Unrivaled adds Coco Gauff as latest high-profile investor in women's 3x3 basketball league
The league has raised $35 million in funding and will debut on Jan. 17
Tennis star Coco Gauff is the latest high-profile investor in Unrivaled, the 3x3 women's basketball league founded by WNBA players Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.
The league officially announced Gauff's involvement on Monday.
"I’m thrilled to be joining Unrivaled as an investor," Gauff said in a statement released by Unrivaled. "Basketball is one of my favorite sports, and the chance to support a league that’s redefining the game is exciting. I look forward to being part of this movement and continuing to help elevate women’s sports to new heights."
A champion on the court, a visionary off it. Welcome @CocoGauff to the @Unrivaledwbb family as an investor—together, we’re taking basketball to the next level! 🚀🏀 pic.twitter.com/aROAe6oDJk
— Unrivaled Basketball (@Unrivaledwbb) January 6, 2025
In December, Unrivaled announced that it had raised $28 million in venture capital (Series A) funding, which included investments from Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley, Olympic swimming legend Michael Phelps and USC women's basketball sensation JuJu Watkins.
Additionally, the league raised $7 million in a seed round of funding with investors, including soccer star Alex Morgan, former NBA player Carmelo Anthony, former TNT president David Levy, NBA players Tyus and Tre Jones, former ESPN president John Skipper, and celebrities Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis.
We love it here🔥 @bigmamastef x @athomas_25 pic.twitter.com/B9BABxkDOl
— Unrivaled Basketball (@Unrivaledwbb) January 6, 2025
Unrivaled was founded by Collier and Stewart to provide a supplemental income for WNBA players during the offseason without having to play internationally. The league will pay players a minimum six-figure salary and offer the highest average salary in U.S. women's professional sports, as Yahoo Sports' Cassandra Negley reported.
“The principle of our league is that it's the top talent, and women need to be paid accordingly,” Collier told Yahoo Sports. “We need to be treated as professionals, and so that was a huge thing, is making sure that this is transformative, and something that’s new is we’re going to be paying players what they should be paid.”
Six teams of five players each will make up Unrivaled and play their games in Miami. Games will be played on a full court with four quarters of play at seven minutes each.
Plenty of star power will be featured, with Arike Ogunbowale, Angel Reese, Dijonai Carrington, Jewell Loyd, Chelsea Gray, Brittney Griner, Kelsey Plum, Dearica Hamby, Alyssa Thomas, Marina Mabrey, and Sabrina Ionescu among the players participating.
The basketball clubs are the Laces, Lunar Owls, Mist, Phantom, Rose and Vinyl. League play will begin on Jan. 17, with Mist playing the Lunar Owls and Rose matched up against Vinyl.
Unrivaled will also take a break in the middle of its season that will feature a 1-on-1 tournament
