Since the start of it all, Unrivaled has never really felt like just any basketball league.
From player entrances and social content to all the fashion, branding and overall atmosphere surrounding game days, part of what makes Unrivaled stand out is their ability to make women’s basketball feel like an event, and everyone wants in.
Now, heading into its third season, the league is taking the experience on the road for a whole month.
Unrivaled recently announced Boston as their first stop on tour, bringing four clubs and two regular-season games to TD Garden on January 8th. If last season taught us anything, expanding Unrivaled outside of Miami could become one of the league’s biggest opportunities for growth.
We already got a glimpse into this last season.
Unrivaled’s first stop out of Miami was Philly, bringing more than 21,000 fans into Xfinity Mobile Arena and creating an atmosphere that showed a demand exists beyond the league’s home base. Later in the season, Unrivaled announced at the last minute that they were headed to Brooklyn for the semifinals and still sold out Barclays Center.
This time around, instead of the road games feeling like special occasions, they have become part of the plan.
And that matters beyond the physical fan attendance.
Ultimately, women’s basketball has become just as much about the culture and community as what happens on the court. Fans want the merch, the photos, the vibes. They want to see their favorite players walk into the arena and break down outfits. They want watch parties, take part in activations and have a reason to make an entire night, or weekend, out of a game. It all comes down to the experience.
Unrivaled seems to understand that incredibly well, and they have mastered how to have a ball, no pun intended.
Their intentionality goes deep, all the way down to the announcement rollout. Rather than easily releasing the list of cities and tickets at once, the league is revealing its destinations one at a time through their “Unrivaled on Tour with Ally” campaign, turning the schedule itself into something fans can follow and talk about.
Boston feels like the obvious place to start after last season’s response and the love New England has for their sporting teams. Plus, we just lost the Connecticut Sun, which was Boston’s closest WNBA team. But the cities that come next might be the most interesting part.
Personally, I’d love to see Unrivaled use the tour to test markets that have strong women’s basketball communities but don’t get this level of professional basketball access often, like Nashville, TN, or somewhere in the Carolinas. If Philadelphia and Brooklyn are any indication, there are plenty of fans ready to show up and show out!
After experiencing the first two seasons of Unrivaled firsthand, they are proving the concept works. Season 3 feels like it could be about finding out just how far we can take it.
And this time, Unrivaled is bringing the show to the fans.