Unrivaled basketball league signs deal with TNT Sports

TNT Sports is entering the women’s basketball business with a multi-year rights deal with new women’s 3-on-3 basketball league Unrivaled. TNT parent company Warner Bros. Discovery is also investing in the league and providing it with equity.

The deal – negotiated by former ESPN president John Skipper and former Turner boss David Levy – will see Unrivaled games air Mondays and Fridays on TNT and Saturdays on TruTV starting Jan. 17. All games will also be streamed on the Max streaming service.

Thanks to the boom in women’s sports and the fact that it has amassed a roster of WNBA all-stars, including co-founders Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, Unrivaled is one of the hottest start-up sports leagues on the market. All players also receive equity in the league.

The deal means that regardless of what happens with Warner Bros. Discovery’s lawsuit against the NBA, the company will continue to offer live basketball for the foreseeable future.

“The history they have with basketball is second to none,” Unrivaled President Alex Bazzell said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, He added that the deal provides the league with “long-term financial stability.”

“Media rights are the end goal of every league, not just a start-up league, it’s what pays the bills the most,” he adds.

And Unrivaled benefited from the fact that TNT Sports has gone after all the sports rights it can get since its NBA future is very uncertain.

“From a timing standpoint, it’s nice that they’re ultimately building their sports portfolio,” Levy says.

Unrivaled, on the other hand, is betting that TNT Sports, with its long history of televising basketball games and its prowess in developing shoulder programs like Within the NBA (Unrivaled will produce its own games in collaboration with Mediapro North America) can contribute to the league’s growth with studio shows and digital content.

“In my opinion, they know how to do studio shows better than anyone,” Levy says. “To go back to that and integrate this new league into that infrastructure as we produce the games, they’re going to give us some insight and help, and we want to make sure that these games culturally fit into their environment as well.”

“They can help tell stories outside of the games… under that umbrella they have Bleacher Report and House of Highlights,” Bazzell adds. “Hundreds of millions of social followers are an additional opportunity for us to tap into a fan base that we are trying to attract. So beyond just the investment, it was more about the focus on the long-term growth of this property. “We don’t just see this as a transactional partnership, but rather as a way for everyone to row in the same direction.”

Unrivaled arrives after a breakthrough year in women’s sports, particularly women’s basketball, with breaking ratings records in college games and the NBA. The result is a growing shared belief in the future of women’s athletics on television.

“I didn’t know in my lifetime that the women’s Final Four would surpass the men’s Final Four, but they did, and you now see numbers that surpass some of the NBA games by the WNBA games themselves,” Levy says : “So no one does this because it’s just good, but because it brings a good ROI.”

TNT Sports and Warner Bros. Discovery have secured numerous rights for TNT and Max, including deals with wrestling circuit AEW, college football and an NIL-focused college basketball tournament.

“Our TNT Sports portfolio focuses on premium live sports and our media and equity partnership
With Unrivaled, we deepen our commitment to further expanding the depth of elite sport for women
The programming we offer our fans gives us the opportunity to shape and amplify that
continued growth of women’s basketball,” said Luis Silberwasser, chairman and CEO of TNT
Sport.