Unrivaled Viewership.

#1
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VolBall09

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#1
The league is down 52% compared to last season. A lot of games barely scratching 80,000 viewers.

Dead in the water before it ever got off the ground.

Interesting their founder keeps calling it “sustainable” when it quite clear hasn’t proven such.

I find 3x3 unwatchable for the most part. It just isn’t entertaining. The “full court” version in particular. At least half court is really fast paced and players pick each other up immediately. A lot of play in full court 3x3 is basically unguarded.
 
#3
#3
VolBall09 said:
The league is down 52% compared to last season. A lot of games barely scratching 80,000 viewers.

Dead in the water before it ever got off the ground.

Interesting their founder keeps calling it “sustainable” when it quite clear hasn’t proven such.

I find 3x3 unwatchable for the most part. It just isn’t entertaining. The “full court” version in particular. At least half court is really fast paced and players pick each other up immediately. A lot of play in full court 3x3 is basically unguarded.
Click to expand...
Which league?
 
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#5
#5
I somehow wasn't even aware that they were playing games now until someone posted a video here the other day. 😳 I still don't know where/when to see games because, evidently, I don't care enough to research it. 😳😳

I actually do want them to do well because it was a bold, exciting thing to do for women's sports, but it was from the start something I had trouble following regularly. 😕
 
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#7
#7
I really enjoy Unrivaled, it’s like if basketball snorted cocaine. I love the format, 3x3 on a full, but shortened court. I’ve never liked half court 3x3.

everything about this game is fast. Games last about a hour, halftime is brief. Hitting one free throw counts as 2 so stoppages go quickly. Play is very up and down and fun, especially if you like offense. It’s almost like watching a WNBA team scrimmaging in practice. The players are much more relaxed, though still competitive because a lot of money is involved in winning championships. But they just seem more laid-back less stressed and having way more fun. It’s also good for skill sharpening.

Im sure a big part of the low viewership is that the big three, Clark, Angel and Aja are not playing. But that’s one of the things I enjoy the most as the three who tend to suck all the air out
and whose fans cause the most fake drama are not present. All the rest of the league’s best players are there.

Games are on either tru-tv or tnt (which also explains the awful viewership) on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday night.
 
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#8
#8
Most fun team is Breeze, where they grouped the young stars, Rickea, Paige, Cam Brink, and Dom Malonga. Makes a Sparks fan want to cut their throat over what could have been bc they have been fantastic together. Noelle Quinn is their coach and surprisingly loving it and doing a great job.

Paige has been incredible, a much better pro than I ever thought she’d be. And is having so much fun. IMO she is a better player than CC. Much more athletic, in better shape, way better defender and a more versatile scorer.

Dom Malonga got the leagues first dunk the other night and because karma exists, it was off an assist by Rickea. When Dunkin Dom came into the league, Rickea joked how much she feared being on the wrong end of the first dunk. There was a running joke all year that Dom was going to posterize Rickea.

Rae Burrell is a player whose stock has soared in Unrivaled. Her motor is still running high. She plays for Vinyl and they’re mid.

There’s a one on one tournament in Feb thats really fun. In a week or so they’re playing in Philly for the leagues first ever road trip.
 
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#10
#10
glv98 said:

Not sure how they’re doing it bc viewership has been awful. I suspect it has to do with Alex Bassell’s deep ties with major, extremely rich NBA players
Click to expand...

Investor capital is part of the equation. Lots of start-up businesses (like Tesla) don't turn profits for a while but investors are betting on long term success.

Also, they signed some deep pocket sponsorship deals and are attuned to the new media environment. Younger fans aren't watching complete games but catching highlight clips that come across their TIk Tok feeds and the like.

As long as there is solid social media engagement,. the television ratings are secondary.

Now tanking ratings will hurt overall interest in the league, why watch a clip from a league no one cares about?

I am not saying all is peachy keen but they have a margin of financial error buffer given their set-up.

They are competing in a very crowded media universe with college basketball, the NFL, and NBA all in full swing.
 
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#11
#11
glv98 said:
I really enjoy Unrivaled, it’s like if basketball snorted cocaine. I love the format, 3x3 on a full, but shortened court. I’ve never liked half court 3x3.

everything about this game is fast. Games last about a hour, halftime is brief. Hitting one free throw counts as 2 so stoppages go quickly. Play is very up and down and fun, especially if you like offense. It’s almost like watching a WNBA team scrimmaging in practice. The players are much more relaxed, though still competitive because a lot of money is involved in winning championships. But they just seem more laid-back less stressed and having way more fun. It’s also good for skill sharpening.

Im sure a big part of the low viewership is that the big three, Clark, Angel and Aja are not playing. But that’s one of the things I enjoy the most as the three who tend to suck all the air out
and whose fans cause the most fake drama are not present. All the rest of the league’s best players are there.

Games are on either tru-tv or tnt (which also explains the awful viewership) on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday night.
Click to expand...
I actually enjoy the 3x3 league. I was really looking forward to Paige, Rickea, and Cam Brink playing together. The best part of the game is the fourth quarter. After the third, 11 points are added to the leaders score, and that number is what has to be reached to win the game. In other words, if one team leads by 5 points after 3, the leader will need 11 points to win, and the other has to make 16 points to win the game. What makes it really exciting is that there is no clock, meaning time will never run out until one of the teams reach that winning number. How many times have we seen a team make a great comeback only for the clock to runout. Not here, as the trailing team can win by just playing good defense and of course most outscore their opponent. Check it out, Friday-Monday, two games every night in that timespan.
 
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#12
#12
glv98 said:
Most fun team is Breeze, where they grouped the young stars, Rickea, Paige, Cam Brink, and Dom Malonga. Makes a Sparks fan want to cut their throat over what could have been bc they have been fantastic together. Noelle Quinn is their coach and surprisingly loving it and doing a great job.

Paige has been incredible, a much better pro than I ever thought she’d be. And is having so much fun. IMO she is a better player than CC. Much more athletic, in better shape, way better defender and a more versatile scorer.

Dom Malonga got the leagues first dunk the other night and because karma exists, it was off an assist by Rickea. When Dunkin Dom came into the league, Rickea joked how much she feared being on the wrong end of the first dunk. There was a running joke all year that Dom was going to posterize Rickea.

Rae Burrell is a player whose stock has soared in Unrivaled. Her motor is still running high. She plays for Vinyl and they’re mid.

There’s a one on one tournament in Feb thats really fun. In a week or so they’re playing in Philly for the leagues first ever road trip.
Click to expand...
The Breeze are so fun. Both good at basketball and fun on social media.
 
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#14
#14
glv98 said:
Games are on either tru-tv or tnt (which also explains the awful viewership) on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday night.
Click to expand...
Yep, the NBA fled from TNT even though the network gave their games first class coverage (best announcing teams, best half-time show etc.). TNT is a dinosaur in the age of streaming.

The NBA media deal left a programming void for TNT that Unrivaled filled (and the league probably gained a better media deal since TNT was desperate for b-ball oriented content).

Unfortunately, that currently leaves Unrivaled with first class seats on a sinking ship.
 
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#15
#15
stllvf said:
insufficient context
Click to expand...
What more do you need? Less than half the viewers.

They are propped up by investor cash and sponsorships.

Those aren’t donations though and investors eventually want a return. You cannot produce a return if you do not have viewers.

They are paying people salaries they cannot afford to pay long term. It’s a disaster waiting to happen.
 
#17
#17
knoxvol52 said:
Unrivaled has two matchups tonight on TNT going up against 2 top matchups of Mens College Basketball on ESPN around the same time...
Click to expand...
Big game for Breeze tonight against Laces, the top team. Breeze could tie for first with a win. However Rickea is listed as questionable for the game and that would probably eliminate the Breeze's chance to win if she can't go. Report says she has an upper extremity injur.y I think it may have happened when she got whacked by crazy Marina Mabry the last game.
 
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