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Warner Bros Discovery’s TNT Sports on Wednesday signed a multiyear media-rights deal with Unrivaled, the newly formed 3-on-3 women’s pro basketball league that tips off next year featuring a slew of WNBA stars that will be coming off that league’s highest-profile season yet.
The agreement calls for 45 live regular-season matchups three nights a week in primetime across TNT (Mondays and Fridays) and its WBD sibling truTV on Saturdays. All games to be streamed live on WBD’s Max.
As part of the deal, TNT Sports will also invest in the league, which was founded by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. The inaugural season opens January 17.
“Our TNT Sports portfolio centers on premium live sports and our media and equity partnership with Unrivaled deepens our commitment to further expanding the depth of top tier women’s sports programming we offer our fans and presents an opportunity for us to shape and amplify the continued growth of women’s basketball,” TNT Sports chairman and CEO Luis Silberwasser said today.
Unrivaled investors David Levy, co-CEO of Horizon Sports & Experiences and former head of Turner, and former ESPN boss John Skipper spearheaded the media rights negotiations for the league.
The 3-on-3 league will feature six teams of five players each, with a list of committed players that already includes WNBA stars Stewart, Collier, Angel Reese, Arike Ogunbowale, Kelsey Plum and Brittney Griner among others; four roster spots remain as of Wednesday.
The teams will play in Miami on a compressed full court (see the first-look image above), unlike the men’s pro Big3 league which plays on a half-court. The eight-week Unrivaled season will see the teams play a round-robin schedule, with the top four teams making the playoffs. There will also be a 1-on-1 tournament in February.
The deal is the latest from Warner Bros Discovery as it looks to fill the sizable void that will soon be left by the NBA. After nearly four decades of airing the league’s games, WBD was outmaneuvered by NBCUniversal, which claimed rights alongside Amazon and Disney/ESPN starting in 2025. WBD has sued the league, claiming it was denied its legal right to match Amazon’s offer, but most legal and media observers see the case as a longshot to prevail.
WBD is also a partner in Venu Sports, a joint streaming venture whose planned launch earlier this year was blocked by a federal judge on antitrust grounds.
Amid the legal wrangling, WBD has inked deals for lower-tier sports like Mountain West college football and the French Open tennis tournament. It also licensed early-round games in the newly expanded College Football Playoff from ESPN. While Venu remains in limbo, WBD has also been planning to launch a $10-a-month sports tier on its flagship Max streaming service. While the NBA appears to be in its final year of eligibility, Max has access to NHL and Major League Baseball games, as well as NCAA March Madness basketball.
