Serena Williams introduces Maria Sharapova during the 2025 Induction Celebration weekend at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, on Aug. 23, 2025.
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Women’s 3-on-3 basketball league Unrivaled is now valued at $340 million after a new funding round that included tennis legend Serena Williams, the league announced Monday.
Williams’ Serena Ventures was part of a Series B funding round that was led by Bessemer Venture Partners and also included Warner Bros. Discovery and Alex Morgan’s Trybe Ventures. Unrivaled did not disclose the size of the individual contributions.
Unrivaled’s latest cash infusion means a dramatic rise in its valuation from just one year ago when the league was valued at $95 million, according to a person familiar with the league who spoke on the condition of anonymity about internal matters.
The investment comes as women’s sports have soared in both popularity and valuations in recent years.
“To add arguably the most iconic female athlete to play sports, I think it exemplifies who Unrivaled is not just with our players on the court, but the number of investors on our cap table who had been icons in their own lanes,” said Alex Bazzell, co-founder and president of Unrivaled.
Angel Reese, #5 of Rose, goes up for a shot against Napheesa Collier, #24 of the Lunar Owls, during the second half at Wayfair Arena in Medley, Florida, on Feb. 21, 2025.
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Other Unrivaled investors include high-profile names such as tennis legend Billie Jean King, NBA superstar Stephen Curry, tennis champion Coco Gauff and Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps.
Bessemer has previously invested in ticketing resale site StubHub, as well as streaming services BallerTV and Twitch. The venture firm sees Unrivaled as a blueprint for the next generation of sports leagues, according to Caty Rea, a vice president at Bessemer.
“We always look for category-defining businesses with generational tail winds and really audacious founders who kind of have that product hard to fit,” Rea said. “We felt like we found that with Unrivaled.”
Unrivaled was founded in 2023 and offers women’s professional basketball players a league that runs in the offseason of the WNBA. Previously, many players went abroad in the offseason for extra compensation.
The league says it offers women the highest average salary in professional women’s sports history and provides equity to players.
For comparison, the WNBA does not offer its players equity, and players are currently negotiating their collective bargaining agreement, which expires Oct. 31. One of the key issues being debated is an increase in player compensation. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told CNBC in July that the average WNBA team valuation has increased to about $260 million.
Bazzell said the new funding will be used to add more resources to the league’s facilities, for developmental efforts and to create additional awareness of the league as it heads into its second season.
“We’ve built a sustainable and sticky audience, both on television and certainly on social. So now we have to grow that footprint,” he said.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/08/serena-williams-unrivaled-investment-league-value.html
