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University of Connecticut women’s basketball player Paige Bueckers is one of the biggest names in college sports. She is one of the highest earners of NIL money, coming in at No. 19 on On3 NIL 100 list with a valuation of $1 million.
That is going to increase as Bueckers has agreed to a historic, never-before-seen NIL deal with the upstart Unrivaled Basketball League. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, she will become the first collegiate athlete to have ownership equity in a league.
The league is being founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty and Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx. Bueckers plans to partake in the Unrivaled League along with playing in the WNBA after her collegiate career ends.
UConn’s Paige Bueckers is signing an NIL deal with the new women’s basketball league Unrivaled that makes her the first NCAA athlete to receive ownership equity in a league. Bueckers is expected to play in Unrivaled, along with the WNBA, after her college career is over. pic.twitter.com/NkPImheHig
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 1, 2024
The goal of Stewart and Collier was to give WNBA players an alternative league to play in that didn’t require them to go overseas. During the WNBA offseason, several players would travel to Europe to continue playing and earn more money.
That is something Stewart and Collier are hoping will come to an end.
The 3-on-3 league will start in January 2025. At the start, it will feature 30 players on six teams playing halfcourt, similar to the Olympics 3x3 style of play.
"It's the ability for players to stay home, to be in a market like Miami where we can just be the buzz and create that with the best WNBA players," Stewart told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. "We can't keep fighting [the WNBA's prioritization rule]. It is a rule that takes away our choices, which should never be a thing, especially as women, but it is still a rule."
There are some big-named athletes and celebrities who have invested in the new league. Among them are former NBA MVP Steve Nash, NBA All-Star and multi-time Gold medalist Carmelo Anthony, soccer stars Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe, and actor Ashton Kutcher.
The players joining Unrivaled will be earning record-breaking salaries as well.
Charnia previously shared that the league will have a cap of at least $7.5 million, which will be an average of roughly $250,000 per player. In the WNBA, a supermax contract in the league is only $241,984, per Her Hoop Stats.
Bueckers will be finishing out her final season at UConn when the first season of Unrivaled kicks off in January. But, the league will be star-studded with Stewart, Collier, Chelsea Gray, Arike Ogunbowale, Jewell Loyd, Kelsey Plum, Rhyne Howard, Kahleah Copper, Jackie Young and Angel Reese all committed to playing.
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