Napheesa Collier's husband bullish about Unrivaled success after banking $27 million in first year

Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart's 3x3 basketball league Unrivaled has enjoyed considerable success this year. They went in strong on their first 36 WNBA players and acquired names like Angel Reese, Sabrina Ionescu and Aliyah Boston to play for the league in addition to Collier and Stewart.

The new league is now aiming to achieve even greater heights, and management is bullish about its future growth. On Sunday, Front Office Sports published an article in which the Unrivaled executives expressed their thoughts on the league's success and talked about their aspirations for the future.

According to FOS, the 3x3 basketball league had 221,000 viewers on average, including the regular season and the playoffs. Napheesa Collier's husband Alex Bazzell, the league's president, said the project had also made a lot in merchandise sales.

"We ended up doing, I believe, $1.4 or $1.5 million in merchandise sales this year," Bazzell told FOS. "How do we double or triple that right away just by being more efficient? Ticket revenue; we know we’re going to add seats to our venue."

However, Unrivaled's major earning sources were the lucrative media deal with TNT and sponsorships. According to FOS, the league generated $27 million in revenue in its first season and plans to increase that number further.

"We almost broke even in the first year," Unrivaled commissioner Mickey Lawler told FOS. "We know there’s more that we can do."

There are also talks of hitting the road and scheduling games in two more cities, but concrete decisions have yet to be made on that front.

Napheesa Collier believes the WNBPA is in "great position" heading into CBA talks

The WNBPA and its players are in a difficult spot right now. The league saw a meteoric rise in its popularity last year with the arrival of Caitlin Clark and players from her draft class. However, the players have expressed their desire to get a slice of the pie.

The WNBA players' union opted out of the collective bargaining agreement in October last year. Napheesa Collier appeared on the Mar. 25 episode of "First Take," where she expressed her belief in the players' association.

"I think we're in a great position," Collier said. "The sport's just exploding. You saw it with the viewership in WNBA last year and the Unrivaled this year. People are tuning in, and so I think we are in a really great position where we have all the leverage." (2:58)

Napheesa Collier's confidence is rightly rooted as the league did see a major rise in viewership and the players are to be credited for that. If the WNBA doesn't agree to the players' union's demands, the league could face a lockout.