Unrivaled League Doesn't Need Caitlin Clark Commitment For Massive Media Rights Deal
On Wednesday, the new Unrivaled Women's Basketball League announced their broadcast partnership with TNT Sports and TruTV, which, "will feature more than 45 primetime regular season matchups three nights a week across TNT Sports platforms, with twice-weekly games on TNT as the lead network on Mondays and Fridays and additional broadcasts on truTV on Saturdays," per a media release.
In addition to that massive broadcast announcement, the media release noted that TNT Sports will become an equity partner with the league, and have agreed to invest an undisclosed amount of money into Unrivaled.
While the exact amount of money TNT is investing hasn't been released, an intriguing report from insider Joe Pompliano provided what purports to be an accurate estimation.
Pompliano made an X post on Thursday that wrote of TNT's Unrivaled investment, "Sources tell me it's a six-year deal that could be worth more than $100 million."
Unrivaled, a new 3-on-3 women's basketball league, has signed an exclusive media rights deal with TNT.
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) October 18, 2024
• 45+ primetime games
• TNT Sports also invested in the league
Sources tell me it's a six-year deal that could be worth more than $100 million.
That's a MASSIVE number. pic.twitter.com/GRdvwS1PQC
And the intrigue doesn't end there.
Another X user responded to this initial report asking, "Joe do you think that number is also factoring Caitlin joining the league or no?"
It was reported yesterday that Unrivaled is currently trying its hardest to entice Fever superstar and global icon Caitlin Clark into joining the league, which would be vital in attracting attention and interest in the brand-new league.
Unrivaled is apparently even willing to occasionally set up shop in Clark's home state of Iowa to help convince her to come on board.
Pompliano responded to that fan's question by saying, "Adding CC certainly wouldn't hurt, but I'm told the deal is worth eight figures annually regardless".
Adding CC certainly wouldn't hurt, but I'm told the deal is worth eight figures annually regardless
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) October 18, 2024
TNT being willing to provide Unrivaled at least $10 million annually — with or without Clark's inclusion — is a true showing of faith in the new league.
Both fans and TNT will each have to wait until Unrivaled begins in January to get a good indication of whether that investment will be worthwhile.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.