Overview:
Professional athletes are increasingly stepping beyond traditional contracts to build and co-own the leagues they compete in. From women’s basketball to lacrosse and volleyball, new ownership models are reshaping how sports are financed, governed, and valued. This article examines the rise of athlete-led leagues, the capital fueling them, the risks involved, and what this shift signals for the future of professional sports.
Contributor: Darren Tredgold
By Presence News Editors
Professional athletes once had two basic options: play for someone else’s league, or retire and hope endorsement deals held up. That model is breaking down.
A new generation of athlete-founders is rewriting the rules of professional sports. Instead of trading labor for salaries alone, they are co-owning the leagues they compete in, taking equity stakes that could be worth millions if these ventures succeed. The shift signals a deeper transformation: athletes are no longer content to be talent. They want ownership.
Few examples illustrate this better than WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier.
From Dinner Conversation to a $340 Million Valuation
The idea began over dinner at Del Frisco’s steakhouse in New York City in early 2023. Stewart and Collier—former college teammates at UConn and now professional rivals—were pitched a simple but radical question by Collier’s husband, Alex Bazzell: what if the players owned the league?
Eighteen months later, that question became Unrivaled Basketball, a startup league valued at approximately $340 million following a Series B funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners. The league has raised $61 million from 44 investors, including prominent athletes such as Serena Williams, Stephen Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Coco Gauff.
What sets Unrivaled apart is its ownership structure. All 36 players in the inaugural season received equity stakes that vest over four years. They are not just employees—they are stakeholders.
In its first year, the league reportedly generated between $27 million and $30 million in revenue and came close to profitability. Average player salaries reached roughly $222,000 for an eight-week season, rivaling the WNBA’s maximum salary for a significantly shorter commitment.
Collier has been candid about why building something new mattered. “When people see you as a charity, they don’t care whether you make money or not,” she said. “They’re doing this for a good cause.”
The founders wanted their league judged as a business, not a cause. Early results suggest that strategy is resonating. Sponsors such as Samsung, Under Armour, Ally Financial, and Sephora—brands that historically kept their distance from women’s basketball—have signed on.
This Shift Goes Beyond Basketball
The player-ownership model is spreading across sports.
Former lacrosse star Paul Rabil launched the Premier Lacrosse League after failing to acquire Major League Lacrosse. Structured like a Silicon Valley startup, the PLL has raised between $118 million and $122 million from investors including The Chernin Group, Joe Tsai Sports, WWE, and 35V. When ESPN renewed its broadcast deal in 2025, it also took a minority equity stake.
“Our players have equity in the league,” Rabil has said. “They have the same type of stock options that I have.”
Athletes Unlimited has taken a different route. Founded by Jon Patricof and Jonathan Soros, it operates as a Public Benefit Corporation—the first U.S. professional sports league with that designation. While players do not receive equity, they share in long-term profits and hold board seats. The organization operates across softball, volleyball, lacrosse, and basketball and has raised roughly $30 million.
Meanwhile, League One Volleyball has raised $160 million, including a $100 million investment from Atwater Capital, to build a grassroots-to-professional pipeline serving tens of thousands of young athletes.
Why This Is Happening Now
Several forces converged to make athlete-owned leagues viable.
Private equity reshaped professional sports between 2020 and 2024, as major North American leagues opened ownership structures to institutional capital. Team valuations soared—NFL franchises now average more than $7 billion—pricing out traditional buyers while creating new partnership pathways for athletes.
Name, Image, and Likeness rules proved athletes could capture their commercial value. The NCAA’s 2021 policy shift, followed by the House v. NCAA settlement awarding approximately $2.8 billion in damages, underscored that athlete labor generates measurable economic returns.
Women’s sports also crossed a critical threshold. Global revenues surpassed $1 billion in 2024, with projections placing 2025 revenues above $2.5 billion. Commercial revenue has grown roughly 300 percent in three years, according to Deloitte.
At the same time, star athletes increasingly operate as entrepreneurs. LeBron James built the SpringHill Company, valued at approximately $725 million. Kevin Durant runs 35V, while Williams founded Serena Ventures, which invests heavily in underrepresented founders. The blueprint now exists.
For many players, the traditional grind also became untenable. Stewart has described entering the WNBA in 2016 and immediately cycling through domestic and overseas seasons to earn a living. Building new leagues offered not just upside, but sustainability.
Not Without Risk
The model is not guaranteed to succeed.
Star participation remains critical. Unrivaled’s second-season opener drew roughly 175,000 viewers, down from 312,000 the previous year. High-profile players including Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese, Sabrina Ionescu, and Jewell Loyd did not participate, and viewership reflected that absence.
Investor timelines also pose challenges. Venture capital typically seeks exits within a decade, while sports leagues often take generations to build durable fan bases. The NFL, founded in the 1920s, did not become a national powerhouse until the 1960s.
Established leagues are also pushing back. In September 2024, NFL owners voted to prohibit equity compensation for players, effectively blocking ownership stakes tied directly to contracts.
What Comes Next
The ultimate test for athlete-owned leagues will arrive when their founders retire. Stewart and Collier built credibility because they are the product. The business must now prove it can outlast their playing careers.
For investors, the open question is whether these ventures deliver venture-style exits or resemble traditional franchise appreciation. That answer will determine how much capital continues to flow into the space.
What is already clear is that athletes are no longer willing to be treated as charity cases. They are building businesses, demanding ownership, and inviting investors to judge them on performance—not sentiment.
The shift from supporting women’s sports to investing in women’s sports is more than a slogan. It marks a fundamental change in how professional athletics is built—and who gets to share in the value it creates.
Thank you to contributor Darren Tredgold for submitting this editorial piece.
Here’s a clickable source list you can include at the bottom of the article for verifiable reference. I’ve pulled published data and supplemental reporting where the direct articles weren’t accessible.
Sources
- Deloitte projected global women’s sports revenues to reach ~US$2.35 billion in 2025: https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/about/press-room/womens-elite-sports-exceed-expectations.html (Deloitte)
- Analysis of Unrivaled’s viewership decline tied to star absence: https://sports.yahoo.com/article/caitlin-clark-not-play-unrivaled-233105953.html (Yahoo Sports)
- Data on women’s elite sports revenue growth and projections: https://www.deloitte.com/uk/en/about/press-room/womens-elite-sports-revenues-to-surpass-us-dolar-two-point-three-five-billion-in-2025.html (Deloitte)
More at Presence News:
