Unrivaled locked nine current college players to NIL deals ahead of the 2026 WNBA Draft, headlined by Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo and UConn freshman Sarah Strong. The league announced the cohort Thursday without disclosing individual contract values, though people familiar with the structure say the deals range from $50,000 to $150,000 and include equity kickers tied to franchise valuations at exit.
The full roster includes Hidalgo, Strong, USC forward JuJu Watkins, UCLA guard Kiki Rice, UConn guard Paige Bueckers, Texas forward Madison Booker, USC guard Kennedy Smith, Stanford guard Talana Lepolo, and Oklahoma guard Raegan Beers. All nine remain NCAA-eligible through at least the 2024-25 season. Unrivaled's deal structure allows players to collect NIL payments while competing collegiately, then transition to full league contracts upon draft declaration. The league plays its abbreviated season from January through March, a window designed to avoid overlap with the April WNBA Draft and May training camps.
The move extends Unrivaled's bet that it can function as both competitor and talent incubator for the WNBA. Co-founders Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart launched the league in 2024 with $35 million in Series A funding led by Alexis Ohanian's Seven Seven Six. The league pays professional players a minimum $220,000 base salary—more than triple the WNBA rookie scale—plus housing, equity, and revenue share from a broadcast deal with TNT Sports that guarantees 36 games across linear and Max streaming. Adding college stars to the NIL pipeline creates a secondary revenue stream: sponsor activation around players who still command college fanbases, then retention leverage once they turn pro.
The college cohort also gives Unrivaled negotiating weight with apparel partners and campus influencers. Hidalgo and Watkins alone combine for north of 2 million social followers, and both have existing NIL portfolios with Gatorade, Nike, and regional auto dealerships. Unrivaled can now bundle college reach with professional inventory when it renegotiates its TNT deal in 2026, the same year its first NIL class becomes draft-eligible. The league declined to comment on whether the contracts include right-of-first-refusal clauses for post-draft employment, though two agents said the equity component implies some expectation of future participation.
The timing also corners the WNBA's own NIL ambitions. The league has discussed launching a college ambassador program similar to the NBA's Basketball Africa League model, which signs draft prospects to consulting roles before their eligibility expires. Unrivaled's move effectively occupies that space first, and with better cash terms. A mid-tier WNBA NIL deal pays $25,000 to $40,000 for appearances and content; Unrivaled's floor is higher and the equity math is clearer. One athletic director at a Power Five program said his compliance office is now fielding calls from other startup leagues asking what Unrivaled filed and whether conference rules permit competing offers.
Watch how many of the nine declare early for the 2025 Draft versus returning for additional college seasons. Bueckers, a senior, is draft-eligible this spring but has not announced her decision. If she signs with Unrivaled as a professional rather than remaining under the NIL umbrella, it signals the league is willing to pay above-market to accelerate its roster. Also watch whether Unrivaled opens a second NIL tranche before the 2025-26 college season; the league has held preliminary conversations with 12 additional players, per a person briefed on the outreach.
The cleanest test of the model arrives in April 2026, when the first contracted class enters the WNBA Draft and Unrivaled either converts them to professional contracts or loses them to rival offers. The league has 18 months to prove the equity story holds, the schedule works, and the players prefer January 3x3 in Miami to overseas winter contracts in Turkey or Spain.
The takeaway
Unrivaled is building a college-to-pro pipeline with NIL contracts that pay more than WNBA deals and include equity, testing whether 3x3 can disintermediate the overseas grind.
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