There is set to be a new addition to the list of highest paying women’s sport leagues, with a project that’s debuting in January 2025 anticipated to swoop in for top spot in its inaugural season.
A 3-on-3 US professional basketball league, titled ‘Unrivaled’, which is founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, announced this week that the starting salary for their players would begin in the six figure range.
Were this to transpire, it would be one of the highest paying women’s sport leagues in the world.
The pair also revealed that every player will also have an equity stake in the league itself.
Speaking with The Associated Press, Collier outlined how “compensation is a huge part of Unrivaled as a league and a business.”
“All the players in this first year will have equity in the league. For players to have a piece of the pie essentially to grow their generational wealth is something we’re really excited about,” she continued.
“It’s amazing, not only for the salaries to be similar or more than your WNBA salary, but to be able to build brand partnerships that can’t come into the W or the NBA,” Stewart added.
“It’s more than just an initial salary, but showing these companies who you are as a player.”
Such figures would stand in stark contrast to the WNBA itself, where the average base salary is about $130,000, although the top stars would be able to supplement that via brand deals, marketing arrangements and team bonuses to pass the $500,000 threshold.
Unrivaled is also unique in nature in that it will run for only eight weeks, with 30 players to be divided across six teams. The court dimensions will differ from the WNBA too, with it being only two thirds the size.
Further details as to the structure and rules are set to emerge in due course, as confirmed by Unrivaled President, Alex Bazzell.
Funded by stars across entertainment and sport such as Carmelo Anthony, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Michelle Wie West, Ashton Kutcher, Steve Nash and Geno Auriemma, it remains to be seen just how it will all play out.
But, with Unrivaled’s huge investment, where will it rank amongst other highest paying women’s sport leagues?
What are the highest paying women’s sport leagues?
According to research collated by Parity, a sports marketing and sponsorship platform focused on female athletes, golf, tennis, basketball (WNBA), and ice hockey are among those that currently rank in the highest paying women’s sport leagues.
Those are then followed by up and comers soccer, cricket, snow skiing, and pickleball, in an ever evolving landscape of women’s sports.
In 2023, women’s professional golf, in particular the LGPA, was the one to top the chart, although there does continue to be a gulf between the highest and lowest earners. Those players fortunate enough to be in the top 100 LPGA Prize Money Leaders collectively picked up over $74 million, while the average salary lies somewhere around $423,393.
Like every other sport, these figures can also be boosted through additional endorsements.
For example, Parity report that American superstar Nelly Korda came in at 10th on the highest-earning woman athlete list in her own right, earning $7.9 million thanks to her work on the course, as well as off of it through deals with Nike, TaylorMade and Goldman Sachs.
Tennis then is next up, although has in the past clinched number one on numerous occasions.
Even despite it’s jump from an average salary for female athletes of $283,635 in 2022 to $354,313 in 2023, it still lacks behind their male counterparts, who saw their average salary rise from $335,946 to $461,942 in 2023.
That said, world renowned player, Coco Gauff, was the highest-paid female athlete in 2023, earning a reported $23 million, $16 million of which was estimated to come from endorsements.
Six of her fellow tennis peers also joined her on on Sportico’s Top 10 list of highest-paid female athletes, including names such as Iga Swiatek, Emma Raducanu and Naomi Osaka.
Basketball’s WNBA then comes into the fold, with the average salary increasing to $107,340 in 2023 from $75,000 in 2022, with top players now amassing over $200,000 a year.
Nonetheless, WNBA do still tend to switch to overseas leagues (such as those in Czech Republic, Spain, and Turkey) in the offseason to supplement their income, a gap in the market that Unrivaled will certainly look to tap in to.
Elsewhere, ice hockey is also one of those that features amid the highest paying women’s sport leagues with the PWHL, backed by Billie Jean King, implementing new standards this year.
The compensation package that saw the former Premier Hockey Federation replaced means that players will now earn an average salary of $55,000, which is expected to grow further upon the future development of the league.
For more, see here.
