Unrivaled was born from an ideaand it became a phenomenon.
Women’s three-on-three basketball league begins last year in Miamiand this year the league decided to go on tour. His first stop Friday night resulted in record numbers during a sold-out doubleheader.
With 21,490 fans in attendance at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Unrivaled set all-time records for the highest-attended professional women’s basketball game of the regular season and the highest-attended event ever at the arena that hosts the Philadelphia 76ers and Flyers, as well as numerous concerts.
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Rickea Jackson of the Breeze controls the ball against the Phantom during the first half of the Unrivaled 2026 game at Xfinity Mobile Arena on January 30, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Hunt Martin/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The previous respective records were 20,711, set by Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever and the Washington Mystics on September 19, 2024, and 21,424, hosted by the Backstreet Boys’ “Into the Millennium” tour on September 29, 1999.
Some critics might be surprised, given the low viewership numbers at the start of the league’s second season. But David Levy, an early investor in the league and former president of TNT Sports, believed the numbers were skewed and that success was on the horizon.
“I’m totally shocked, and maybe I shouldn’t be confronted with what’s going on in the world these days with the news, how negative people have become in the first two weeks of Unrivaled. The first two weeks we were confronted with football. Football, NFL, college, Monday night, championship game, you think anyone is going to watch Unrivaled? Probably not,” Levy admitted in a recent interview with FOX Business. “So, all of a sudden, coming out and saying, ‘The league is dead.’ No, it shocks me.”
Paige Bueckers of the Breeze controls the ball against the Phantom during the first half of the Unrivaled 2026 game at Xfinity Mobile Arena on January 30, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Hunter Martin/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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League sources told FOX Business that Unrivaled is on pace to eclipse the league’s $40 million in revenue this season, an increase of more than 48 percent from last season’s $27 million in revenue. Even during the low-rating weekend, Levy mentioned, social engagement was up sharply. Merchandise sales also increased 54% between September and the end of opening weekend this season, compared to the same period last season.
“I’m talking about the facts. The facts are that every other indicator is up,” Levy said.
Levy said he knew the league would be a success when he realized the quality of play was A-plus.
“The most important thing is the product on the field has to be great. I didn’t know that from the start. I didn’t know how hard these girls were going to play. I didn’t know that. Was it going to be more of a scrimmage? But after the first two weeks, I knew it was gold,” Levy said.
Clark and A’ja Wilson, undoubtedly the The two biggest stars in the WNBAhave not yet joined the league. But that’s OK for now, Levy said.
“If you had closed your eyes and tried to say, ‘What if it was a NBA product? And you had the 56 best players in the NBA except Steph Curry and LeBron who weren’t playing, but everyone else was there. It would be the hottest thing of the summer. If it was a summer league, it would be sold out,” Levy said.
The Breeze’s Cameron Brink controls the ball against the Phantom during the second half of the Unrivaled 2026 game at Xfinity Mobile Arena on January 30, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Hunter Martin/Getty Images / Getty Images)
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“There are all the great players playing in a three-on-three league. It’s absolutely a huge opportunity, and that’s why I think it’s grown so quickly. The quality of the game, the names on the back of the jerseys, the social strategy is incredible. These women, they all have the equity. Everyone has fans; the female athletes completely engage with their fans. The scale of the impressions, I think, is phenomenal. I think that’s why the league is so successful that it is after only one year and three weeks.
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