January 6, 2026
Unrivaled season two has officially taken off
The 3x3 league's sophomore season kicks off with three new clubs and major upgrades
Medley, Fla. — Unrivaled welcomed fans to its sophomore season in style. As the doors of the league’s home arena opened, “Outro” by M83 flowed out of speakers, multicolored lights flashed, and clips from the league’s inaugural season splashed onto video boards. Tip-off weekend was full of smiles and positive energy in everyone from the fans to the players, as Unrivaled once again showed how it thrives on creating a unique fan experience.
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As you step inside Unrivaled’s newly named venue, each player’s jersey was on display, lining the walls in the merchandise shop, which had plenty to choose from. Unrivaled kicked off the opening weekend of its second season on Jan. 2, with the official ribbon cutting to reveal Sephora Arena featuring food trucks, a live DJ and player appearances.
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New to Unrivaled
Unrivaled has many new and exciting additions and enhancements for its sophomore season.
Prior to the season tip-off, Unrivaled commissioner Micky Lawler and president Alex Bazzell addressed the media. Both alluded to how the league’s growth over one season allowed them to make changes that will benefit everyone, including fans, players and coaches.
Particularly, how the league surpassed its financial goals in their first season.
“We completed an oversubscribed Series B investment round … increasing Unrivaled’s valuation to $340 million,” Lawler told reporters.
Some of these upgrades include, but aren’t limited to, adding two new clubs (Hive BC and Breeze BC), adding a pool of development players, new player treatment options including hyperbaric oxygen chambers and message treatments, and a tour stop in Philadelphia.
Something that was emphasized by the players during and following last season was their dissatisfaction with having to play back-to-back games. The 2026 season will feature an additional fourth night of games, with the goal of eliminating back-to-back games entirely.
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On the facilities side, the league made visual and physical upgrades. With an additional 15,000 square feet of space for players, they have implemented a larger training room for the sports medicine team and added a third practice court. Last season, players also shared training and development coaches; now, each club will have their own staff.
Sephora Arena itself has seen a 25% increase in seating to a 1,000 seat capacity. This includes new seating behind player benches, so the venue atmosphere can be best captured for television audiences, and two elevated VIP spots behind the benches.
A few new features were added to specifically benefit the fans, including bolder jerseys and an away jersey for each club. Last season, the arena had baseline courtside and VIP club options, which have been moved to allow for more fans to be in attendance. Fans will also have more options for merchandise in-person and online, including jerseys for each individual player.
“We have expanded our in arena and online [merchandise] offering to our fans,” Lawler told reporters. “Part of that is our best performing line, which is ‘the future is Unrivaled’, which is connected to the NIL initiative. Last year, we didn’t expect as much demand as we had, and it was hard to keep up with that.”
The league is also continuing to maximize opportunities for online content creation and marketing. To do this, they plan to place three Samsung S25 phones along the court and capture the first 30 seconds of each second quarter, every single game. The footage from the Samsung phones will be also sent to the broadcast truck for use in television broadcasts.
With 75% of Unrivaled’s players already committed to play through 2028, the league has made it clear they are here to stay. Despite speculation about Unrivaled’s future, given the current WNBA and WNBPA CBA negotiations, they aren’t opposed to working with the WNBA in the future. Bazzell spoke on how Unrivaled’s focus is growing the women’s basketball ecosystem.
“I’m not going to speculate into what could happen down the road … everyone over there knows that our door is always open, and really our decision [making] is always going to be led by the fans and the players at the end of the day. So, that’s kind of where we sit in totality,” Bazell told reporters.
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Fan Fest fun
As you enter Unrivaled’s Fan Fest outside of the arena entrance, the league’s signature blue and purple covers the area. Fans in Unrivaled and women’s basketball merchandise packed the outdoor space, transforming it into a sea of rainbow.
Lawler calls the Fan Fest the ‘fan village’, citing its similarity to an Olympic village. The horizontal structure both shows off the pride Unrivaled fans have for the league, and gives the league another chance to celebrate its fans.
Fan Fest included activities like a club logo matching game and a photo booth, as well as food and drinks. Fans laughed and socialized as they prepared to experience the season tip-off.
Unrivaled also introduced its new drumline, whose music excited fans as they danced in unison and fans cheered along with them. As the season progresses, fans will continue to utilize the space and get a feel for what Unrivaled is all about.
Opening games
Opening weekend featured games between all eight clubs. Each club came to play, their competitiveness intensifying the already physical and fast style of 3×3 basketball.
Sephora Arena’s smaller capacity allows for fans to truly have an intimate experience and feel like they are part of the game. The stands were filled with many young fans and posters spread throughout the arena, including one that read “Everyone Watches Unrivaled”. The cheering and screaming of the fans vibrated the arena, especially during t-shirt tosses.
The first game featured the Mist BC versus the Hive BC. The Mist got off to a quick start, allowing them to separate themselves from the Hive.
Throughout the game, the Hive kept trying to crawl back into the game, but each time they cut the lead down, the Mist would go on a run. Mist guard Allisha Gray helped set the tone for the team, having 3×3 experience from her time with USA Basketball, but also as a returning Unrivaled player.
Despite the score separation, both teams played with a sense of urgency throughout the game. Breanna Stewart hit the game-winner for the Mist as fans got on their feet. Cheering quickly broke out, electrifying the arena.
“Yeah, I think it’s what I expected. It’s fast. It moves fast. You have to have a next play mentality and just keep going, roll with the punches,” Hive forward Monique Billings told reporters post-game. “What I didn’t know, that I know now, is you wish you had more time when you’re out there. You want to close that lead, and it’s like, the game’s already over. It’s just so quick. It happened so fast. I think as a team, we learned a lot today. Like coach said, we need to go back to the drawing board, watch film and just get better and get ready for Friday.”
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The second game featured the Vinyl BC versus the Laces BC. This game was also fast-paced and entertaining, allowing fans to really see the players and their competitiveness for what it is.
Vinyl guard Erica Wheeler and Laces guard Brittney Sykes were trash talking and trading baskets throughout the game. The two players recently played as teammates on the Seattle Storm this past WNBA season.
“We’ve been seeing each other since college,” Sykes told reporters with a laugh. “So it’s always been good banter, good competing between the two of us. And then, that one shot, I pulled up in transition, she was talking shit, so I’m just glad it went in.”
Game three was between the Lunar Owls BC and the reigning champion Rose BC. Prior to the game, the Rose were honored at center court for last season’s triumph. Large bouquets of red roses were lined up on a table sitting next to the podium holding the championship trophy.
Rose forward/center Azurá Stevens teared up as a video flashed on the video boards picturing the club’s journey to the championship. Smiles filled the inaugural champions faces as they stood side by side reflecting on the last season.
“It’s an honor, especially it’s the first season. It’s the first showing, something that has been really cool, that [they] built here in Florida,” Rose guard Chelsea Gray told reporters. “You always remember, [your] first championship, first moment in the league, so [it’s] really cool that a group was able to come together in a short span and do that, get that done.”
As the game began, the energy quickly shifted from lighthearted reminiscing to serious competition, as both clubs took the floor for tip-off. The Rose built up a large lead in the first half, putting them up more than 20 points.
The Lunar Owls came out strong in the second half, led by guard Marina Mabrey and forward Aaliayh Edwards, allowing them to cut the lead down to nearly 10 points.
Mabrey is known for her competitive fieriness on the court, and has learned to take on more of a leadership role after her most recent WNBA season with the Connecticut Sun. She is taking on a similar leadership role with the Lunar Owls, as forward Napheesa Collier will be out for the season. Collier is set to undergo surgery on both her ankles.
“Obviously, I’ve been around for awhile so I know what I’m doing, but I just think that it’s one thing to be losing, another thing to not let people punk you, laughing … So I think sometimes we need to do certain things to kind of get your team going and maybe send a message even when you are losing by a lot,” Mabrey told reporters.
Unfortunately, Edwards took a hard hit under the basket during the third quarter, causing her to exit the floor and not return for the remainder of the game. This loss changed the Lunar Owls energy significantly.
“We don’t have an update right now. Hopefully she’s alright. Hopefully we’ll find out in the next couple hours,” head coach DJ Sackmann told reporters when asked on the status of Edwards’ health.
Rose guard Chelsea Gray dazzled fans with eight assists, three steals, and 35 points, including a show-stopping game-winner. Gray calmly stepped up to the three-point line and drained the game’s final shot as fans jumped up in excitement.
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The final game of the day featured the Phantom BC and the fan-favorite Breeze BC. Fans filled the arena with versions of Breeze guard Paige Bueckers’ jersey, ranging from UConn to the Dallas Wings.
“[Unrivaled 3×3 basketball is] really competitive, it’s kind of what we expected to be in that regard, extremely physical,” Bueckers told reporters. “I think 3×3 is just a really fun brand of basketball, and to see where we’re growing as a team, that’s really exciting for this to be our first game … It’s just been really fun to grow with this team, to be under a new coaching staff, to meet new teammates, and to compete that way against the best women in the world.”
The game was a hard fought back-and-forth battle, as both teams seemed to be evenly matched. Phantom guard Kelsey Plum and Bueckers were a match-up that the fans seemed to enjoy. Ultimately, the Breeze pulled out a narrow single-digit win.
Despite the loss, Phantom’s first-time Unrivaled head coach Roneeka Hodges didn’t seem worried.
“Well, it didn’t go our way, and sometimes it happens, it was the first game. I’m just looking at it like [I’m] just getting information, getting more information about who we are and what we need to do moving forward to win basketball games,” Hodges told reporters regarding what her team will take from the loss.
Throughout all four games, smiles were glued to fans faces all around the arena. Unrivaled’s enthusiastic spirit squad may have been part of that, as they ran around the arena leading chants and popular sporting event games such as ‘name that tune’ and a free throw shooting challenge.
During, after and between each game, Unrivaled players walked around the concourse interacting with fans and signing autographs. One fan told The IX Basketball they were amazed by how normal interactions with players are, further emphasizing that uniquely intimate environment that the league has created.
All eight clubs will be back in action this upcoming weekend, as the league continues to showcase women’s basketball’s top talent.
Here is this weekend’s schedule (all times in ET). All games will be streaming on truTV and HBO Max. Friday’s games will also show on TNT.
Friday January 9
Vinyl BC vs Rose BC (7:30 p.m.)
Breeze BC vs Hive BC (8:45 p.m.)
Saturday January 10
Lunar Owls BC vs Phantom BC (7:30 p.m.)
Laces BC vs Mist BC (8:45 p.m.)
