Unrivaled is already worth $310 million more than it was a year ago.
The offseason women’s basketball league received a $650 million valuation after an investment round that surpassed an initial $100 million target, a spokesperson told USA TODAY.
This comes after the league said it had been valued at $340 million in September 2025.
The most recent financing round was a star-studded Series C fundraise led by Ten Pillars Sports Fund, which manages University of California investment funds.
Investors in the latest round included NBA names Carmelo Anthony and Trae Young, along with decorated UConn head coach Geno Auriemma. Retired soccer star Alex Morgan, actor Ashton Kutcher and billionaire Jenny Just were also among the investors.
“The moment for women's
sports is here,” said Jagdeep Singh Bachher, UC Investments’ chief investment officer. “Anyone who's watched Unrivaled knows this game is every bit as thrilling as any other sport out there. We're excited to help propel that momentum forward.”
When Unrivaled was announced three years ago, co-founders Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier and New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart said they hoped to revolutionize the way sports leagues operate by prioritizing investments in the WNBA’s stars and ensuring their on-court performance is reflected in their pay.
With respect to that mission, the league said players are still the league's largest equity group with a player equity pool that is now valued at nearly $200 million.
Last season marked the second year of Unrivaled 3-on-3 and 1-on-1 basketball in Miami. The sophomore campaign saw the league expand to eight clubs and 54 players ahead of schedule as the average participating player earned a six-figure salary.
“From the beginning, our goal has been to raise the standard for what players and fans should expect from women’s basketball,” Collier said. “This investment allows Unrivaled to keep pushing that standard higher, creating the best possible environment for players to compete and thrive, while making the experience bigger and better for the fans who continue to show up for women's basketball.”
Putting Unrivaled league's growth in context
For comparison, the 13 WNBA teams that played in 2025 are worth a combined $5.55 billion, according to Sportico's annual WNBA franchise valuations that were released in May 2026.
The recent $650 million valuation would put Unrivaled ahead of the New York Liberty (valuated at 600 million) and the Indiana Fever ($560 million), which were the WNBA’s second- and third-highest valuations, respectively.
Sportico had the Golden State Valkyries at No. 1 with a $850 million valuation after they posted a WNBA-record $78 million in revenue in their inaugural season after the team was valued at $500 million in its inaugural season in 2025.
For Unrivaled, the latest funding round signaled an expectation for similar expontial growth. Series C funding is late-state investment where successful companies raise money to scale rapidly.
Their 2025 Series B investment round helped push them to the next level, including investments from Serena Williams' venture capital company Serena Ventures and Warner Bros. Discovery.
Early investors in Unrivaled included Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, Moira Forbes, Coco Gauff, Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss, Dawn Staley, Wanda and Alex Sykes, JuJu Watkins and more.
The league made history as it took its concept on the road during its second season with sold-out crowds in Philadelphia and at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
At Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Unrivaled drew the highest attendance figure of any professional women’s basketball regular-season game in history with a crowd of 21,490.
Stewart said the latest funding round will set the table for even more.
“This raise reflects the confidence investors have in what we set out to build at Unrivaled: a league where the best players in the world have a real stake in the value they create,” she said. “Moving forward, this investment gives us even more resources to support our players, elevate the experience for fans, and grow a league that is shaping the future of women’s basketball."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Unrivaled announces $650M valuation after second season
