

The details on the WNBA’s new media rights deals

The WNBA’s new media rights deals are official. On Wednesday, July 24, the league announced the renewal of partnerships with Disney and Amazon Prime, along with a new agreement with NBC Universal (NBCU). The deals will begin in the 2026 season and extend through the 2036 season.

The new agreements will result in more than 125 regular-season and playoff games broadcast nationally each season. There will be at least 25 regular-season games on Disney platforms (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2). These games also will be available through ESPN’s forthcoming direct-to-consumer streaming service. At least 50 regular-season games will be distributed on NBCU platforms (NBC, USA Network, Peacock), and at least 30 regular-season games will be available through Prime Video.

For the playoffs, Disney platforms will broadcast two first-round series per year, with NBCU and Prime Video showing one first-round series. The semifinals and Finals will rotate over the term of the agreements; Disney will televise eight semifinals and five Finals, while Prime Video and NBCU both will distribute seven semifinals and three Finals. Disney will continue to be the home of the WNBA Draft and WNBA All-Star Game. The Commissioner’s Cup Championship will remain with Prime Video. Prime Video also will serve as the global distribution source for WNBA League Pass.

On the agreements, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said:

Partnering with Disney, Amazon and NBCU marks a monumental chapter in WNBA history and clearly demonstrates the significant rise in value and the historic level of interest in women’s basketball. These agreements allow the league to continue to build a long-term and sustainable growth model for the future of women’s basketball and sports which will benefit WNBA players, teams and fans.

All eyes on WNBA All-Star

Need more evidence why the WNBA has agreed to new, lucrative media rights deals? A record-setting All-Star Game. The 2024 WNBA All-Star Game attracted the largest WNBA audience ever on an ESPN platform. It also was the third most-watched WNBA event ever.