Unrivaled Faces Stiff Challenges As Ratings Plunge to Start Year 2

In its inaugural season, Unrivaled was a spectacle, drawing a sold-out crowd of 870 eager eyes hungry for basketball to watch during the WNBA offseason. The new format was intriguing, and the salaries and player accommodations that rivaled the WNBA’s were cause for fan celebration. 

In Year 2, the sparkle has worn off.

The campus just beyond Miami’s city limits was quieter during opening weekend of the 3-on-3 league’s second season. 

The fan fest outside was less of a throng and more of a collection of supporters. Inside the renovated arena—which added roughly 150 seats, bringing the capacity from 850 to 1,000 fans—seats were empty. 

And most concerningly for the second-year league, ratings on TNT were lackluster. Unrivaled’s opening slate on Jan. 5 (which kicked off with a Monday afternoon game) averaged 175,000 viewers in the two games that aired both on TNT and truTV; the two truTV-exclusive games on Jan. 5 averaged 32,000 viewers. Games on Jan. 9 averaged 139,000 viewers across TNT and truTV. The four games that aired Jan. 10 and Jan. 11 averaged 71,000 viewers on truTV. All Unrivaled games also air on HBO Max, which is not measured by Nielsen. 

That’s a steep drop compared to its first season, when the league averaged 221,000 viewers on TNT across the regular season and playoffs, peaking at 377,000 viewers for the final of the 1-on-1 tournament. The opening night last season averaged 312,000 viewers across TNT and truTV. The 2026 games faced a competitive broadcast window with the NFL wild-card round and the College Football Playoff. 

“We’re building Unrivaled for the long game and we’re confident in our outlook, keeping in mind the same core principles and goals we set forth when establishing the league,” Unrivaled CEO Alex Bazzell told Front Office Sports on Wednesday. “We’re proud of the product we’re putting on the court each week and are going to continue growing our audience while showcasing the best women’s basketball players in the world. Leagues aren’t built overnight.”

The WNBA—in its 29th season—averaged nearly a million viewers per game this past season across all networks, even with Caitlin Clark largely absent.  

Following her team’s 83–81 win over the Laces on Saturday, cofounder Breanna Stewart addressed her measure of success for the league in Year 2. 

“TV ratings are one thing for sure,” Stewart said. “Obviously, you want them to be consistently high no matter if we play on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or Monday, and know that we have a space of our own here. In the league of sports, people aren’t typically used to seeing women’s professional basketball at this time unless you’re watching EuroLeague or something like that. So, ratings is a huge one.” 

Unrivaled has other ways to make money—chiefly, ticket and merch sales. (Despite empty seats in Florida, a league spokesperson said that every opening-weekend game was sold out.) The league will also feature a tour stop in Philadelphia, which stands to pay dividends. The two-game slate on Jan. 30 will be played at Xfinity Mobile Arena, which has a capacity between roughly 17,000 and 20,000 fans depending on the event. Unrivaled said these games are sold out, and resale prices were starting at $123 as of Wednesday afternoon. 

A league spokesperson said merchandise sales from September through opening weekend were up over 50% year over year, and that ticket revenue was up 40% for the opening weekend thanks to the added seats and games. (Unrivaled couldn’t sell licensed player gear until February of last year.)

Unrivaled added to its player pool in Year 2, expanding from 36 players to 54, but it lost stars as well. Sabrina Ionescu did not return for the league’s second season. The league announced on Jan. 8 she would be “unable to participate in on-court activities” due to an injury sustained during the WNBA season. Angel Reese and Jewell Loyd are two other big names who decided not to return. 

There are also players who determined 3-on-3 is not suitable for their development and are moving on to Project B, a worldwide 5-on-5 league set to begin play in November of this year. 

“I think there’s a misconception that we don’t want to be overseas,” Alyssa Thomas said. “For me it’s about where the best opportunity is, where I can continue to grow my future. I enjoyed overseas. There’s plenty of opportunities over here. Unrivaled is an opportunity as well. Three-on-three for me I felt was a little harder to transition back into 5-on-5.” 

Unrivaled has a six-year media-rights deal with TNT reportedly worth nine figures, but parent company Warner Bros. Discovery can opt out after three; TNT also has equity in the league. (WBD is facing its own shaky future as Netflix and Paramount fight to buy the company.) The biggest question facing the 3-on-3 league is whether it’s sustainable, and viewership plays a significant role in the answer.