Unrivaled made history in its inaugural tour stop of the three-on-three women’s basketball league’s second season, drawing the highest attendance figure ever for a women’s basketball regular-season game.
The 21,490 fans in attendance Friday night watched the Phantom top the Breeze 71-68 and the Lunar Owls beat the Rose 85-75 at the home of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers.
It was also the largest attended event in the history of Philadelphia’s Xfinity Mobile Arena.
“It was unbelievable,” league co-founder Napheesa Collier said. “You could feel the love tonight. I’m so glad we came here. I just can’t explain it more than I was just so filled up with joy. It was amazing.”
Philadelphia will be getting a WNBA expansion franchise in 2030 but hasn’t been home to professional women’s basketball since the ABL’s Philadelphia Rage in 1998. A community event and clinic Thursday kicked off two days of festivities.
Several of Unrivaled’s investors, including Wanda Sykes, Dawn Staley and Geno Auriemma, have ties to Philadelphia, and the game drew the likes of basketball legend Dawn Staley, former Eagles standout Jason Kelce and his wife, Kylie, comedian Leslie Jones, “Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts, and Sixers guard Kyle Lowry.
Marina Mabrey, who posted a league-record 47 points for Lunar Owls, said it was “awesome” to see the fan support in Philadelphia.
“I don’t know what I expected, but I didn’t realize there was going to be so much hype around it and so much support,” Mabrey said. “I think going to other cities would be great, so long as it’s feasible for everybody putting in all the work to get us here.”
It was the first time Unrivaled — with an eight-week season that runs from early January through early March — has played outside its home base of Sephora Arena in Medley, Fla. The league intends to keep its home base in Florida but expand its tour schedule to more cities starting in 2027, according to Collier.
“We want to go to numerous cities, making sure that we’re serving the fans, but also not certainly changing the entire DNA of who we are,” Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell said. “Players don’t want to be traveling every single game, but you like going to a different atmosphere and feeling the energy of a city and getting out there. To have a packed house tonight, (for) every player, it’s what you want to do. You want to play in front of a sold-out crowd.”
Next up for Unrivaled is a return to its home base in the Miami area with Hive facing Mist and Laces playing Vinyl.
–Field Level Media
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