01/06/26 11:23:00
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01/06 04:55 CST Unrivaled's second season provides key gathering place for WNBA
players during CBA negotiations
Unrivaled's second season provides key gathering place for WNBA players during
CBA negotiations
By ALANIS THAMES
AP Sports Writer
MEDLEY, Fla. (AP) --- Napheesa Collier sat on the bench at Sephora Arena
laughing with Unrivaled teammate Skylar Diggins moments before tipoff between
the Lunar Owls and Rose BC.
It was a tiny glimpse of what Unrivaled provided star WNBA players in Year 1:
high-level competition and camaraderie while offering an arena for players to
sharpen their skills ahead of the WNBA season.
Now, at a pivotal moment in the WNBA when players are negotiating what could be
the most consequential collective bargaining agreement in league history,
Unrivaled is serving a much bigger purpose. The league, which began its second
season on Monday, is providing a central gathering place for players to
strategize and build solidarity as CBA talks unfold.
"The offseason is always a harder time to try and connect with people," Collier
said in a Zoom last month, before being ruled out for the season because of
ankle surgery, "and so to have our CBA happening in the offseason is usually a
disadvantage in that way.
"To have players congregated where you can have those in-person conversations
and updates and things like that, I think that does help things move more
quickly."
The league and WNBA Player's Association have been negotiating a new agreement
for the past few months, extending the deadline a couple of times with the
latest one set to expire on Friday. Last month, the WNBPA announced players
have authorized their union's executive council to call a strike if necessary,
which could delay the WNBA expansion draft and the beginning of free agency
that usually starts in late January. The season itself isn't expected to begin
until late April or early May.
"You heard a lot of chatter that what we're asking for is not sustainable for
the business," Collier said in a television interview during an Unrivaled game
Monday night.
"Being on this side with Unrivaled, I know what it takes to run a sustainable
business," added Collier, who co-founded the league with fellow WNBA star
Breanna Stewart. "I think if they can't find a model that makes that happen,
they need to put people in place who can ... I do think a deal is going to get
done, but we're standing firm in what we believe, and were not going to back
down."
Ahead of its second season, Unrivaled announced that it is now valued at $340
million after closing its oversubscribed Series B investment round led by
Bessemer Venture Partners --- a massive figure for the young league and a
reflection of the increasing momentum and interest in women's sports.
"What we want to build this into is Champions League women's basketball," said
Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell. "And that's not a competition towards the
WNBA, it's just where we feel like we can kind of position ourselves in the
market."
Bazzell has repeated his belief in the league's potential longevity in part
because of its ability to draw some of the game's biggest names --- from
Collier to the reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year Paige Bueckers --- and their
long term commitment. Around 75% of the league's players are signed through
2028.
"My strong belief is once people remove the women's sports blinders and start
looking at it relative to what's going on in the ecosystem in terms of the
data," Bazzell said, "it points to that right now. So we are very bullish on
not just where we are today but where we're going tomorrow."
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
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