Why The New WNBPA Partnership With Unrivaled Changes WNBA Labor Talks
While the WNBA Players’ Association and Unrivaled, the new women’s league which began play in January, have many things in common — for instance, Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, who serve on the WNBPA Executive Committee, are the co-founders of Unrivaled — the two organizations haven’t formed a more concrete partnership. Until now.
On Thursday, the two organizations are set to announce a new deal with OneTeam Partners to expand the economic cooperation between them, I can report, in ways that will reverberate beyond the current moment for the players. But make no mistake: this matters in the current context, too, with the WNBPA engaged in negotiations over a new collective bargaining agreement with the WNBA.
The breakdown of the new agreement looks like this: the WNBPA will give long-term sponsorship and licensing rights to Unrivaled, with the WNBPA receiving financial compensation from Unrivaled in return for it. Most concretely, this concerns trading card and memorabilia rights, which OneTeam will operate, an initial partnership with The Realest to sell game-used, authenticated items the first item of business.
“Partnering with the WNBPA and OneTeam is a game-changing opportunity that greatly benefits our extraordinary fans and players,” Unrivaled commissioner Mickey Lawler said Thursday. "Working hand-in-hand will allow us to continue to build on the tremendous support we have experienced in Unrivaled’s inaugural season and also on the impressive upward trajectory of women’s basketball. We are always stronger together; and, creating an environment to super-serve our fans is naturally positive for the athletes and for the sport overall.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/howardmegdal/2025/02/27/the-new-wnbpa-partnership-with-unrivaled-changes-the-wnba-landscape/