UConn's Paige Bueckers signs NIL deal for ownership equity in new women's league Unrivaled

UConn Huskies star women’s basketball player Paige Bueckers has signed a unique new NIL deal with a new women’s basketball league called Unrivaled, per Shams Charania.

This NIL deal makes Bueckers the first NCAA athlete to receive ownership equity in a professional league. It also means that she’s expected to play in Unrivaled as well as in the WNBA once she makes the jump from UConn to professional basketball.

Paige Bueckers is one of the best women’s basketball players in the country and plays at one of the game’s marquee programs. That’s helped to also make her one of the more marketable players in college basketball, opening her up to a deal like this one with Unrivaled.

Bueckers has an On3 NIL Valuation of $1 million. That valuation comes from a proprietary algorithm that calculates roster value and NIL by using things like their performance, influence, exposure, and deal data. She is also 19th in the On3 NIL 100 and second among the College Women’s Basketball NIL Rank.

This deal with Unrivaled is far from the only one for Bueckers. In fact, she has numerous deals, including with StockX, CeraVe Skincare, and Taco Bell among more than a dozen known NIL deals. Given her 2.8 million followers across social media, it’s not a surprise she’s become a major name in the NIL landscape.

Going into the 2024-25 season, Paige Bueckers is expected to be one of the best players in all of college basketball and should help lead the UConn Huskies deep into the Women’s NCAA Tournament. From there, most people expect her to become a high WNBA Draft pick.

It’s not uncommon for women’s basketball players to play in multiple leagues professionally. That includes some of the sport’s biggest names. Kelsey Plum, for instance, has played multiple professional seasons in Türkiye. So, for Paige Bueckers to play in Unrivaled and the WNBA isn’t entirely unfounded.

Unrivaled describes itself as “a league built in collaboration with the biggest stars in women’s basketball,” and is set to begin play in January of 2025. At that point, Bueckers will still be in college at UConn. The league has already announced several major names are going to be playing in the league, including Kelsey Plum, Angel Reese, and Breanna Stewart. For her part, Stewart, alongside Napheesa Collier, founded the league.

Uniquely, Unrivaled is set to be a three-on-three professional league, rather than a traditional five-on-five game. There will be six teams in the league, with five players on each roster.

All 30 initial players in Unrivaled are set to receive ownership equity in the league.