A Pro League Paying College Athletes? Unrivaled Is Thinking Outside The Nil Box

Flau’jae Johnson has ever loved a imagination board. “I get each nan cutouts that I want,” she says. “I’m like, This is what I want my life to look like.” Now successful her elder play astatine LSU, preparing for master hoops, Johnson has ne'er had much choices of conscionable what to trim and paste onto her board. 

Her chap apical players whitethorn not each beryllium readying their careers successful rather nan aforesaid way. But they’re each sharing successful nan aforesaid emotion of anticipation arsenic nan assemblage hoops play kicks disconnected this week. They’re watching arsenic nan WNBA rides a awesome maturation activity and negotiates a caller corporate bargaining agreement. They’re weighing nan opportunity presented by Unrivaled, nan three-on-three convention founded by WNBA players Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, which began play during nan W offseason past January and has since announced description and a caller information of finance to bring its valuation to $340 million. They’re looking astatine really champion to person their NIL deals into ongoing master sponsorships. In short, they’re figuring retired really they will navigate a world that did not beryllium erstwhile they entered college.

The changing futures of this group whitethorn beryllium nan champion measurement to measurement nan maturation of women’s basketball. Most who entered assemblage astatine nan dawn of NIL successful 2021 aliases ’22 were made to judge that their spotlight and marketability would ne'er beryllium greater than it was nether nan NCAA. The master futures that followed could beryllium expected to impact debased salary and constricted choices. But that has changed enormously complete nan years they person spent successful college. 

The truth that players for illustration Johnson person ne'er earlier had these types of opportunities suggests that she has nan correct thought pinch her imagination board. A five-year scheme is not useful successful an situation wherever things alteration truthful quickly. Older pros tin still beryllium adjuvant resources, but their ain careers don’t precisely service arsenic useful examples. They ne'er had these choices. And if immoderate dream feels excessively lofty for nan imagination committee now, Johnson’s procreation mightiness only person to hold a fewer years. “You’ve sewage to create your ain blueprint,” says Johnson, who has been successful nationalist commercials for brands from Powerade to Samsung to Experian and is besides a rapper signed to Roc Nation. “There’s nary model … I consciousness for illustration we’re much truthful nan exemplary that group will follow.” 

The contours of that shifting move were captured astir intelligibly complete a play acme held this summer. More than a twelve of nan champion players successful women’s assemblage hoops descended connected nan Unrivaled convention field successful Miami. Each had signed a woody that would person been difficult to explicate conscionable a fewer years ago.

As nan NCAA’s meaning of amateurism has shifted complete nan past decade, location is 1 portion of nan conception that has remained untouched, not to mention comparatively unquestioned: College athletes tin motion tons of contracts to beryllium paid tons of money for tons of different activities. But they still cannot motion a statement pinch a pro sports convention involving salary (or promises of early pay) for their diversion skill. In that past clause, however, Unrivaled saw an opportunity. A pro convention cannot salary assemblage hoops players to play basketball. But it could effort paying them for being themselves. 

So this summertime brought news that Unrivaled had signed NIL deals done nan extremity of nan 2025–26 assemblage play with 14 of nan champion players successful NCAA women’s basketball. There was nary committedness for players to subordinate nan league. Instead, nan deals centered connected nan play acme successful August, wherever nan players donned Unrivaled merch, joined accomplishment improvement sessions, participated successful group bonding activities and took photographs and filmed videos. It was acquainted worldly for players utilized to handling sponsorship deals and marque activations. Except present nan marque successful mobility was a convention successful which they mightiness yet play.

It felt caller connected respective levels. Unrivaled had not existed erstwhile galore of these players enrolled successful college. Let unsocial nan conception that women’s hoops mightiness prolong different home convention that was not conscionable operational, but besides charismatic capable to investors and flush capable pinch rate to actively tribunal players.

“We’re successful a unsocial position wherever we tin person that connective insubstantial pinch assemblage athletes and conscionable build nan rapport early pinch them,” says Unrivaled wide head Clare Duwelius. “That was benignant of nan attraction for america arsenic we reached retired to different agents and players to spot if they’d beryllium willing successful passing nan baton to nan adjacent generation.”

Unrivaled activity primitively decided connected a database of 14 assemblage players to which it would widen these NIL offers. The dream was to get 10 to opportunity “yes.” All 14 did.

Many of nan players described nan woody arsenic evident for them. They cognize they person choices correct now. And they want to support them open. “It’s unbelievable, nan magnitude of things that you tin do now,” says UCLA All-American elder halfway Lauren Betts.

That’s strikingly different from nan careers these players had imagined for themselves arsenic girls. “Growing up, I ever talked astir wanting to play successful nan W,” Betts says. “And I retrieve my parents telling me, ‘Well, you tin dream that you could play successful nan W forever, but you person to make a surviving arsenic well, and you mightiness person to spell play overseas.’ ” That had ever been nan modular successful women’s basketball. Players made arsenic overmuch arsenic 10 aliases 15 times a WNBA net playing during nan wintertime successful countries for illustration Russia, Turkey and China. It has been conscionable a decade since Diana Taurasi’s Russian squad paid her $1.5 cardinal to beryllium retired nan WNBA play and play exclusively overseas, a astir intolerable fig to garbage erstwhile her WNBA net was conscionable nether what was past nan convention maximum of $107,000. The master hoops aspirations of an full procreation were shaped by stories for illustration that one. 

But nan champion assemblage players coming find themselves pinch a very different outlook. The WNBA is apt to spot awesome net increases nether a caller corporate bargaining agreement: One reported convention connection group nan supermax astatine $850,000 and nan seasoned minimum astatine astir $300,000. That would much than triple nan erstwhile and quadruple nan latter, pinch akin increases expected for rookie contracts, too. (The WNBA and WNBPA reached a 30-day hold connected nan existent CBA shortly earlier it was owed to expire past week. Negotiations connected a caller statement are framed by nan 11-year, $2.2 cardinal media authorities woody nan convention signed successful July 2024.) And while a caller statement whitethorn travel pinch updates to nan prioritization clause—which requires WNBA players competing successful offseason leagues to study for nan commencement of training campy aliases beryllium suspended for nan season—there is much prime than ever astir those offseason leagues. 

Unrivaled was founded partially to relieve nan strain that players knowledgeable going overseas each winter: It offers a shorter play that starts later and finishes earlier than astir world leagues, giving players a longer break without nan accent of overseas travel. Unrivaled debuted pinch an mean subordinate net of astir $220,000—more than double nan mean past twelvemonth successful nan WNBA. (Paige Bueckers, nan W’s 2025 No. 1 pick, signed an early type of an Unrivaled NIL woody giving her equity successful nan convention while she was still successful college. Upon turning pro, she signed a three-year woody to play successful Unrivaled, wherever she will gain much successful her first twelvemonth than successful each 4 seasons of her WNBA rookie contract. Johnson signed a akin equity woody past December.) And yet different home convention pinch a complementary schedule now exists successful Athletes Unlimited. If players agelong felt for illustration they scarcely had 1 viable pathway to a career, they now consciousness for illustration they person nan state to prime from different options successful charting their own.

“You can’t really look astatine group up of you, because it was a small different for them,” says UConn postgraduate student defender Azzi Fudd. “But you’re ever being grateful for them and giving them their flowers and thanking them whenever you can, because without them, nary of this would beryllium imaginable for us.”

There is state successful choice. Players tin spend to beryllium much selective astir nan opportunities they prosecute and nan deals they make. By nan clip they move pro, they person spent years navigating marque deals, getting much comfortable asserting themselves and figuring retired really to build nan kinds of careers they want.

“Everything’s a learning opportunity,” Fudd says. “So if thing happened successful this sprout that I didn’t like—O.K., cool. Next clip I cognize what to inquire for, I cognize what not to inquire for.”

And they do not consciousness rather truthful constrained by clip unit arsenic immoderate of their predecessors did. The connection successful women’s hoops had been: There will ne'er beryllium a level for you arsenic large arsenic nan 1 you will person successful college. A stronger assemblage for pro hoops, and much lucrative opportunities to spell on pinch them, person changed that dynamic.

“It’s not conscionable nan years successful assemblage that we person to make money,” says UCLA elder defender Kiki Rice. “It’s aft that. And I deliberation that’s what we each consciousness for illustration we deserve.” 

Their careers person already looked different than immoderate that came earlier them. And they’re conscionable good pinch that. Says Johnson pinch a grin, “I ever opportunity I was calved astatine nan correct time.”

More College Basketball connected Sports Illustrated