How Unrivaled is doomed without WNBA phenom Caitlin Clark

There's a long break between the end of the WNBA season and the start of the new one, and many of the league's stars have found a way to earn extra money while keeping their skills sharp.

Women’s basketball stars are playing in a three-on-three basketball league called Unrivaled during the WNBA offseason. It hasn’t exactly been the consistent ratings draw that organizers would have hoped for heading into the nine-week schedule.

Things were looked up for Unrivaled when they secured a television partnership with Turner Sports, which would allow games to be broadcast on TNT. However, eyeballs have not flocked to the games in the early going.

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Front Office Sports reported that the first night of Unrivaled games peaked at an average of 364,000 viewers across two channels, TNT and truTV. That figure comes in well below the average viewership of 2024 WNBA games of ESPN, which checked in at 1.19 million viewers.

Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell said to Front Office Sports, “We don’t expect to go get the same numbers the WNBA does. We’re just trying to deliver a great product, which I know we can do.”

Robin Lundberg of Sports Illustrated wrote that “the league got off to a solid but not spectacular start when it comes to ratings.” While Lundberg left the door open for optimism, the league will likely need to see increased ratings in the weeks to come if it wants to remain viable.

The main reason why Unrivaled attracted so much top tier WNBA talent is because of the notable financial commitment the league made to its participants. Marca reported that all 36 players will be paid at least $100,000 for nine weeks worth of work, which is pretty impressive. This also allowed WNBA players to stay in the United States during the offseason, rather than having to play for higher salaries in foreign countries.

While the take-home pay for all players is welcomed, this level of compensation might be difficult to maintain in the coming years if fans largely skip over the product for different types of entertainment. There seems to be one way that Unrivaled can guarantee increased attention moving forward.

Caitlin Clark is not participating in Unrivaled, and has instead been seen working on her game this winter. The Indiana Fever superstar has also sat next to music icon Taylor Swift during the NFL playoffs while the pair roots for the Kansas City Chiefs. It might not be an exaggeration to say that more people followed Clark’s movements watching football than people who tuned into Unrivaled.

Unrivaled would not have been doing their job if they didn’t ask Clark to play, and they tried very hard to get her to commit. WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier cofounded Unrivaled, and were willing to give Clark benefits others wouldn’t receive. Front Office Sports reported that Unrivaled dangled more than $1 million to Clark, but the sharpshooter declined.

Bazzell told Sportico that “we’re always going to have a roster spot for Caitlin Clark.” He later said, “…if she played, she would take it to another level. She knows we would love to have her.”

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Although the money was undoubtedly tempting, Clark had quite a whirlwind year in 2024. She led the Iowa Hawkeyes to a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, and was playing regular season WNBA hoops for the Fever a month and a half later. She stated on multiple occasions that she was looking forward to decompressing.

The show always goes on, but Unrivaled might be in a strange position. Dan Zaksheske of Outkick wrote, “there’s no chance that TNT executives are happy about these numbers—despite their social media post touting ‘strong viewership.’”

It’s been said many times many ways that in order to make money, you have to spend money. Unrivaled certainly made an effort in that regard, but it clearly fell short. It’s uncertain how much they’d be willing to pony up, but luring Clark to the upstart league might be a requirement if things don’t turn around.

One other positive Unrivaled might be able to lean on is the fact that two of Clark’s closest friends in the WNBA agreed to participate. Fever teammate Lexie Hull and Clark’s former Iowa teammate Kate Martin are both playing. If they’re enjoying their experience, it’s possible they could share how wonderful it was and sell Clark on lacing up her sneakers.

The Mirror’s Matthew Neschis pointed out that Clark’s games with the Fever averaged 1.18 million viewers, and leapfrogged attendance records while they were at home or on the road. Clark’s presence essentially guaranteed massive metrics.

Clark told Time Magazine, “These people aren’t supporting women’s sports to check a box. It’s going to be the new normal.” At this juncture, it would seem that no one drives the new normal quite like Clark does.

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