awfulannouncing.com
Unrivaled off to grim start in Year 2 as viewership craters
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Unrivaled, the nascent 3-on-3 women’s basketball league, is off to a shaky start in its second year.
The league, which has a stated goal of providing elite women’s basketball players an alternative to playing overseas during the WNBA’s offseason, has failed to attract substantial television audiences in the early portions of its second season. According to a report by Front Office Sports on Wednesday, Unrivaled’s opening slate of games on Jan. 5 averaged just 175,000 viewers across TNT and truTV. Two additional games on opening day that only aired on truTV averaged just 32,000 viewers.
From there, the numbers haven’t been much better. On Jan. 9, the league averaged 139,000 viewers across TNT and truTV, and a quartet of games during the weekend of Jan. 10 and 11 averaged 71,000 viewers on truTV only.
The numbers show a steep drop-off compared to last season, when Unrivaled averaged 221,000 viewers on TNT between the regular season and playoffs. Unrivaled’s opening night last year averaged 312,000 viewers across TNT and truTV, almost double the figure for its opening games this season.
To be fair, Unrivaled has faced some stiff competition over the course of its first few sets of games. The league has competed directly with both NFL playoffs and the College Football Playoff.
Still, such a significant decline has to be concerning for the league, and is worthy of an honest conversation. From a talent perspective, Unrivaled has lost quite a few big names from Year 1 to Year 2. WNBA stars Angel Reese and Sabrina Ionescu are both sitting out this season for injury-related reasons. And other stars like Jewell Loyd, Kayla McBride, DiJonai Carrington, and Courtney Vandersloot also have not returned.
Paige Bueckers and Cameron Brink are carrying a heavy load for Unrivaled as the league’s two biggest stars this season.
“We’re building Unrivaled for the long game and we’re confident in our outlook, keeping in mind the same core principles and goals we set forth when establishing the league,” Unrivaled CEO Alex Bazzell told Front Office Sports. “We’re proud of the product we’re putting on the court each week and are going to continue growing our audience while showcasing the best women’s basketball players in the world. Leagues aren’t built overnight.”
Another made-for-TV sports league entering its second year, TGL, has faced similar declines so far this season, albeit for the same football-related reasons Unrivaled may be seeing a drop-off. TGL, however, seems to be in a much healthier spot overall, regularly drawing three- to four-times Unrivaled’s biggest audiences so far this season.
There’s also a baseline level of uncertainty Unrivaled faces at the current moment. The league is partly owned by TNT, whose parent company Warner Bros. Discovery is in the midst of a messy sale process as Netflix and Paramount vie for the right to buy the company. Unrivaled reportedly has a six-year media rights deal that TNT can opt out of after three years. Should the league fail to gain traction by Year 3, its days could be numbered. Especially under new ownership.
