Breanna Stewart reflects on Unrivaled breaking women's basketball attendance record: 'More than just hype'
Barclays Center in Brooklyn will play host to one of the fastest growing women’s sports leagues in the world, as Unrivaled, the three-on-three basketball league, plays their semifinals on Monday night.
Breanna Stewart is a fan favorite in the New York City borough, as the superstar plays for the New York Liberty during the WNBA season. But she co-founded this special league alongside fellow WNBA star Napheesa Collier, and they’re set to make history on Monday night.
The semifinals will be the first time Unrivaled will be played in an arena that houses a WNBA, and the second time ever it’s ventured outside its home base in Miami.
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The first time was quite historic, as Unrivaled made its first tour stop in Philadelphia last month, and what happened was an astonishing feat: 21,490 fans showed up for the highest-attended women’s basketball regular season game ever.
"We’re both just really proud of where this league started, honestly where it was before we even had a blueprint to where it is now," Stewart explained to Fox News Digital when asked if herself and Collier ever get a chance to reflect on how quickly this league has grown. "Knowing that we had a successful tour stop in Philly, where we were record-breaking crowds.
"It’s more than just hype what we have at Unrivaled. You’re really seeing the product through and through – what you get on the court and how players are treated off the court."
While the product is one fans clearly want to see, Unrivaled prides itself on keeping players in the United States during the WNBA offseason by offering the highest-average salaries in all of women’s team sports. It’s reported that an average $222,222 salary is what players are getting on top of another unique piece of this league – equity.
Unrivaled offers its players a piece of the league as well as the $350,000 prize pool for the midseason one-on-one tournament, which Collier won last year. She gave half of her $200,000 prize to her team’s staff members.
"It’s incredibly important," Stewart said about the big paydays for those playing in Unrivaled. "Having equity in a league that you’re playing in, knowing that literally we grow as the league grows, and vice versa. It makes players really want to be involved and invested from a year-round perspective. I think that what we’re most proud of is we have the highest-average salary in all of women’s sports league.
"We’re paying the players what they deserve, paying the players adequately and trying to make sure every year that’s going up a tremendous amount."
The game held at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia last month was not only an all-time attendance record for a pro women’s basketball regular season game, but also the biggest mark in a professional basketball game, both men’s and women’s.
The NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers also play at Xfinity Mobile Arena, and their previous high was 21,305 during a 1998 game against the Chicago Bulls – the last contest basketball legend Michael Jordan played in the city for his Bulls career.
It was even the most attended event of all-time at the arena, which was previously held by The Backstreet Boys "Into the Millennium" tour on Sept. 29, 1999 (21,424).
In short, momentum is an understatement for this league that is setting a new bar for women’s sports, especially in basketball, where Stewart and many others are hoping the WNBA and WNBPA can figure out a new collective bargaining agreement ahead of a pivotal 2026 campaign, which starts in May.
Before then, Stewart knows her Liberty fans will show up Monday night in Brooklyn, where the basketball capacity at Barclays Center is 17,732. Stewart’s Mist team is set to face the Breeze at 8:45 p.m., while the No. 1-seeded Phantom will face the Vinyl at 7:30 p.m.
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But Stewart isn’t just drinking any coffee to get her fix — she’s partnered with a brand that is perfect for the pro athlete she is.
Stewart has joined Throne SPORT COFFEE, becoming the first female athlete to partner with the brand that prides itself on being much more than just a coffee provider.
It just seems really natural and fitting for me," she told FOX Business in an exclusive interview about the partnership. "I think that being an athlete, being a mom, there’s so many reasons why we constantly need caffeine. But to have it in a healthy way, and also have the protein in it — every time I walk in the gym, I’m having one. I’m letting everyone know that not only am I drinking coffee, but I’m getting some positive protein benefit as well."
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