Tomorrow, the Unrivaled basketball league, which will contain many of the best female basketball players in the world, will start playing seven weeks’ worth of condensed 3-on-3 basketball in Miami, Fla.
In one month, Women’s Professional Lacrosse, which will contain many of the best female lacrosse players in the world, will start playing a week or more of Sixes lacrosse in Springfield, Va.
There are many contrasts between these two women’s sports promotions. Each have developed team identities and colors: the Mist, the New York Charging, the Vinyl, and the Boston Guard.
The best of the best are in the leagues: Charlotte North and Izzy Scane in WLL, and Brittney Griner and Angel Reese in Unrivaled. In addition, these two leagues have a “women leading women” theme, as former U.S. national teamer Rachel DeCecco have a hand in the WLL’s administration and branding, and Unrivaled was started by Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier.
But if you’ll notice, the pool of players — the labor being tapped for these two leagues — is somewhat small. The six rosters of Unlimited comprise 36 players. The four rosters of the WLL are as yet unknown; only a handful of committed players were revealed in the league unveiling two months ago.
Too, the sites of competition that these two leagues are starting from are a modest scale. Unrivaled will be held in the Wayfair Arena in Miami, which seats about 850 people. The WLL’s arena, the St. James Field House, seats about 1,000.
Sure, each of these competitions has a serious amount of financial backing. But I think they will look an awful lot different in the near future — not the least of which will be moving into professional arenas as well as playing full-court or full-field.
That’s for the future, though.