Paige Bueckers is poised for a significant payday from the Unrivaled league.
Bueckers is signing a three-year contract with Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 league co-founded by the Liberty’s Breanna Stewart, that is set to pay her more in the first season than her entire four-year WNBA rookie contract, according to ESPN.
The WNBA’s rookie scale was set to pay the No. 1 overall pick $78,831 in 2025.
Unrivaled generated $27 million in revenue during its recently completed inaugural season, which featured six teams competing over 10 weeks.
Asked Monday about the pay disparity in Bueckers’ deal, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said she was “really proud of what they’re doing there” at Unrivaled.
“Of course, we’ll have, by the time we get done with [expanding to] 16 teams, over 190 players we need to take care of,” Engelbert said before the WNBA Draft at The Shed in Midtown Manhattan.
“I know it’s a lot easier to do 30 [players] in one spot.”
Bueckers, who just punctuated a decorated collegiate career by leading UConn to a national championship, is a hyper-efficient guard who averaged 19.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game as a senior.
She won numerous national awards as a freshman in 2021, including Naismith College Player of the Year.
Bueckers had previously signed an NIL contract with Unrivaled that gave her equity in the league but is yet to play in it.
“We obviously travel the world and the U.S. and have a big platform, so I think what the WNBA offers is a huge platform to our players around their corporate partners,” Engelbert said.
Stewart and Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier created Unrivaled in an effort to grow women’s basketball and provide a high-income, competitive domestic platform for players to participate in during WNBA offseasons.
Unrivaled reportedly received $35 million in funding before its launch.
“It’s amazing, not only for the salaries to be similar or more than your WNBA salary, but to be able to build brand partnerships that can’t come into the W or the NBA,” Stewart told The Associated Press last year.
“It’s more than just an initial salary, but showing these companies who you are as a player.”
Bueckers is the latest big-name star to join Unrivaled. Stewart, Collier, Sabrina Ionescu, Angel Reese, Natasha Cloud, Courtney Vandersloot and Brittney Griner were among those who competed in year one.
Reese, Brittany Sykes, Chelsea Gray, Azura Stevens, Kahleah Copper and Lexie Hull made up the Rose team that won the first-ever Unrivaled championship.
Adding Bueckers — who is already one of her sport’s top stars — was a priority for Unrivaled, according to ESPN, which reports that the league also aspires to sign Caitlin Clark and A’ja Wilson.
“We’ve built an incredible foundation,” Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell said after the season.
“Based on what the viewership is, now it’s our job to — how do we grow that a bit? We’re very proud about where we stand in the women’s sports ecosystem of viewership. And what I’ve said all along is we’re not going to go out there and do WNBA numbers in Year 1.”