Platform is Unrivaled. [Platforms & Personas]

Hey, it’s Arlesha!

Welcome to the second installment of Champion Takes’ thematic newsletter series “Platforms and Personas”. In this series, I highlight how Talent who build and design Platforms create sustainable value for themselves and the brands and properties who partner with them. 

I define a “Platform” as an ecosystem where a talent or brand’s unique identity, messaging, and value propositions come together to drive sustainable growth through various pillars. It’s an ecosystem with ancillary extensions and pillars that generate revenue and create extended market impact–creating more impact than leveraging persona alone.

In this issue, I’m talking about Platform in the context of one of the most innovative movements & models in the sports industry today…one that's shifting the paradigms of women’s sports as we know it: Unrivaled. 

Let’s get into this one.

Unrivaled Understood Its Assignment

I think we can all agree that Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 women’s basketball league, co-founded by WNBA All-Stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, has successfully placed its stake on the court of women’s basketball business. The highlights of the inaugural season include:

-Impressive Viewership: Averaging 221,000 viewers on TNT and truTV during its regular season and two-day postseason. The championship game between Team Rose and Team Vinyl peaked at 385,000 viewers.

-Sold Out Crowds: Tickets were sold out throughout the season, generating ticket sales surpassing seven figures. 

-Star Power Rosters: The league’s teams featured notable WNBA players such as WNBA Champion & Olympic gold medalist Sabrina Ionescu and Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese. As well as collegiate NIL ambassadors such as UConn women’s basketball champion Paige Bueckers.

-Bags Secured: Impressive investor list inclusive of Coco Gauf, Stephen Curry, Ashton Kutcher, Carmelo Anthony, Megan Rapinoe, Steve Nash and others.

The Unrivaled team understood the assignment for its inaugural year. But what truly caught my attention was the league’s innovative showcasing of Platform thinking. While Platform is typically showcased through an individual athlete or talent (such as “Steph Curry as referenced in Platform & Personas: The Fundamentals”), the Unrivaled league showcases the ingredients of Platform in various facets and pillars and the benefits of when Talent build Platform.

Not all platforms are built the same and they’re not one-size-fits-all. Unrivaled is charting its own course, one defined by strategic alignment, cultural relevance, and real momentum. 

Here’s a look at the pillars driving its early success:

1. Strategic Positioning

When it comes to designing a Platform’s brand ethos, it’s about establishing its place in the market or industry through strategic positioning. Unrivaled positioned its brand identity and value proposition as a league of the best of the best. This positioning serves as the anchor for all other ancillary elements mentioned below….

2. A Collective of Superstar Personas 

Personas in this case are the individual athletes, Breanna and Napheesa, who collaborated to form this league.

In addition, we see the inclusion of a collective of superstar pro athletes + collegiate players who lent their platforms, relevance and resonance in exchange for equity to force-multiply the “best of the best” value proposition of the league.

The legendary talent inclusions didn’t stop on the court; the league extended this proposition onto other ancillary areas such as its media talent with the inclusion of star sideline reporter Taylor Rooks and WNBA legend Lisa Leslie as a color analyst, for example. 

This is a benefit of building for Platform–it offers the force multiplication of value for the talent who owns the platform (Breanna and Napheesa) In Unrivaled’s case—individual personas and their likenesses combine to multiply the overall value of the platform– “upping the bag” for valuation for investment, revenue generation opportunities & media. Which is a perfect segway….

3. Revenue-Generating Extensions

As defined before, A Talent Platform is an ecosystem with ancillary extensions that generate value and revenue. 

-Media Deal: The league striked a multi-years media rights deal with Warner Bros Discovery (reported at 100 Million) , with games broadcasted on TNT, TruTV and Max with WBD also investing in the league.

-Sponsorships: The start-up league kicked off its brand affiliations in a strong fashion with Ally Financial as its founding partner. Additional sponsors included: Samsung, State Farm, Wilson, Under Armour, Coca-Cola brands Body Armour/Sprite, Miller Lite–and my personal favorite–Sephora as its exclusive beauty partner.

-Merchandise: What’s a league without swag for the consumer? It captured $1.5 million in merchandise sales after securing its WNBPA licensing deal mid-season.

Each of these revenue-generating extensions powers and fuels the ecosystem.

4. Leverage & Engagement

In its first year, the startup league generated over $27 million in revenue; it’s a strong signal that Unrivaled isn’t just gaining traction, it’s gaining leverage. With early momentum, strategic investors, and growing fan engagement, the league has already laid the groundwork for long-term scalability.

One of the most powerful aspects of platform thinking is this that: every win becomes a tool for the next one. Audience engagement, media reach, and cultural relevance aren’t isolated metrics—they’re levers. When integrated into a broader ecosystem, they can be activated again and again to unlock new layers of growth.

That’s how platforms become sustainable: not by chasing single wins, but by stacking and reinvesting momentum into future value creation.

This is an important aspect of platform building…strategic elements like investor interest, fan engagement, and ecosystem design don’t just create value, they create leverage that can be reinvested for compounding growth.

Platform Multiplies Individual Effort

Let’s contextualize this idea through the lens of brand sponsorship, using Sephora’s integration with Unrivaled as an example—from the branded makeup lounge and player entry tunnel to dedicated seating sections within the arena.

Although Sephora has not yet announced formal partnerships with individual WNBA athletes at the time of publishing, Unrivaled’s platform has already delivered a powerful return: value aggregation. Beyond its roster of athletes, one of Unrivaled’s most compelling strengths is its ability to offer brands a network of high-impact advertising and media touchpoints that amplify their mission. For Sephora, this meant the opportunity to spotlight athletes beyond the game—highlighting them through beauty and lifestyle moments like the glam room and pregame walk-ins.

Unrivaled acts as a value multiplier by enabling brands to tap into an ecosystem where individual athlete identity (personas) and brand ethos can naturally intersect. Rather than relying on one-off endorsements, Sephora benefitted from a platform that brings together multiple sources of relevance—creating an environment where value isn’t added, it’s aggregated and amplified. That’s the power of platform thinking.

It’s a strong start for the league indeed. As Unrivaled grows, it has the chance to set a new standard where platform isn’t just a model but a movement to point to for athletes who are designing for impact, ownership, and long-term value.