Unrivaled League's Player-Equity Model Offers Leadership Lessons
A Masters of Scale podcast explores the Unrivaled women's basketball league, whose business model gives players equity from day one. This structure aligns player and league interests, fostering rapid innovation and brand growth. The case study presents a model for creative industries, suggesting that giving talent a direct stake can empower teams and accelerate buy-in for new strategies.
- The league was co-founded by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart to provide a domestic playing option during the WNBA offseason, an alternative to players going overseas. - Unrivaled offers the highest average salary in women's professional sports history; in its first season, the average player salary was reportedly over $220,000, significantly higher than the WNBA's average of under $150,000. - The initial pool of players was granted a 15% equity stake in the league, with individual percentages determined by factors like contract length and professional accolades. - The league's valuation reached $340 million after its Series B investment round, which was led by Bessemer Venture Partners. - A high-profile group of investors includes athletes like Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Steve Nash, Carmelo Anthony, Stephen Curry, and Serena Williams through her firm Serena Ventures. - Actor Ashton Kutcher, entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, and media executives like former ESPN President John Skipper and former Turner President David Levy are also among the league's financial backers. - Key leadership includes President Alex Bazzell, a basketball skills coach and Collier's husband, and Commissioner Micky Lawler, the former president of the Women's Tennis Association. - The league secured media rights deals to broadcast games on TNT, truTV, and stream on HBO Max.
