Unrivaled saw solid viewership numbers for its opening night doubleheader, indicating the 3v3 pro women’s basketball league is off to a strong start. Keep scrolling for some major takeaways from Unrivaled’s early numbers.

It’s been a year since the NCAA extended its ESPN media rights partnership, which includes coverage of the women’s March Madness tournament. While women’s college hoops fans wanted it to have a separate media deal like the men’s, the tourney has still been able to make meaningful progress toward getting its athletes paid.

The College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship isn’t the only significant collegiate event on Monday — the inaugural Coretta Scott King Classic (CSKC), a first-of-its-kind women’s basketball doubleheader, will air on Fox ahead of CFP kickoff.

Yesterday, the WNBA’s Toronto Tempo announced Sephora Canada as the team’s first founding partner and official beauty partner. It’s a major step forward for sports newcomer Sephora — which recently signed a multiyear U.S. partnership with Unrivaled — as it quickly covers ground in women’s basketball, where the next generation of beauty shoppers is sitting courtside.

In a recent SB Nation interview, Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell confirmed the new 3v3 pro women’s basketball league boasts a salary pool exceeding $8M. That’s a $242K average salary for the league’s 33 players (and $222K if all 36 spots are filled), exceeding the WNBA’s current $214K max salary. This doesn’t consider player equity or revenue sharing, which is worth millions.

LSU basketball star and Puma athlete Flau’jae Johnson announced a player exclusive shoe deal on Friday, shortly after UConn phenom Paige Bueckers’ historic player edition shoe with Nike last week. These moves are the new normal in college basketball, where women are outperforming men in terms of NIL and shoe deals.

As discussed on yesterday’s episode of The GIST of It, the WNBA is hosting its first expansion draft since 2008 today as the Golden State Valkyries post up to join the league. With today’s draft seeing historic interest from media and sponsors, the W is primed for the big leagues.

The Players Era Festival — a new men’s college basketball tournament — may not include women’s teams (yet), but its payout structure highlights a unique workaround that allows student-athletes to earn financial rewards without technically violating NCAA rules.

Unrivaled — the new 3v3 pro women’s basketball league tipping off in January — is primed for success. As Front Office Sports recently highlighted, savvy leadership decisions and partnerships have positioned the league to profit as interested parties continue to sign on before ticket sales officially go live this week.

It seems every U.S. city wants in on the WNBA’s 16th franchise. As of yesterday, there’s one more contender: An Austin, Texas, bid led by former Houston Comets player and Shark Tank alumna Fran Harris.

On Friday, the Indiana Fever hired former Connecticut Sun head coach (HC) and former Fever player (and HC) Stephanie White. She fills one of seven recent HC vacancies as the league sees unprecedented turnover: Nearly 60% of last year’s coaches are no longer in the same role, the most for any WNBA hiring cycle in history.

ICYMI, Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark’s autographed memorabilia sold out in mere minutes last week — a sign that collectibles are just the latest space where the WNBA is making waves.