Culture

Here are four ways Unrivaled could change the WNBA

Published

9 months ago

March 14, 2025

Here are four ways Unrivaled could change the WNBA

Near the end of 2022, New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart took a meeting at a New York City steakhouse to hear an idea to change the landscape of professional women’s basketball.

Stewart was preparing to spend part of another WNBA offseason abroad. Alex Bazzell, the husband of Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier, had seen his wife play multiple seasons overseas, too. He pitched Stewart on a business proposition to keep most WNBA stars in the U.S. during the winter months instead.

Over red wine, Stewart was immediately interested in the concept of Unrivaled, a professional women’s 3×3 league that would promise the highest salaries in American women’s team sports. She eventually agreed to co-found the league along with Collier.

“It’s crazy to think about that meeting to where we are now,” Stewart said as Unrivaled approaches the end of its initial 10-week season.

Four of the league’s six teams play in the semifinals on Sunday. The championship game is on Monday. Stewart, whose Mist Basketball Club has already been eliminated, said Unrivaled could elevate players’ experiences across all professional women’s basketball.

The WNBA is coming off a season of record viewership. Last year was the most-watched regular season in 24 years and Game 5 of the WNBA Finals was the most-watched finals game in 25 years. The league also set records for digital consumption and merchandise and had its highest total attendance in more than two decades.

Still, Stewart is optimistic that Unrivaled can push the landscape even further.

“We’re uplifting the standard by just showing that when you invest and get behind us, anything is possible,” Stewart said.

Playoffs are quickly approaching! ⏳How are y’all preparing? ⬇️👀 pic.twitter.com/RDX4AgwN5B
— Unrivaled Basketball (@Unrivaledwbb) March 13, 2025

Here are a few ways Unrivaled could influence the WNBA:

1. Raise salaries and provide players equity

Unrivaled launched at a critical juncture in the sport. The explosive growth coincides with negotiations between the WNBA and Women’s National Basketball Players Association on a new collective bargaining agreement, where players are expected to push for higher salaries. The players opted out of the previous agreement last October.

Unrivaled paid record salaries, an average of around $220,000 per player, and provided player equity, which the WNBA doesn’t provide. Thirty-six players signed on for Unrivaled, with six more available for injury relief.

Salaries would have been a top priority for the WNBPA no matter what. But the discrepancy between average salaries (the WNBA’s average salary was around $120,000 in 2024) kept the topic of pay at the forefront this winter.

Another part of Unrivaled’s model — giving players around 15 percent of its league equity — could also be a precursor to a change in the WNBA, which is entering its 29th season this summer. The WNBPA has stated that it wants an equity-based model that evolves with the league’s business success in the next CBA.

2. Improved amenities and added childcare

The leagues have numerous differences (operational expenses, ownership structure, game format, season length, roster sizes), but Unrivaled’s commitment to prioritizing the player experience could also influence the W.

“We’re taking the things we like here and we’re going to tell our ownership,” said Rhyne Howard, a star wing on the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream and Unrivaled’s Vinyl Basketball Club.

A WNBA arms race has been underway with several franchises building new facilities and improving their amenities. Still, the offerings can vary widely from franchise to franchise.

Unrivaled created a private professional-level training space in a matter of months, outfitting a former TV production studio in the Miami area into an all-encompassing performance center and arena.

Some of what struck Unrivaled players was relatively small. The renovated facility includes a sauna and cold tub, two amenities that aren’t a 24/7 given with all WNBA clubs. Multiple players also appreciated heating pads on the training room tables.

Unrivaled vice president and general manager Clare Duwelius, the Minnesota Lynx’s former general manager, served as a point person for player requests. No ask was too big or too small, she said. “If the players put it on our radar, we aimed to provide that,” Duwelius said.

Perhaps most importantly, Unrivaled also ensured its facility offered robust childcare options. Wayfair Arena has a nursing room, nursery room and a kids room, which has toys, books, puzzles and even a mini basketball hoop with stickers of the six teams plastered on the backboard. The league hired nannies so players could drop off their kids at their convenience, whether for games, practices or other league obligations.

Katie Lou Samuelson, a forward on Phantom Basketball Club and the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, has used the services for her 1-year-old daughter.

“Napheesa’s daughter, (Skylar Diggins-Smith’s) daughter, they’ve all built a little friendship together (with my daughter),” Samuelson said. “When we first started out, she didn’t want me to leave, and now she’s like, all right mom, you can go.”

The WNBA’s 2020 CBA made significant strides in its parental care policy, and some organizations have similar setups to Unrivaled. The Phoenix Mercury have a kids’ playroom and provide childcare during games. The Minnesota Lynx use a local company to help provide nanny care, and they have a space in Target Center for kids to play and sleep.

“I just feel super comfortable knowing that I can go into any game, I can do any treatment I need to do after the games end and there’s going to be someone there watching her and taking care of her until it’s time to go,” Samuelson said. “I don’t feel rushed, and it’s been really nice.”

Breanna Stewart, an Unrivaled co-founder, hopes to bring some touches from the 3×3 league to the WNBA. (Megan Briggs / Getty Images)

3. More partnership opportunities

Unrivaled brokered partnerships with multiple companies new to women’s basketball. More than a half dozen of the league’s corporate sponsors are not existing NBA or WNBA partners, including Sephora, Wayfair, Samsung Galaxy, Morgan Stanley and VistaPrint. Collier said the league showed “what is possible when you have the players’ brand buy-in.” Lexie Hull, a guard on Unrivaled’s Rose Basketball Club who plays for the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, said Unrivaled’s partnerships highlighted that numerous companies are eager to work with women’s sports leagues and their athletes.

As a startup, Unrivaled can be more nimble. Because the WNBA is affiliated with the NBA, there is shared coordination on some dual sponsorship deals.

The WNBA increased its number of sponsorships by 19 percent last year, according to Marketing Brew, and the league had a record 24 sponsor activations at its All-Star Game fan fest last summer.

Jordin Canada, a guard on the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream and Unrivaled’s Rose Basketball Club, said Unrivaled’s deals “puts pressure” on the WNBA to put its players at the forefront of more arrangements. Some deals might fit better with just the WNBA than with the WNBA and NBA combined.

Already one of Unrivaled’s corporate partners that did not have a previous tie to the WNBA is getting involved with one of the league’s franchises. Sephora announced in early January it will be the Toronto Tempo’s founding partner.

“It’s important to bring in all sorts of brands and people and introduce them to new faces,” said Chelsea Gray, a star guard for the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces and Unrivaled’s Rose Basketball Club. “I would encourage the (WNBA) to look at different partnerships and bring them along as well.”

4. Upping offseason promotion

Unrivaled prompted more than 30 of the WNBA’s top players to live in one area, leading to more publicity as they interacted with one another. Photo and video content was pumped out on official Unrivaled channels and on individual player platforms, keeping players more frequently in conversations among WNBA fans.

“That was a missing piece because you wouldn’t know what was happening for seven months because you were overseas,” Stewart said.

In recent years, the WNBA has stressed the importance of relevancy during its offseason. The league signs a few players each season to marketing agreements, which compensate players as brand ambassadors. But Unrivaled has boosted those efforts.

Shakira Austin, a center for Unrivaled’s Lunar Owls Basketball Club and the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, said Unrivaled has been a “10 out of 10” in capturing player personalities, creating social content that is timely to online trends. That’s something she hopes to see more of in the WNBA season.

“We’re used to being overseas in God knows what country and you’d be lucky to even get some good internet service,” Austin said. “So to be able to have 24/7 almost access to the WNBA players while we’re playing year-round now, it’s dope and I think it’s something that can continue to move forward.”

Unrivaled’s players and executives said they hope the winter venture complements the WNBA, which holds its annual draft in April and tips off its season in May.

“This league is meant to be an aid to the WNBA,” Hull said. “They’re supposed to live in cohesion.”

During the Unrivaled season, WNBA officials, including commissioner Cathy Engelbert and head of league operations Bethany Donaphin, visited the league in Florida. Stewart said she hoped they observed all aspects of the new venture.

Duwelius said players are relaying feedback to her on Unrivaled’s first season. Stewart wants more space for the in-person fan experiences and for training rooms. How Unrivaled handles injuries is worth watching as well, along with its plans for some touring games next year. Bazzell said previously that the league would visit no more than four cities — targeting non-WNBA cities and college towns — and still have a home base next season.

Unrivaled’s impact, however, could be felt in just a few weeks when players return to their WNBA markets.

“From what we did in the W, to now flipping switches to Unrivaled to soon flipping back to the W, we’re just continuing to have people know what these players are doing constantly,” Stewart said. “We just want to make sure we’re growing the sport as a whole.”

(Top photo of Napheesa Collier defending Angel Reese: Rich Storry / Getty Images)

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Culture

Video: 250 Years of Jane Austen, in Objects

Published

4 days ago

December 18, 2025

Press Room

Video: 250 Years of Jane Austen, in Objects

new video loaded: 250 Years of Jane Austen, in Objects

To capture Jane Austen’s brief life and enormous impact, editors at The New York Times Book Review assembled a sampling of the wealth, wonder and weirdness she has brought to our lives.

By Jennifer Harlan, Sadie Stein, Claire Hogan, Laura Salaberry and Edward Vega

December 18, 2025

Culture

Try This Quiz and See How Much You Know About Jane Austen

Published

6 days ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Try This Quiz and See How Much You Know About Jane Austen

“Window seat with garden view / A perfect nook to read a book / I’m lost in my Jane Austen…” sings Kristin Chenoweth in “The Girl in 14G” — what could be more ideal? Well, perhaps showing off your literary knowledge and getting a perfect score on this week’s super-size Book Review Quiz Bowl honoring the life, work and global influence of Jane Austen, who turns 250 today. In the 12 questions below, tap or click your answers to the questions. And no matter how you do, scroll on to the end, where you’ll find links to free e-book versions of her novels — and more.

Culture

Revisiting Jane Austen’s Cultural Impact for Her 250th Birthday

Published

6 days ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Revisiting Jane Austen’s Cultural Impact for Her 250th Birthday

On Dec. 16, 1775, a girl was born in Steventon, England — the seventh of eight children — to a clergyman and his wife. She was an avid reader, never married and died in 1817, at the age of 41. But in just those few decades, Jane Austen changed the world.

Her novels have had an outsize influence in the centuries since her death. Not only are the books themselves beloved — as sharply observed portraits of British society, revolutionary narrative projects and deliciously satisfying romances — but the stories she created have so permeated culture that people around the world care deeply about Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, even if they’ve never actually read “Pride and Prejudice.”

With her 250th birthday this year, the Austen Industrial Complex has kicked into high gear with festivals, parades, museum exhibits, concerts and all manner of merch, ranging from the classily apt to the flamboyantly absurd. The words “Jane mania” have been used; so has “exh-Aust-ion.”

How to capture this brief life, and the blazing impact that has spread across the globe in her wake? Without further ado: a mere sampling of the wealth, wonder and weirdness Austen has brought to our lives. After all, your semiquincentennial doesn’t come around every day.

By ‘A Lady’

Jane Austen’s House, Chawton, England

Austen published just four novels in her lifetime: “Sense and Sensibility” (1811), “Pride and Prejudice” (1813), “Mansfield Park” (1814) and “Emma” (1815). All of them were published anonymously, with the author credited simply as “A Lady.” (If you’re in New York, you can see this first edition for yourself at the Grolier Club through Feb. 14.)

Where the Magic Happened

Janice Chung for The New York Times

Placed near a window for light, this diminutive walnut table was, according to family lore, where the author did much of her writing. It is now in the possession of the Jane Austen Society.

An Iconic Accessory

Jane Austen’s House, Chawton, England

Few of Austen’s personal artifacts remain, contributing to the author’s mystique. One of them is this turquoise ring, which passed to her sister-in-law and then her niece after her death. In 2012, the ring was put up for auction and bought by the “American Idol” champion Kelly Clarkson. This caused quite a stir in England; British officials were loath to let such an important cultural artifact leave the country’s borders. Jane Austen’s House, the museum now based in the writer’s Hampshire home, launched a crowdfunding campaign to Bring the Ring Home and bought the piece from Clarkson. The real ring now lives at the museum; the singer has a replica.

Austen Onscreen

Since 1940, when Austen had a bit of a moment and Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier starred in MGM’s rather liberally reinterpreted “Pride and Prejudice,” there have been more than 20 international adaptations of Austen’s work made for film and TV (to say nothing of radio). From the sublime (Emma Thompson’s Oscar-winning “Sense and Sensibility”) to the ridiculous (the wholly gratuitous 2022 remake of “Persuasion”), the high waists, flickering firelight and double weddings continue to provide an endless stream of debate fodder — and work for a queen’s regiment of British stars.

Jane Goes X-Rated

Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

The rumors are true: XXX Austen is a thing. “Jane Austen Kama Sutra,” “Pride and Promiscuity: The Lost Sex Scenes of Jane Austen” and enough slash fic and amateur porn to fill Bath’s Assembly Rooms are just the start. Purists may never recover.

A Lady Unmasked

Jane Austen’s House, Chawton, England

Austen’s final two completed novels, “Northanger Abbey” and “Persuasion,” were published after her death. Her brother Henry, who oversaw their publication, took the opportunity to give his sister the recognition he felt she deserved, revealing the true identity of the “Lady” behind “Pride and Prejudice,” “Emma,” etc. in a biographical note. “The following pages are the production of a pen which has already contributed in no small degree to the entertainment of the public,” he wrote, extolling his sister’s imagination, good humor and love of dancing. Still, “no accumulation of fame would have induced her, had she lived, to affix her name to any productions of her pen.”

Wearable Tributes

Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a Jane Austen fan wants to find other Jane Austen fans, and what better way to advertise your membership in that all-inclusive club than with a bit of merch — from the subtle and classy to the gloriously obscene.

The Austen Literary Universe

Elizabeth Renstrom for The New York Times

On the page, there is no end to the adventures Austen and her characters have been on. There are Jane Austen mysteries, Jane Austen vampire series, Jane Austen fantasy adventures, Jane Austen Y.A. novels and, of course, Jane Austen romances, which transpose her plots to a remote Maine inn, a Greenwich Village penthouse and the Bay Area Indian American community, to name just a few. You can read about Austen-inspired zombie hunters, time-traveling hockey players, Long Island matchmakers and reality TV stars, or imagine further adventures for some of your favorite characters. (Even the obsequious Mr. Collins gets his day in the sun.)

A Botanical Homage

Created in 2017 to mark the 200th anniversary of Austen’s death, the “Jane Austen” rose is characterized by its intense orange color and light, sweet perfume. It is bushy, healthy and easy to grow.

Aunt Jane

Jane Austen’s House, Chawton, England

Hoping to cement his beloved aunt’s legacy, Austen’s nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh published this biography — a rather rosy portrait based on interviews with family members — five decades after her death. The book is notable not only as the source (biased though it may be) of many of the scant facts we know about her life, but also for the watercolor portrait by James Andrews that serves as its frontispiece. Based on a sketch by Cassandra, this depiction of Jane is softer and far more winsome than the original: Whether that is due to a lack of skill on her sister’s part or overly enthusiastic artistic license on Andrews’s, this is the version of Austen most familiar to people today.

Cultural Currency

Steve Parsons/Associated Press

In 2017, the Bank of England released a new 10-pound note featuring Andrews’s portrait of Austen, as well as a line from “Pride and Prejudice”: “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading!” Austen is the third woman — other than the queen — to be featured on British currency, and the only one currently in circulation.

In the Trenches

During World War I and World War II, British soldiers were given copies of Austen’s works. In his 1924 story “The Janeites,” Rudyard Kipling invoked the grotesque contrasts — and the strange comfort — to be found in escaping to Austen’s well-ordered world amid the horrors of trench warfare. As one character observes, “There’s no one to touch Jane when you’re in a tight place.”

Baby Janes

Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

You’re never too young to learn to love Austen — or that one’s good opinion, once lost, may be lost forever.

The Austen Industrial Complex

Elizabeth Renstrom for The New York Times

Maybe you’ve not so much as seen a Jane Austen meme, let alone read one of her novels. No matter! Need a Jane Austen finger puppet? Lego? Magnetic poetry set? Lingerie? Nameplate necklace? Plush book pillow? License plate frame? Bath bomb? Socks? Dog sweater? Whiskey glass? Tarot deck? Of course you do! And you’re in luck: What a time to be alive.

Around the Globe

Goucher College Special Collections & Archives, Alberta H. and Henry G. Burke Collection; via The Morgan Library & Museum

Austen’s novels have been translated into more than 40 languages, including Polish, Finnish, Chinese and Farsi. There are active chapters of the Jane Austen Society, her 21st-century fan club, throughout the world.

Playable Persuasions

Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

In Austen’s era, no afternoon tea was complete without a rousing round of whist, a trick-taking card game played in two teams of two. But should you not be up on your Regency amusements, you can find plenty of contemporary puzzles and games with which to fill a few pleasant hours, whether you’re piecing together her most beloved characters or using your cunning and wiles to land your very own Mr. Darcy.

#SoJaneAusten

The wild power of the internet means that many Austen moments have taken on lives of their own, from Colin Firth’s sopping wet shirt and Matthew Macfadyen’s flexing hand to Mr. Collins’s ode to superlative spuds and Mr. Knightley’s dramatic floor flop. The memes are fun, yes, but they also speak to the universality of Austen’s writing: More than two centuries after her books were published, the characters and stories she created are as relatable as ever.

Bonnets Fit for a Bennett

Peter Flude for The New York Times

For this summer’s Grand Regency Costumed Promenade in Bath, England — as well as the myriad picnics, balls, house parties, dinners, luncheons, teas and fetes that marked the anniversary — seamstresses, milliners, mantua makers and costume warehouses did a brisk business, attiring the faithful in authentic Regency finery. And that’s a commitment: A bespoke, historically accurate bonnet can easily run to hundreds of dollars.

Most Ardently, Jane

The Morgan Library & Museum

Austen was prolific correspondent, believed to have written thousands of letters in her lifetime, many to her sister, Cassandra. But in an act that has frustrated biographers for centuries, upon Jane’s death, Cassandra protected her sister’s privacy — and reputation? — by burning almost all of them, leaving only about 160 intact, many heavily redacted. But what survives is filled with pithy one-liners. To wit: “I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.”

Stage and Sensibility

Austen’s works have been adapted numerous times for the stage. Some plays (and musicals) hew closely to the original text, while others — such as Emily Breeze’s comedic riff on “Pride and Prejudice,” “Are the Bennet Girls OK?”, which is running at New York City’s West End Theater through Dec. 21 — use creative license to explore ideas of gender, romance and rage through a contemporary lens.

Austen 101

Tony Cenicola/The New York Times

Austen remains a reliable fount of academic scholarship; recent conference papers have focused on the author’s enduring global reach, the work’s relationship to modern intersectionality, digital humanities and “Jane Austen on the Cheap.” And as one professor told our colleague Sarah Lyall of the Austen amateur scholarship hive, “Woe betide the academic who doesn’t take them seriously.”