Sports · Friday, 28 August 2026

01 Briefing what happened

The players own 30% of a $650m league. They were handed that share when it was worth nothing.

Sports 1 min 43 sources

Unrivaled doubled its valuation to $650m in a year, and the players hold about a third of it. They got that share in 2023, when a share of the league was worth nothing.

$650m

what the league is now valued at

up from $340m in September 2025 [2]

30%

the players' share of the company

worth close to $200m between them [2][5]

550%

rise in the player share pool

since the league was founded in 2023 [1][2]

$1bn

value of the top WNBA club

the Golden State Valkyries, the only one above Unrivaled [5]

The lead story — what happened

Unrivaled, a three-on-three women's basketball league, closed a funding round valuing it at $650m. [1][3]
That is nearly double the $340m the league was valued at in September 2025. [2]
The players hold about 30% of the company. Their combined stake is worth close to $200m. [2][5]
The league says the players are its largest single group of shareholders. [1][4]
Every player was offered shares when they signed. About 95% took them. [2]
The ones who declined asked for more cash instead, and were paid it. [2]
The shares vest over four years, the way a startup's do. Leave early and the rest is forfeited. [2]
Sabrina Ionescu played only the first season. She keeps what had vested and the league can buy her out. [2]
The league guaranteed six-figure salaries at launch, when the WNBA minimum was under $70,000. [2]
Only one WNBA club, the Golden State Valkyries at $1bn, is now valued higher than the whole league. [5]
The $650m is the league's own estimate, not a price anyone paid for the whole thing. [4]
Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart founded it in 2023. Collier's husband, Alex Bazzell, runs it. [1][3]
Ten Pillars Sports Fund, backed by the University of California's investment office, led the round. [1][3]
Season three tips off in January on TNT, with four times as many games away from Miami. [4][6]

What is pushing on this

Money chasing women's sport High↑

the round was oversubscribed past its $100m target [1]

Player bargaining power Building↑

a rival winter league now exists, and the players own it [2]

Distance from cash Building→

the $200m is a paper figure the league set itself [4]

Room left to give away Easing↓

each new round makes the next share more expensive to hand out [1][2]

Who is involved

Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart — WNBA stars who founded the league in 2023 Alex Bazzell — chief executive, and Collier's husband Ten Pillars Sports Fund — led the round, backed by the University of California The 36 first-season players — all received a stake; it now vests over four years The WNBA — the summer employer whose stars play here in winter

How it unfolded

2023 Collier and Stewart found the league and offer every player shares [1][2]
Season 1 all 36 signed players receive a stake [2]
Sep 2025 a funding round values the league at $340m [2]
This week a new round values it at $650m; the player pool reaches $200m [1][2]
January season three, with four times as many games outside Miami [6]

Where this points

Watch whether any player is allowed to sell a stake, because until one does the $200m is a number the league wrote down rather than money anyone has been paid. [4]

The rest of the day

21 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

02
Tampa approves a $2.3bn ballpark

Tampa's city council voted 4-3 to approve a new Tampa Bay Rays stadium including $967m of tax money, ending a two-decade search. [7][8]

Why it matters — The city's own share is $80m, about 3% of the budget; the county votes on the rest the next day. [7][9]
03
NFL owners ratify a record $9.6bn sale

Owners voted unanimously to approve the sale of the Seattle Seahawks to Vinod and Neeru Khosla for $9.612bn, from the estate of Paul Allen. [10][11]

Why it matters — It is the highest price ever paid for an NFL club, and every rival owner voted for it. [10][11]
04
MLB players reject the free-agency plan

Owners proposed reworking when players reach free agency, alongside a hard salary cap. The union called it an artificial window that would cut player leverage. [12]

Why it matters — The current labour deal expires on 1 December and a lockout is expected then. [12][14] Owners say a cap would steady rosters. [12]
05
Timberwolves sold again at $4.5bn

Marc Lore is selling his control stake in the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx to Marc Stad at a $4.5bn valuation, 14 months after buying it. [15][16]

Why it matters — Alex Rodriguez stays as governor of the Lynx; the deal still needs NBA approval. [15][16]
06
Over £2bn spent in the English window

Premier League clubs have spent over £2bn this summer with a week left. Aston Villa alone banked a €132.6m trading profit. [17][18] Liverpool's pursuit of Bradley Barcola is the window's dominant saga. [19]

Why it matters — Villa were fined €22.5m by UEFA in June for breaching its squad-cost rule, so the selling is not optional. [18]
07
UEFA moves against FIFA's president

In a US federal court filing, UEFA accused Gianni Infantino of promoting a fraudulently off-market price when trying to sell a fifth of FIFA's commercial arm for $4.2bn. [20]

Why it matters — European football's governing body says the price was never tested by an independent valuer or an open auction. [20]
08
Eligibility now depends on your state

The 10th Circuit stayed a nationwide order letting former college players return for a fifth year. Players can still win the same right in individual state courts. [21][24]

Why it matters — The Big Ten then became the first conference to ban NFL players returning outright, so the answer differs by state and by league. [22][23]
09
About 1,200 NFL players cut on Sunday

All 32 clubs must trim to 53 players by 6pm ET Sunday, a day earlier in the week than in recent years. [25]

Why it matters — The league also scrapped the Pro Bowl entirely; its television audience had fallen away and players said they did not want to play it. [25][26]
10
NHL hunts a 33rd team before its rights talks

The NHL could award a franchise to Austin or Houston by year end, after agreeing a $2bn expansion fee with Daniel Friedkin's group. [27][28]

Why it matters — The fee is about three times what Seattle paid in 2021, and a bigger television footprint strengthens the league's next media deal. [27]
11
Sky's ITV deal reaches British football

Sky's parent Comcast is buying ITV's broadcasting arm for £1.6bn, which analysts say lets Sky put selected matches on free channels. [29][30]

Why it matters — England's cricket board is planning more free-to-air packages from 2029, and ITV is interested in the Hundred. [30]
12
Canada's women's league lands $30m

London investment firm APEX will put up to $30m into the Northern Super League, on top of the $5.45m the Canadian government pledged last year. [31]

Why it matters — The NWSL added two teams this season and England's top women's league grew to 14, so the money is not an isolated bet. [31]
13
Boston Legacy exiled to Rhode Island

Boston Legacy will play its entire 2027 NWSL season at a 10,500-seat ground in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, because its own stadium is still being built. [32]

Why it matters — A new club with investors and players can still be stopped by the one thing money cannot hurry, which is construction. [32]
14
Buss brothers buy into the Padres

Joey and Jesse Buss are taking a stake of roughly 5% in the San Diego Padres, which sold last week at a record $3.9bn for a baseball club. [33][34]

Why it matters — They ran the Lakers until their family sold control, and now hold a minority stake plus an advisory board seat. [33][34]
15
College sport's agents answer to nobody

NIL agents representing college athletes need no certification and face no fee cap, unlike the 3% ceiling the NFL players' union imposes. [35]

Why it matters — One agency founder describes the whole business in a word: discretionary. There is no union and no governing body. [35]
16
Where an athlete signs decides the tax

College athletes are taxed as independent contractors, owing 15.3% self-employment tax plus state rates that run from zero to 13.3%. [36]

Why it matters — Arkansas has already exempted this income from state tax, which turns a tax code into a recruiting pitch. [36]
17
FIFA bans Argentina trio; the AFA will sue

Leandro Paredes was banned for 10 matches over the World Cup final brawl, with Nahuel Molina given seven and Thiago Almada one. [37]

Why it matters — Argentina's federation was fined $110,000 and says it will take legal action against the punishments. [37][38]
18
New women's baseball league sued for its books

A WPBL investor and board member asked Delaware's Court of Chancery to force the league to hand over records, three weeks after it launched. [39]

Why it matters — The filing alleges undisclosed family links among insiders and money paid to an entity owned by the chief executive. [39]
19
Twickenham's £660m plan meets the neighbours

Public objections to letting the England rugby ground hold concerts on up to 15 days a year ran 456 against to 240 in favour. [40]

Why it matters — Local councillors want the union to fund the transport and road impact; the decision comes in October. [40]
20
World Cup host claims $3.5bn of impact

The New York and New Jersey host committee says its eight matches generated $3.5bn across the region, from a report it commissioned. [41]

Why it matters — The figure excludes ticket money, which went to FIFA along with a 15% cut of resales. [41]
21
Visa delays hit the college pipeline

Firms that place foreign athletes at US colleges, charging $3,900 to $10,000 a head, spent July waiting on embassies that had stopped scheduling student visa appointments. [42]

Why it matters — One firm alone has about 350 clients, mostly tennis and soccer players, placed from Division I down to NAIA. [42]
22
Seven MLB clubs now sell prediction markets

Kalshi signed sponsorships with the Braves, Red Sox, Dodgers, Padres and Giants, joining the Mets and Yankees who had deals with rivals. [43]

Why it matters — It is happening while Congress presses for tighter rules and New York sues the industry. [43]

02 Lesson why it matters

The share was cheap to give away because it was worth nothing yet

Ownership in something new costs almost nothing to hand over, and by the time it is worth having, there is none spare to give.

The twist

The share was not a reward for what the players did. It was handed over before they did it, because that was the only moment it was cheap enough to hand over.

How it works

A new venture has no money and no proof
So it pays partly in shares, which cost it nothing today
The people paid that way then make it work
Their work is what turns the shares into money
By then the shares are expensive and there are none spare
So everyone who arrives later is paid in cash only

Where you've seen this

Early staff at a startup

options are handed out freely while the company is still a rumour

New towns

land is given away when nobody wants to live there

Founding a club or a union

the first members get a say that later members have to buy

Film and book deals

a slice of the takings costs nothing to promise before anyone has seen it

The catch

Most shares handed out this way end up worth nothing, and we only hear about the ones that did not. Here the $650m is the league's own estimate, and no player has sold a share.

And the whole of it

Most of us work inside something we do not own a piece of. The piece was handed out before we arrived, when nobody could tell it would be worth anything. From the inside it never looks like a decision anyone made.

03 Lab your turn

Cash or a piece

Rehearse being offered a share in something unproven, and feel what the timing of the offer was worth.

04 Truth what's really going on

What is really going on

A league too new to outbid anyone for players paid them in shares instead, and the shares only became the story once other people started buying them. [1][2]

Why it works on us — A valuation is one round number, and one round number reads as a settled fact rather than what it is, which is an estimate the seller made. [4]

Who gains

Unrivaled's first-season players — They were handed shares in 2023, when the league was a plan; the pool they share is up 550% since. [1][2]
Ten Pillars Sports Fund and the University of California's investment office — They bought into a league whose players forfeit unvested shares if they leave, which is unusually sticky labour. [2]
The estate of Paul Allen — The Seahawks sale turns a holding of nearly three decades into $9.612bn of cash. [10][11]
Kalshi — Five more Major League Baseball clubs signed it as a sponsor while several states are still suing the industry. [43]
Aston Villa's accounts — A €132.6m trading profit is what keeps the club inside UEFA's squad-cost rule after June's fine. [18]

Who pays

The Unrivaled players who chose cash — They were paid more up front and hold none of the $200m the share pool is now said to be worth. [2]
Hillsborough County taxpayers — The county carries $796m of the ballpark against the city's $80m, and voted the morning after the headlines. [9][7]
About 1,200 NFL players — All 32 clubs must cut to 53 by Sunday evening, a day earlier in the week than usual. [25]
Boston Legacy's supporters — The club will play its whole 2027 season in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, because its Boston ground is unfinished. [32]
Foreign athletes who paid for placement — They paid firms $3,900 to $10,000 each, then waited on embassies that had stopped scheduling student visa appointments. [42]

What nobody knows yet

Open questions from across today’s stories — ours included.

01

What Unrivaled is actually worth.

The Athletic notes the $650m is an estimate made by the league itself. [4] Forbes, Sportico and Front Office Sports all report it flatly as the valuation. [1][2][3] No player has sold a share, so no outside price exists.
02

How many Unrivaled players actually hold shares.

The chief executive would not give a number, saying only that all 36 first-season signings got a stake and at least 95% of players hold something. [2]
03

How big the league's rosters were last season.

Forbes says eight clubs and 54 players. [1] CBS Sports says eight teams and 48 players, not counting the developmental pool. [5] Neither figure has been corrected.
04

What the public will really pay for the Rays ballpark.

ESPN reports $967m in tax money. [8] Front Office Sports had the two jurisdictions contributing up to $876m, itself cut from a targeted $976m. [9] The county had not voted when the city did. [7]
05

Whether Major League Baseball plays in 2027.

The commissioner says the league is planning on it. [14] The union has rejected both the salary cap and the free-agency rework built on it, and the labour deal expires in December. [12][13]
06

Which former college players can go back.

The nationwide order is stayed, so it now turns on individual state courts and on each conference's own rule. The Big Ten has banned NFL returns outright. [21][22][24]
07

Whether UEFA's accusation against Gianni Infantino goes anywhere.

The claim of a fraudulently off-market price sits in a US civil filing. FIFA and the fund named in it, Thrive Eternal, have not commented. [20]
08

What the World Cup did for New York and New Jersey.

The $3.5bn figure comes from a report the host committee itself commissioned, and it excludes ticket money, which went to FIFA. [41]

05 Hope carry this

Three years ago a share of this league was worth nothing, and the players took it anyway. They were right, and the rest of sport is now watching how it was done.