Coco Gauff is the latest athlete to invest in Unrivaled, the new 3-on-3 professional women’s basketball league co-founded by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier. Gauff, a 20-year-old U.S. tennis star, was the highest-paid female athlete in the world in 2024, earning just under million through on-court performances and another million through endorsements and sponsorships. Unrivaled’s […]
Coco Gauff is the latest athlete to invest in Unrivaled, the new 3-on-3 professional women’s basketball league co-founded by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier. Gauff, a 20-year-old U.S. tennis star, was the highest-paid female athlete in the world in 2024, earning just under million through on-court performances and another million through endorsements and sponsorships.
Unrivaled’s list of well-known athlete investors has now grown to include stars across a variety of sports, including:
“I’m thrilled to be joining Unrivaled as an investor,” Gauff said. “Basketball is one of my favorite sports, and the chance to support a league that’s redefining the game is exciting. I look forward to being part of this movement and continuing to help elevate women’s sports to new heights.”
Unrivaled is set to tip off next Friday, Jan. 17th in Miami, with 36 WNBA stars from across the league participating, a list that includes high-profile players like Sabrina Ionescu, Angel Reese, Breanna Stewart, Napheesa Collier, Brittney Griner, and dozens of others. TNT Sports and Unrivaled reached a multi-year media rights partnership to exclusively present live game coverage on TNT and truTV – with all games also being streamed on Max.
Richard ‘Rip’ Hamilton, former NBA All-Star and champion
Joe Ingles, 11-year NBA veteran and 5-time Olympian
Alex Morgan, former soccer player and Olympic gold medalist
Carmelo Anthony, former NBA All-Star and Olympic gold medalist
Geno Auriemma, University of Connecticut women’s basketball coach
Dawn Staley, South Carolina women’s basketball head coach
JuJu Watkins, USC women’s basketball guard
Michael Phelps, former swimmer and Olympic gold medalist
Outside of athletes, Unrivaled has several other high-profile investors, including:
The total salary pool for players is million, with the average salary coming in at 2,222. All inaugural players will also have own equity in the league. “We are really changing the outlook of the ecosystem holistically,” Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell told SB Nation. “You’re seeing more leagues bumping up their pay because that’s where the space is now. We’re proud to play a part in that growth of just the economics of these players being paid a lot of money to play basketball. That’s where we want to get to. It’s great to have brand deals, it’s great to have all this off-court stuff, but at the end of the day, we want to be able to pay them high salaries on the court.”
Federal lawmakers propose regulation for college NIL
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – Federal lawmakers are pushing to bring nationwide consistency to how college athletes profit from their name, image, and likeness — commonly known as NIL. Rep. Shomari Figures, who represents Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, introduced a bill in Congress this week aimed at creating clear national standards for student-athlete compensation, naming it […]
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – Federal lawmakers are pushing to bring nationwide consistency to how college athletes profit from their name, image, and likeness — commonly known as NIL.
Rep. Shomari Figures, who represents Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, introduced a bill in Congress this week aimed at creating clear national standards for student-athlete compensation, naming it the Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements (SCORE) Act.
“The environment and the landscape of college athletics have changed drastically over the past several years, especially since the Supreme Court decision that came out,” Figures said. “There was a huge need here to stabilize what was going on.”
The SCORE Act extends beyond paychecks. It includes provisions for career development, comprehensive medical care, and protections for athletes who are injured — efforts that Figures said are crucial to long-term success both on and off the field.
“Making sure that student-athletes are not just prepared to participate on the field or the court, but making sure they are there at the end of the day to receive degrees,” Figures said.
The bill also aims to level the playing field for colleges and universities nationwide, ensuring every athletic program operates under the same set of rules.
“It removes this landscape of what some have referred to as the Wild, Wild West of NIL,” Figures said. “It brings everything under … some very straightforward guidelines.”
The proposal has drawn bipartisan support. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a former college football coach, said smaller schools have been at a disadvantage in the current NIL environment.
“There are some teams that can’t afford to do that,” Tuberville said. “We want to make it fair for everybody.”
Figures said the bill is still a work in progress, but he remains optimistic.
“We’re hopeful to see some progress here,” he said. “There will still be some changes, some things that have to be further discussed. We want this bill to be the strongest it can be to provide the best protections for our student-athletes.”
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Federal lawmakers propose regulation for college NIL
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – Federal lawmakers are pushing to bring nationwide consistency to how college athletes profit from their name, image, and likeness — commonly known as NIL. Rep. Shomari Figures, who represents Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, introduced a bill in Congress this week aimed at creating clear national standards for student-athlete compensation, naming it […]
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – Federal lawmakers are pushing to bring nationwide consistency to how college athletes profit from their name, image, and likeness — commonly known as NIL.
Rep. Shomari Figures, who represents Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, introduced a bill in Congress this week aimed at creating clear national standards for student-athlete compensation, naming it the Student Compensation and Opportunity through Rights and Endorsements (SCORE) Act.
“The environment and the landscape of college athletics have changed drastically over the past several years, especially since the Supreme Court decision that came out,” Figures said. “There was a huge need here to stabilize what was going on.”
The SCORE Act extends beyond paychecks. It includes provisions for career development, comprehensive medical care, and protections for athletes who are injured — efforts that Figures said are crucial to long-term success both on and off the field.
“Making sure that student-athletes are not just prepared to participate on the field or the court, but making sure they are there at the end of the day to receive degrees,” Figures said.
The bill also aims to level the playing field for colleges and universities nationwide, ensuring every athletic program operates under the same set of rules.
“It removes this landscape of what some have referred to as the Wild, Wild West of NIL,” Figures said. “It brings everything under … some very straightforward guidelines.”
The proposal has drawn bipartisan support. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, a former college football coach, said smaller schools have been at a disadvantage in the current NIL environment.
“There are some teams that can’t afford to do that,” Tuberville said. “We want to make it fair for everybody.”
Figures said the bill is still a work in progress, but he remains optimistic.
“We’re hopeful to see some progress here,” he said. “There will still be some changes, some things that have to be further discussed. We want this bill to be the strongest it can be to provide the best protections for our student-athletes.”
College football analyst drops Miller Moss bombshell that hints at ACC Title run
Louisville football is beginning to become the nation’s dark horse to win the 2025 ACC Title. While Clemson and Miami are getting all the hype and praise, Jeff Brohm and his Cardinals have been flying under the radar until now. With the 2025 season quickly approaching, media outlets, college football analysts, and reporters are beginning […]
Louisville football is beginning to become the nation’s dark horse to win the 2025 ACC Title. While Clemson and Miami are getting all the hype and praise, Jeff Brohm and his Cardinals have been flying under the radar until now.
With the 2025 season quickly approaching, media outlets, college football analysts, and reporters are beginning to bring up the Cardinals’ squad. Everyone is starting to realize just how elite of a head coach Brohm is, and even though they travel to Miami and SMU, they have a favorable schedule.
The newest college football reporter to praise the Cardinals is David Pollack, a former ESPN analyst and member of College Gameday. The analyst didn’t just praise Brohm, but also commended their transfer portal additions, key returners, and their schedule, and even went on air to say they will return to the ACC Title game on his latest podcast.
Related: Louisville football’s superstar makes the Walter Camp pre-season All America team
Louisville football’s Miller Moss get high praise from David Pollack
Brohm is emerging as one of the best coaches in the nation. He recently made the Dodds Trophy Award Watch List, and with his stacked offense and key returners on defense, Pollack has valid points to think that Louisville has what it takes to contend for their first ACC Title.
The analyst was asked who the best transfer would be in the ACC, and in his buildup to pick Miller Moss over Miami’s Carson Beck, it was the best hype speech Louisville might have ever received.
““This is easy to me. I think Beck is going to kill it, but if you’re watching college football, and if you’ve watched Louisville and if you’ve watched Jeff Brohm, he’s a freaking superstar. The way he coaches the game. The way he feels the game. The way he can use misdirection. The way he can use pro-style concepts with spread concepts. Take any quarterback, and I mean any quarterback, I think he could win with any quarterback in this league. And, I just think, with him, with their running back who’s on my fantasy team, I think is going to absolutely destroy it.””
David Pollack
He then went on to pick the Cardinals’ incoming transfer from USC over Beck, who is regarded as one of the top quarterbacks in the nation. Picking Moss over Beck is quite a hot take, but it shouldn’t be one. Moss with Brohm’s offense and style of play should give Louisville a clear path to an ACC Title, and Pollack agrees.
“Miller Moss also showed me some swag last year, man, Pollack stated. “Like, he showed me, because he got the shiznik kicked out of him. That dude got absolutely destroyed. That offensive line was very un-good for. I think Miller Moss is going to come in and absolutely tear it up at Louisville.”
The Cardinals are turning into a top quarterback university and one for the underdogs. They aren’t bringing in 5-star or top 10 quarterbacks, but are bringing in quarterbacks whose programs have given up and thrown in the towel.
Everyone is familiar with Beck and what he brings. The potential of Moss with Brown, Caullin Lacy, and Chris Bell, along with Brohm, has fans and apparently Pollack extremely excited. This offense is stacked, and it has breakout potential. They have some tough games on their schedule, but if Brohm can develop Moss like he did with Tyler Shough, then this team has the chance to return to Charlotte.
Related: ESPN unveils ‘season-defining game’ that will make or break Louisville football’s season
For all the latest on Louisville football’s offseason and recruiting, stay tuned.
College sports agency rejecting some NIL deals with donor
The new agency in charge of regulating name, image, likeness deals in college sports sent a letter to schools Thursday saying it had rejected deals between players and donor-backed collectives formed over the past several years to funnel money to athletes or their schools. Those arrangements hold no “valid business purpose,” the memo said, and […]
The new agency in charge of regulating name, image, likeness deals in college sports sent a letter to schools Thursday saying it had rejected deals between players and donor-backed collectives formed over the past several years to funnel money to athletes or their schools.
Those arrangements hold no “valid business purpose,” the memo said, and don’t adhere to rules that call for outside NIL deals to be between players and companies that provide goods or services to the general public for profit.
The letter to Division I athletic directors could be the next step in shuttering today’s version of the collective, groups that are closely affiliated with schools and that, in the early days of NIL after July 2021, proved the most efficient way for schools to indirectly cut deals with players.
The new college sports agency is rejecting some athlete NIL deals with donor-backed collectives | Archives
The new agency in charge of regulating name, image, likeness deals in college sports sent a letter to schools Thursday saying it had rejected deals between players and donor-backed collectives formed over the past several years to funnel money to athletes or their schools. Those arrangements hold no “valid business purpose,” the memo said, and […]
The new agency in charge of regulating name, image, likeness deals in college sports sent a letter to schools Thursday saying it had rejected deals between players and donor-backed collectives formed over the past several years to funnel money to athletes or their schools.
Those arrangements hold no “valid business purpose,” the memo said, and don’t adhere to rules that call for outside NIL deals to be between players and companies that provide goods or services to the general public for profit.
The letter to Division I athletic directors could be the next step in shuttering today’s version of the collective, groups that are closely affiliated with schools and that, in the early days of NIL after July 2021, proved the most efficient way for schools to indirectly cut deals with players.
Since then, the landscape has changed yet again with the $2.8 billion House settlement that allows schools to pay the players directly as of July 1.
Already, collectives affiliated with Colorado, Alabama, Notre Dame, Georgia and others have announced they’re shutting down. Georgia, Ohio State and Illinois are among those that have announced plans with Learfield, a media and technology company with decades of licensing and other experience across college athletics, to help arrange NIL deals.
Outside deals between athlete and sponsor are still permitted, but any worth $600 or more have to be vetted by a clearinghouse called NIL Go that was established with the help of auditing giant Deloitte and run by the new College Sports Commission.
In its letter to the ADs, the CSC said more than 1,500 deals have been cleared since NIL Go launched on June 11, “ranging in value from three figures to seven figures.” More than 12,000 athletes and 1,100 institutional users have registered to use the system.
But the bulk of the letter explained that many deals could not be cleared because they did not conform to an NCAA rule that sets a “valid business purpose” standard for deals to be approved.
The letter explained that if a collective reaches a deal with an athlete to appear on behalf of the collective, which charges an admission fee, the standard is not met because the purpose of the event is to raise money to pay athletes, not to provide goods or services available to the general public for profit.
The same would apply to a deal an athlete makes to sell merchandise to raise money to pay that player because the purpose of “selling merchandise is to raise money to pay that student-athlete and potentially other student-athletes at a particular school or schools, which is not a valid business purpose” according to the NCAA rule.
Sports attorney Darren Heitner, who deals in NIL, said the guidance “could disproportionately burden collectives that are already committed to spending money on players for multiple years to come.”
“If a pattern of rejections results from collective deals submitted to Deloitte, it may invite legal scrutiny under antitrust principles,” he said.
On a separate track, some college sports leaders, including the NCAA, are seeking a limited form of antitrust protection from Congress.
The letter said a NIL deal could be approved if, for instance, the businesses paying the players had a broader purpose than simply acting as a collective. The letter uses a golf course or apparel company as examples.
“In other words, NIL collectives may act as marketing agencies that match student-athletes with businesses that have a valid business purpose and seek to use the student’s NIL to promote their businesses,” the letter said.
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The new college sports agency is rejecting some athlete NIL deals with donor-backed collectives
The new agency in charge of regulating name, image, likeness deals in college sports sent a letter to schools Thursday saying it had rejected deals between players and donor-backed collectives formed over the past several years to funnel money to athletes or their schools. Those arrangements hold no “valid business purpose,” the memo said, and […]
The new agency in charge of regulating name, image, likeness deals in college sports sent a letter to schools Thursday saying it had rejected deals between players and donor-backed collectives formed over the past several years to funnel money to athletes or their schools.
Those arrangements hold no “valid business purpose,” the memo said, and don’t adhere to rules that call for outside NIL deals to be between players and companies that provide goods or services to the general public for profit.
The letter to Division I athletic directors could be the next step in shuttering today’s version of the collective, groups that are closely affiliated with schools and that, in the early days of NIL after July 2021, proved the most efficient way for schools to indirectly cut deals with players.
Since then, the landscape has changed yet again with the $2.8 billion House settlement that allows schools to pay the players directly as of July 1.
Already, collectives affiliated with Colorado, Alabama, Notre Dame, Georgia and others have announced they’re shutting down. Georgia, Ohio State and Illinois are among those that have announced plans with Learfield, a media and technology company with decades of licensing and other experience across college athletics, to help arrange NIL deals.
Outside deals between athlete and sponsor are still permitted, but any worth $600 or more have to be vetted by a clearinghouse called NIL Go that was established with the help of auditing giant Deloitte and run by the new College Sports Commission.
In its letter to the ADs, the CSC said more than 1,500 deals have been cleared since NIL Go launched on June 11, “ranging in value from three figures to seven figures.” More than 12,000 athletes and 1,100 institutional users have registered to use the system.
Georgia’s Olivia Smoliga swims to a first-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle at the NCAA women’s swimming and diving championships at Georgia Tech, March 19, 2016, in Atlanta. Credit: AP/David Goldman
But the bulk of the letter explained that many deals could not be cleared because they did not conform to an NCAA rule that sets a “valid business purpose” standard for deals to be approved.
The letter explained that if a collective reaches a deal with an athlete to appear on behalf of the collective, which charges an admission fee, the standard is not met because the purpose of the event is to raise money to pay athletes, not to provide goods or services available to the general public for profit.
The same would apply to a deal an athlete makes to sell merchandise to raise money to pay that player because the purpose of “selling merchandise is to raise money to pay that student-athlete and potentially other student-athletes at a particular school or schools, which is not a valid business purpose” according to the NCAA rule.
Sports attorney Darren Heitner, who deals in NIL, said the guidance “could disproportionately burden collectives that are already committed to spending money on players for multiple years to come.”
Texas State takes the field against Louisiana Monroe during an NCAA football game, Oct. 14, 2023, in San Marcos Texas. Credit: AP
“If a pattern of rejections results from collective deals submitted to Deloitte, it may invite legal scrutiny under antitrust principles,” he said.
On a separate track, some college sports leaders, including the NCAA, are seeking a limited form of antitrust protection from Congress.
The letter said a NIL deal could be approved if, for instance, the businesses paying the players had a broader purpose than simply acting as a collective. The letter uses a golf course or apparel company as examples.
“In other words, NIL collectives may act as marketing agencies that match student-athletes with businesses that have a valid business purpose and seek to use the student’s NIL to promote their businesses,” the letter said.
