It is also more than 20 times the size of Unrivaled\u2019s soundstage arena in Medley, Florida, and eight times the average TV viewership of 172,000 from the Week 4 doubleheader. Before the league was even announced, Unrivaled intended to take the show on the road to showcase the women\u2019s game, the players and their smaller-court 3×3 style. And to grow the business.<\/p>\n
Philadelphia served as the trial run for the barnstorming league. There is a clear appetite for women\u2019s basketball and its players. And an even greater hunger for the camaraderie of the collective in this space that Unrivaled has tapped.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt’s exciting to see it come to fruition, because it’s always been a part of the strategy,\u201d Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell told Yahoo Sports on Friday morning. \u201cBut I don’t know if even we expected the excitement to be this much this early.\u201d<\/p>\n
Julia Hunter is locked in. There\u2019s more than two hours until tip-off, but the 9-year-old is watching intently as fans clad in Unrivaled and WNBA gear take their perch on the mechanical bull at Stateside Live!, the complex\u2019s external dining and entertainment facility. Her sister, 3-year-old Alexis, tries to get a better view.<\/p>\n
Around them, food is passed around and the drink taps are flowing. There\u2019s pure excitement and a sense of community in the air, no matter the icon showing from unzipped jackets, including one fan who wore a jersey from the ABL\u2019s Philadelphia Rage, the last women\u2019s pro team to play in the city in 1998.<\/p>\n
The Hunter family is outfitted almost exclusively in UConn gear after making the two-hour trip from Washington, D.C., that afternoon. Lisa Hunter\u2019s husband, Ian, a Connecticut native growing up in the 1990s Rebecca Lobo era, gifted her the tickets for Christmas. Lisa has enjoyed watching UConn players continue developing in the WNBA, but the six-month offseason \u201cleaves a lot to be desired.\u201d She began watching Unrivaled to fill that itch with Julia.<\/p>\n
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Unrivaled\u2019s viewership numbers are down overall from the 208,000 average <\/a>of their inaugural season, but they\u2019ve steadily grown from 139,000 in Week 1 to 172,000 the week before heading to Philadelphia. Bazzell said an earlier start date contributed to the change, a necessity due to the FIBA women\u2019s World Cup qualifying tournament in March. It pitted them directly against the NFL and college football playoffs.<\/p>\n \u201cNone of it’s surprising to us or our partners at TNT,\u201d Bazzell, also the husband of Collier, told Yahoo Sports. \u201cIf you get caught up in the fluctuations of any business, whether its ratings [or] merchandise sales \u2014 it\u2019s all a long game that you have to kind of be balanced about.\u201d<\/p>\n Unrivaled came on Lisa\u2019s radar through an admiration for Collier and Stewart, both UConn alumnae, as leaders and mothers setting a standard of support with their league. She cited the importance of maternity protections, and as one of the 73% of women who align their purchasing power with their values,<\/a> according to a 2022 UBS study, Lisa said she appreciated that the league signed women-forward sponsors like Sephora.<\/p>\n Paige Bueckers is Julia\u2019s favorite player, and on Friday, she\u2019s treated to the standard experience: a game-high 23 points (9-of-13), 6 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals. In a tight final quarter, Bueckers\u2019 characteristic mid-range shot kept the Breeze in closing distance, and she scored or assisted on every basket of a 7-0 run. The crowd cheered as loudly for her final bucket as Kelsey Plum\u2019s game-winning layup for a Phantom victory.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n By night\u2019s end, the Hunters hoped to make their way to the Unrivaled merchandise tables spread around the concourse. It\u2019s often sold out online, and Julia, attending in her Dallas Wings Bueckers jersey, wanted to add a Breeze one to her budding collection. The league made $400,000 in arena merch sales alone, an Unrivaled spokesperson told Yahoo Sports. In all, the night brought in $2 million in revenue for the league, including $1 million in ticket sales.<\/p>\n The crowd yearned for it, crescendoing as the always fiery Marina Mabrey walked away from the bait<\/a>. She shook her fingers \u201cno\u201d on her way to the bench, signaling to the raucous arena that Shakira Austin\u2019s shoulder to the chest wouldn\u2019t crack her flimsy composure. Not tonight.<\/p>\n Several fans were hoping to see a signature Marina Mabrey crashout; instead, they saw her make Unrivaled history. (Cassandra Negley\/Yahoo Sports)<\/p>\n As much as the fans would\u2019ve erupted for it, there was no Mabrey crashout in Philadelphia. The proud New Jerseyan took over neighboring Philly, scoring an Unrivaled record 47 points that included 27 in the first quarter to set the record for any seven-minute period in league history.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n In the first quarter, she drilled four 3-pointers in 80 seconds, the arena lifting in palpable energy at each shot\u2019s parabola. By the time she missed her first in five attempts \u2014 and the only one of the quarter \u2014 all she could do was laugh into her fist, eyes wide in amusement at the heat check.<\/p>\n When she collected a Temi Fagbenle block and dropped in a seventh and final 3-pointer that quarter, the uproarious standing celebration might have been heard from the nearby train station. She had an Unrivaled record 10 by game\u2019s end.<\/p>\n The ear-piercing surges came often in an 85-75 upset of the reigning champion Rose. Skylar Diggins gave the team\u2019s \u201cHootie Hoo\u201d call, the full-capacity arena crowd echoing it before she disappeared into the tunnel to embrace her two exuberant children. It was the Lunar Owls\u2019 second win of the season after finishing 13-1 in the inaugural season, led by co-founder Collier, who is unable to play this season due to injury.<\/p>\n \u201cYou could feel the love tonight,\u201d Collier told a small group of reporters at the night\u2019s conclusion. \u201cI\u2019m so glad we came here. I can\u2019t even explain it more than I was just so filled up with joy.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n While Collier spoke and fans filed out with bags of newly released merch, Xfinity Arena employees began flipping the arena for the second of three times in two days. The 76ers hosted Sacramento on Thursday and New Orleans on Saturday night. But first, the Flyers defeated Los Angeles in a two-overtime matinee earlier Saturday.<\/p>\n Slotting in arena time between NBA, NHL, PWHL, concerts and events is tricky business. Collier said they began securing Xfinity about a year ago, indicating the league is already either done or in the final stages of solidifying the slate for next year.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t keep players from tossing out ideas. Bueckers suggested Nashville, where Athletes Unlimited draws crowds, or Houston, a former WNBA home in that league\u2019s expansion pool. Tiffany Hayes suggested a game at UConn, although she knows players might not enjoy the lack of excitement in a rural stop. Lexie Hull wants to see the league go to places without women\u2019s basketball.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s so cool when you do a one-off game somewhere, and there’s like a bazillion fans going,\u201d Mabrey said. \u201cBecause it kind of just reminds all of us that everything we’re doing to draw fans, grow the game, it\u2019s working. There\u2019s another city that wants to see us and is excited for a WNBA team to come there [or] having an Unrivaled game there.\u201d<\/p>\n The common thread became players\u2019 hometowns or alma maters. Philadelphia natives Kahleah Copper and Natasha Cloud served as tour guides on the trip, sharing their favorite cheesesteak spots and showing off the courts and baskets on which they grew up. Cloud teared up when speaking of her joy in returning home to play professionally for the first time.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Mabrey would like to see a stop in New Jersey, where she grew up. Or it would be nice to go to Hawaii. She was the third player to mention the island state.<\/p>\n Chelsea and Cierra Cobb step back from the Stateside Live! table, aghast at hearing that players are pining for games on the islands where they grew up and still live. How can they seal the deal, they ask?<\/p>\n The Cobb sisters flew in from Hawaii specifically to attend this Unrivaled tour stop. In all, they said they invested around $10,000 to turn it into a week-long trip and visit historical landmarks. They grew up watching games with their Teresa Weatherspoon-loving dad, who later urged his eldest daughter to model Candace Parker’s fundamentals.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s a full-circle moment for us,\u201d Chelsea, 30, said. \u201cIt’s a sister trip. It’s standing up for sisterhood.\u201d<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Added 28-year-old Cierra: \u201cAnd sisterhood comes in all forms, whether you know the person standing next to you or not.\u201d<\/p>\n The women said they appreciate the players\u2019 \u201cunapologetic\u201d approach to standing on what they believe. Chelsea felt the \u201coutpouring of hatred toward\u201d Brittney Griner during her detainment in Russia echoed the sexist remarks she heard growing up. Fans who spoke with Yahoo Sports all noted players’ awareness and willingness to speak on national issues, particularly regarding social justice.<\/p>\n \u201c[Their] political activism and the ability to use your platform in a way that advances movements that are intersectional is incredible and takes a lot of bravery,\u201d Lisa Hunter said.<\/p>\n Lisa highlighted Unrivaled rookie Bueckers, the 2025 UConn national champion, who spoke openly against<\/a> the fatal shootings by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in her hometown of Minneapolis. The week before Unrivaled\u2019s trip, Stewart became one of the first prominent professional athletes<\/a> to make a statement against the shootings.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n In Philadelphia, fans shown on the video board with \u201cAbolish ICE; Go Birds\u201d signs received cheers, as did those in merchandise supporting higher salaries in the WNBA.<\/p>\n Cierra Cobb shows off her customized leather jacket alongside her sister, Chelsea. The two made the trip to Philadelphia from Hawaii. (Cassandra Negley\/Yahoo Sports)<\/p>\n The night prior, Cierra stood in her hotel room, ironing 13 letters and a basketball onto the back of her black-and-red leather jacket. It took about four hours, her sister said, and she waffled on how exactly to express her thoughts. Ultimately, she kept it brief: \u201cPay the players.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSeeing the players advocate for themselves, even as a young adult, it motivates me,\u201d Cierra said. \u201cBecause this is not a new fight for us [as women]. Fighting for equality in our workforce is a battle that we\u2019re probably going to fight our lifetimes. But if the players fight so that the next generation doesn\u2019t have to, I\u2019m all for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Bubbling under the surface in Philadelphia were the WNBA and WNBA Players Association\u2019s negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA). A crack emerged earlier on Friday when Kelsey Plum told reporters the sides would meet in person on Monday<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Collier, Stewart and Plum are three of the seven players on the executive board, a conflict of interest that WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike also shares as a recent signee of Project B. There are implications for Unrivaled and other offseason leagues entrenched in the talks<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Several](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/00868f10-0078-11f1-bfcf-26607ddc0174.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Cierra](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ce1f0150-0078-11f1-be7f-233c2d4785fe.jpeg\"\/)
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