Three stories to know this week in women's sports
1. Get ready for the splashy, big name 3v3 league Unrivaled π
This week the Unrivaled basketball league held a high-profile media day β with brands like Sephora backing the new league, and hype was high β
Here's what you need to know for games starting next week.
What is Unrivaled
The new 3-on-3 women's basketball league was started by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart as a U.S. alternative to playing overseas during the WNBA off-season. They've attracted big name players and big name investors (Coco Gauff just invested!) with promises of exciting games & record-breaking salaries.
There will be six teams of six players. The season starts in Miami in January and lasts nine weeks, with the top four teams making playoffs. Games follow the 3v3 Olympics rules with shortened time clocks and quick play.
There will also be a 1v1 tournament Feb. 10-14 to determine the best one-on-one player in the world, with a $250,000 prize!
WHO: 36 of the best players in the world β including Brenna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, Brittney Griner, Angel Reese
WHEN: Games start Jan. 17
WATCH: The league will be broadcast on TNT |
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(Photo: Unrivaled Media Day)
2. Ski jump winner gets shampoo, men's winner gets 3,000 Swiss francs
At a German ski jumping classic competition last week, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the men's winner of the qualifying round went home with 3,000 Swiss francs. What did the woman's qualifying round winner, Selina Freitag, get? A bag with shower gel, shampoo, and four towels.
This was also one of the first times the women have had a mini-tour, with two competitions over a week in Germany & Austria β while the men have four competitions in the same week. The women's winner of the tour, Nika Prevc, got 115,000 kronor for her victory. The men's winner got 1.2 million kronor. (So more.)
The discrepancy has caused a controversy in Germany, where ski jumping is big. But it's not the first time the sport of ski jumping has struggled with equality. Women's ski jumping wasn't even added to the Olympics until 2014, because it was deemed too dangerous. And, at the big men's event this past weekend, sport officials confirmed the goal is to have men and women jumping the same hill by the 2025/26 season. (Right now, their events are separate and the women compete on smaller hills and with fewer competitions.)
Fingers crossed for these badass women! β·οΈ
3. What's happening with college sports this year? π€
Good question.
If the final approval is granted in April, then the NCAA settlement on revenue-sharing with student-athletes will go into effect immediately, with payments from DI schools expected to athletes in the 2025/26 school year. Schools can pay students up to $22 million (and all the Power conference schools are expected to participate), and $2.8 billion in backpay will go to athletes who have already graduated.
How will the money be distributed? It's not yet clear. While football currently brings in about 70% of the big schools' revenue, because of TV rights deals, conference realignments, and overhead expenses, judges may rule that revenue has to be more evenly distributed or comply with Title IX. Additionally, schools are already fundraising to pay for this revenue-sharing.
Plus!
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Part of the settlement also comes with regulations from the NCAA on NIL deals and putting some limits on pay-to-play. (Goodbye collectives?)
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New roster limits in smaller sports have left a lot of uncertainty as students find themselves without a place to land. This could potentially hit Olympic sports especially hard.
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The head of the track & field and cross-country college coaches association, for example, gave a speech urging the sport to rethink how it can offer value or find itself left behind.
READ: We talked previously with an expert in the business of college sports and economics about how we can reimagine a model for the future |
