Unbeatable: Everything you need to know about the new women’s basketball league that begins play on Friday

The unrivaled, 3×3 league, nearly two years in the making by WNBA Finals stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, will play its first games this week, featuring some of the WNBA’s best players.

Here’s everything to know about the league, how it’s played, where to watch it and who will be there.

What is unmatched?

Unmatched is a 3×3 league, but unlike the international half-court version, matches will be played on a compacted full court measuring 70 by 49.2 feet (a standard court is 94 feet long). There are six teams, each with six players. In international play, there are four to one rosters.

“It’s even harder to hide in this type of 3×3,” said Olympic 3×3 qualifier and undefeated player Katie Lou Samuelson. “You have to be involved, no matter what, offensively and defensively. All the time you have to be able to hold your own.”

Games consist of seven-minute quarters, with the final quarter played to a goal score 11 points higher than the highest score at the end of the third quarter. Fouls are one free throw attempt each, and players foul by six. The shooting time is 18 seconds.

When does Unrivaled start?

The season begins Friday and runs nine weeks, including the postseason. The regular season is a round robin schedule, with the top four making the playoffs in two rounds. Two matches are played every Friday, Saturday and Monday, and are broadcast on the TNT network.

All games are played on an 850-capacity, 20,000-square-foot soundstage in Miami, built specifically for Unrivaled.

“We made the place small on purpose,” Collier told Yahoo Sports in November. “We always knew it would be too small, but we wanted that environment because we are creating this area first and foremost. We couldn’t build a full stadium. But also to give that exclusive feeling. There is going to be be full in there every single night.”

The room includes a weight facility, doctor’s room, sauna, recovery areas and a glam room designed by Sephora. Collier said the league is focused on pushing content out to its fans and helping players expand their reach and sponsorship potential.

Unrivaled Mid-Season Classic: A 1v1 tournament

The league will feature a 1-on-1 single-elimination tournament “to determine the best 1v1 player in the world,” Unrivaled said. It will be held 10.-14. February with a prize of $250,000 for the winner and an additional $10,000 for the winner’s 3×3 teammates.

Why unmatched?

• Money: Unmatched executives have long promised revolutionary salaries in the six figures that would allow players to play at home during the long WNBA offseason instead of playing overseas. The total salary pool is $8 million, averaging out to $222,000 per player (exact salary not disclosed). The average in the WNBA is closer to $125,000, ranging from a low of $66,079 to a high of $214,466. The players who participate in the inaugural season will receive equity in the league.

• Experience: The WNBA’s regular season is four months with a one-month postseason calendar. That gives professional players seven months to fill, and instead of spending all that time overseas away from family, Unrivaled allows them to play basketball, stay sharp and still enjoy the holidays at home. It also expands the opportunities for marketing and sponsorship.

• Development: Alex Bazzell, Collier’s husband and peerless president, is a basketball coach who has worked with WNBA and NBA stars. The league hired coaches with player development backgrounds to expand players’ skills. It brings game action, salary and offseason training under one umbrella.

Who plays in Unrivaled?

The league brought in nine of the 12 Team USA players who won gold at the Paris Olympics last summer. Five of the eight 3×3 Team USA Olympic medalists are playing. Two more uncapped players qualified for these teams but were unable to participate, and another played for Azerbaijan.

There are 12 WNBA champions who have a total of 19 titles. The 36-player field includes 13 of the top 20 WNBA scorers in 2024, 11 of the top 15 in assists and 10 of the top 20 rebounders.

Rosters were built by the six coacheswho selected one player from each “pod” to keep rosters balanced. They didn’t know which team to lead.

Team by team division

Vinyl

Roster: Arike Ogunbowale, Rhyne Howard, Aliyah Boston, Jordin Canada, Rae Burrell, Dearica Hamby
Head coach: Teresa Weatherspoon

Below: Howard and Hamby, the only WNBA champions on the roster, won 3×3 bronze in Paris. Vinyl is one of two teams with four of the WNBA’s top-30 scorers from 2024, but the only team without a 5×5 Olympian.

Rose

Roster: Chelsea Gray, Kahleah Copper, Angel Reese, Brittney Sykes, Lexie Hull, Azurá Stevens
Head coach: Nola Henry

Below: Gray, the leading facilitator, is one of two three-time champions in the undefeated league. Copper and Stevens won a title together in Chicago in 2021.

Fog

Roster: Jewell Loyd, DiJonai Carrington, Breanna Stewart, Courtney Vandersloot, Rickea Jackson, Aaliyah Edwards
Head coach: Phil Handy

Below: The championship success of Loyd (two), Vandersloot (two) and Stewart (three), who won two with Loyd in Seattle and one with Vandersloot in New York, makes the Mist the winningest group of the six.

Moon owls

Roster: Skylar Diggins-Smith, Allisha Gray, Napheesa Collier, Courtney Williams, Shakira Austin, Cameron Brink
Head coach: DJ Sackmann

Below: Gray (Olympic gold) and Brink (qualified for Paris) have extensive 3×3 experience. Brink said she will not participate in this outstanding season while rehabbing her ACL injury in June.

Phantom

Roster: Satou Sabally, Marina Mabrey, Brittney Griner, Natasha Cloud, Katie Lou Samuelson, Sabrina Ionescu
Head coach: Adam Harrington

Below: Griner and Ionescu are reigning Olympic champions with one WNBA championship each. Cloud has one too. The Phantom is the most stacked team in WNBA scoring and assists.

Shoelaces

Roster: Jackie Young, Tiffany Hayes, Kayla McBride, Alyssa Thomas, Kate Martin, Stefanie Dolson
Head coach: Andrew Wade

Below: Young (two) and Dolson (one) are WNBA champions and 3×3 gold medalists. Thomas and Young won 5×5 gold in the summer, and Hayes led Azerbaijan’s 3×3 squad to a victory over Team USA in Paris. Fans have already taken to calling the team the “L’Aces” because Young, Hayes, Martin and McBride (2014-20) all played for the franchise.

Who is the favourite?

It is difficult to determine as the style of 3×3 is different from the international rules and the league format is new.

“It’s going to be really interesting to see how the games and the scoring plays out,” Katie Lou Samuelson said. “I think we don’t all know what it’s going to be, but it’s going to be a lot of fun. So far, when we’ve played in practice, it’s definitely challenging, but it’s a fun style to play.”

Players with 3×3 experience have at least an upper hand in reps on a court with more open space where the angles are played differently. On paper, that gives the upper hand to Laces, whose teammates won 3×3 gold, and Vinyl, whose teammates won bronze. The Laces also have an elite point forward in Thomas, who finished second in WNBA assists for the second straight season, and a 40% 3-point shooter in Kayla McBride.

The style will expose players’ weaknesses, leading to teams with more well-rounded players to flourish. Five of the Phantoms’ six players ranked top-30 in scoring with success at all three levels. Even Griner, a 6-9 center who said she will be challenged to develop and “play a little bit different,” hits 3s at a solid clip when she tries them.

Or will championship-winning experience simply win out in the end? The Mist leads in the pedigree department with a lineup adjustment of a 5×5 game.