5 days Ago By Jarrod Castillo
Paige Bueckers will be the recipient of millions after accepting an offer to join Unrivaled - and opportunity that Caitlin Clark turned down. Bueckers is widely projected to be the No. 1 selection in the 2025 WNBA Draft , with the Dallas Wings ultimately making the final choice.
The UConn star led the Huskies to a national championship, a fitting ending to a legendary collegiate career which saw her break down in tears before she makes the transition to the WNBA. However, while Bueckers was at UConn, she signed a name, image and likeness (NIL) deal with the 3x3 league, giving her equity in the league among other perks . Now that Bueckers is out of college and just waiting to be drafted, Unrivaled made the star guard's addition to the league clear.
On Sunday, ESPN reported that Bueckers will be signing a three-year deal with Unrivaled, with the star earning more than her entire WNBA rookie contract in just one year. Of note, one year of Unrivaled basketball is 10 weeks of play, while the WNBA season lasts around five to six months, depending on the team's playoff status. For context, the number one pick in this year's draft is expected to earn $78,831 in the first year and $80,408 in the second year.
The third year features a slight raise to $88,449 with the main bulk of the contract coming in the fourth year, where players are slated to make $100,510. In all, a rookie that was drafted in the top four will make $348,198, per Spotrac, as the first four draft picks will all make the same amount by the time their rookie contract is up. Although Unrivaled did not get Clark for its inaugural season, having a player of Bueckers' caliber join the league in the years to come can only yield more fruitful results for the new league.
Though the league was in its infancy, it reportedly earned more than $27 million in revenue , almost breaking even. For Unrivaled to almost break even is an impressive feat, considering each of its 36 players had an average salary of $200,000. The league also landed a media rights deal with TNT Sports and received major investment, landing several sponsors and endorsement deals with companies such as Sephora and Ally.
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99 a month and you can cancel anytime. Additionally, the league's merchandise sales helped bolster the profile of the league, as explained by CEO Alex Bazzell. We ended up doing I believe $1.
4 or $1.5 million in merchandise sales this year," Bazzell said, adding that the league is looking for more ways to multiply sales. "How do we double or triple that right away just by being more efficient?" he continued.
"Ticket revenue, we know we’re going to add seats to our venue. We want to remove the back panel area where players walk in that you’re going to see on TV, create more seating which increases our revenue from that standpoint." With Unrivaled set to challenge the WNBA in the coming years, Bueckers will be among the new league's biggest stars, especially after signing a new lucrative deal.
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