Put a Hoop in the Tour Bus
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Unrivaled is speeding down a new lane in women’s sports: The barnstorming tour.
The attendance is through the roof when Unrivaled takes its show on the road. There were 21,490 fans (including me) at Philadelphia’s Xfinity Mobile Center on Jan 30. On March 2, the league drew 18,261 to the Barclays in Brooklyn.
These games were events! And that makes sense, because fans of women’s sports — more than fans of men’s — love a limited-time-only spectacle. It has always been there for the Olympics and the World Cup. But also, the Grand Slams and even Nebraska’s Volleyball Day tournament in 2023, when more than 90,000 fans showed up to see a four-team tournament in a massive football stadium, Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.
Given Unrivaled’s record-breaking numbers, p.s. that Philly game was the largest crowd ever for a professional women’s basketball game, you’d think the league is an unqualified success. But the stats don’t unilaterally back that up. According to Sports Business Journal, viewership was down 40% this season. And attendance at Unrivaled’s home venue in Miami has been meh.
For season three, taking the show on the road was good business.
Fans of women’s sports are a different audience, so meet them where they are. Literally. Make it the Final Four and the Eras tour, with graphic T’s and merch at the door. This is about building community - in person, in the arena.
There's a feeling at a women's game when most of the seats are filled and the crowd is every age, race, and reflects the prism of the identity spectrum.
For a lot of us, it feels like home.
Philly is a women’s basketball city that has been denied a pro basketball team for way too long, although that will be changing when the WNBA finally adds a franchise in 2030. But there are plenty of other cities like that. Will every one of them set a new house attendance record? You never know until you try.
The WNBA is locked into an NBA model while it tries to hash out a new Collective Bargaining Agreement with players before the 2026 season is in serious jeopardy. Unrivaled is a new business that showcases and centers the players. If fans are less invested in teams than players, who cares? If people don’t know that Natasha Cloud and Kelsey Plum are on the same team until tipoff, or even that the Phantom are playing that night, they’ll figure it out.
Unrivaled can break the traditional sports league model, and it should. There are some numbers to be crunched, can a pro league make it without maximizing broadcast revenue? But, in the meantime, book an arena and put a hoop in the tour bus.
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In the Age of AI, Live Experiences Are Winning.
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At the Unrivaled Semi-Finals at Barclays Center, Sephora literally dropped gift cards from the sky, parachuting them into the crowd in a moment that lasted seconds and had fans scrambling across the floor. Physical. Surprising. Gone in an instant.
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In a world where AI can generate highlights, replicate athletes, and produce infinite digital content, Gen Alpha is already voting with its feet. And its wallets. The had-to-be-there moment that cannot be digitally replicated has shot up in value, whether a live game, a surprising moment, or a limited edition collectible giveaway.
Unrivaled understands this…and their 2026 brand partners do, too.
Sprite took a different approach with Unrivaled, printing limited edition player cans of Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, each one scannable for real tickets and merch. The cans are available only in select markets and only through March.
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If successful, we could be watching Unrivaled permanently push women’s sports brand partnerships beyond the same-old banner ad, the ‘Like us on Facebook,’ and the 30-second ad. In a world of limitless digital goods and AI-written content, they’ve uncovered value in surprise, delight, and limited editions.
The lessons from Unrivaled’s season could apply to other women’s sports and, with the NWSL’s season kicking off tomorrow, let’s see how this space can grow.
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Donnie Wahlberg and the NKOTB will be following the Boston Legacy step by step, and performing live at the new NWSL franchise's halftime.
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A’ja may still be waiting on a contract as negotiations on Tuesday didn’t conclude with a deal, but some personal negotiations are looking settled.
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🎾 Between the California desert heat and the world-class shot-making, the hardcourts are heating up at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, often dubbed tennis’s unofficial “fifth major.” The tournament heads into its final stretch this week with quarterfinals Thursday (3/12), semifinals Friday (3/13), and the championship match Sunday (3/15). Grab your sunscreen and enjoy the action.
🏀 Now that the second season of Unrivaled has wrapped and the upcoming WNBA season is not a guarantee, you may find yourself randomly bursting into tears, driving at high speeds or eating right out of a jar of mayonnaise. Here’s some good news, the stars are back this week.
Team USA tips off FIBA World Cup qualifying March 11–17 in San Juan, with games airing on TNT Sports. The U.S. will face Senegal, Puerto Rico, Italy, New Zealand and Spain in round-robin play. The roster blends WNBA champions and the sport’s newest headliners, including Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Paige Bueckers, Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray and Kahleah Copper. Stay strong.
🏃🏿♀️ Run, Jump, Throw! The NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships head to Fayetteville, Arkansas on March 13–14, with Arkansas gunning for an unprecedented 12th straight women's team title. Women to watch: BYU’s Jane Hedengren (5K), South Carolina's JaMeesia Ford & Georgia’s Adaejah Hodge (200m), and Minnesota's Anthonett Nabwe (weight throw). Start stretching.
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Book more arenas! Going to see a women’s sporting event live is an experience like no other. I've been to both ends of the Unrivaled experience. Last season in Miami, Wayfair Arena held just 850 people — more event space than arena, but intimate in the best way, not a bad seat in the house. But Philly? Philly was a different universe. No screen, no stream, no highlight reel can give you what that arena gave us on January 30th.
Before they announced it was a record-breaking attendance, I knew I was witnessing something special. The energy, the joy, the excitement buzzing from kids to grandmothers - everyone was on the same page. It was electric.
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And then there was Dawn Staley sitting courtside. Staley, who grew up in North Philly, who played for the Philadelphia Rage in the ABL during the 1997-98 season when crowds barely cracked 3,000, was now watching from the best seat in the house as women's basketball filled every corner of that arena. I was crying. The place exploded. You cannot manufacture that. You have to be there.
Just this past weekend, I went to the USWNT She Believes Cup against Colombia, over 22,000 fans, and the next day, I was in the building for the New York Sirens' biggest home crowd yet. Every age, every background, every version of who we are — all of it in one building, screaming together. Women's sports fans have been starved for decades. These aren't just games. They're homecomings. You walk in a stranger and leave feeling like family. So do yourself a favor: buy the ticket, get in the car, and go.
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