Just seven months after the conclusion of its inaugural season, Unrivaled said it has been valued at $340 million.
This valuation comes at the close of a Series B investment round led by Bessemer Venture Partners and also includes investments from Serena Williams' venture capital company Serena Ventures, Warner Bros. Discovery and Trybe Ventures.
Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell said the valuation was negotiated with Bessemer Venture Partners.
This valuation and additional funding "expedite [Unrivaled's] growth strategy," Bazzell told ESPN. "Because we outperformed our revenue expectations in season one by almost doubling it, it allows us to move a bit quicker. ... It's become a three-year roadmap [instead of five]. In year two, we are really going to double down on the athletes."
Unrivaled will use some of the funds to increase the venue space it has in Miami -- adding 15,000 square feet for player facilities -- including a second practice court -- and 150 seats to the game arena.
The average salary of players will remain at six figures. Last season, players earned an estimated average salary of $222,222, and all received equity in the league. Moving forward, select athletes who join the league will also receive equity, but this will be decided on a case-by-case scenario as contracts are negotiated.
"They are largely majority shareholders," Bazzell said of the players. "They are going to reap the benefits of these growing valuations, not just, 'oh, congrats, good job,' and 'you'll get better resources.' Our whole brand ethos is coming into effect and improving itself in a short amount of time."
This round of funding also received investments from NBA players Trae Young, Franz Wagner and Moritz Wagner, sports executive Sam Rapoport and University of Maryland president Darryll J. Pines.
Investors for Unrivaled's inaugural season included Giannis Antetokounmpo, Carmelo Anthony, Stephen Curry, Geno Auriemma, Coco Gauff, Dawn Staley and Michael Phelps.
Unrivaled made approximately $30 million in revenue its first season, a league source told ESPN, which is double what league officials had projected. The league's multiyear media rights deal with TNT and its corporate sponsorships, which include Sephora, Ally and Under Armour, likely account for most of that number.
Unrivaled's front office members also said ticket and merchandise sales were strong.
After raising $35 million in funding through investors and funding seeds before the season tipped off, Unrivaled nearly broke even in its inaugural season and is projected to turn a profit in its second year, a source told ESPN.
The league averaged 221,000 viewers on TNT and truTV during its first season, with the championship game between the Rose and Vinyl drawing 364,000 viewers. Last season, the WNBA averaged at least 1 million viewers in a record 22 regular-season games on ESPN. WNBA games on ION averaged 670,000 viewers in 2024, up 133% from the previous season.