$1.5 million NIL-valued Paige Bueckers plans to use her platform to prevent WNBA athletes in Unrivaled from needing to go overseas

UConn star Paige Bueckers announced her NIL deal with Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart-owned Unrivaled basketball league. She was featured in multiple promotional videos.

According to On3, Bueckers has an NIL valuation of $1.5 million, which includes major deals with Nike and other market giants. Bueckers was asked what she felt about her role in the Unrivaled League.

"Just to be a part of something amazing like that, trying to get more eyes and use my platform to get people to watch, to tune in and continue to grow the game that way. I think it's going to be an amazing opportunity for women's basketball to continue to grow," she said.

Women's basketball doesn't generate enough revenue, leading to several players going overseas and continue playing instead of enjoying some free time in the offseason.

According to the Sporting News, the average salary in the WNBA is $147,745. Whereas, the average salary in the NBA is $11,910,649, which is nearly 81 times more than the WNBA's average. Therefore, one key element that Paige Bueckers highlighted was the players being compelled to go overseas and how Unrivaled is an opportunity to tackle that problem.

"It's an opportunity for them to play in the offseason, not have to go overseas, go to Miami, play some 3-on-3, have some fun," Bueckers added. "And also just getting more eyes and attention on women's basketball. And having these opportunities to continue to build a game is awesome."

Flau'Jae Johnson becomes second college athlete after Paige Bueckers to sign an NIL deal with Unrivaled

LSU Tigers guard Flau'Jae Johnson has also inked a NIL agreement with Unrivaled. The starting point guard is also a well-known rapper who has created several songs featuring famous artists such as Lil Wayne. Paige Bueckers also appeared in Unrivaled's announcement teaser for Flau'Jae Johnson's contract signing.

Having won an NCAA title and becoming a cultural icon in the rap industry, Flau'Jae Johnson built a following of over 1.9 million people just on Instagram alone. Both Bueckers and Johnson are restricted to merchandise marketing as they are still in college.

While the inaugural season of Unrivaled only features WNBA stars, Collier and Stewart, eventually plan to open up the league for any athlete, which could include college players.

Paige Bueckers and Flau'Jae Johnson with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert during WNBA All Star Game 2024 (Image via IG/@flaujae)

Therefore, once Bueckers and Johnson leave college, we will likely get to see them play in the Unrivaled League during the WNBA's offseason. As Unrivaled's schedule clashes with the NCAA season, we may not see star college talent in Unrivaled.

However, it may still be open to female players who didn't go to college or athletes who did not make their college teams.