Unrivaled

When Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty steps onto the court on Friday night, she will not have a thunderous crowd of 19,000 fans behind her, as she often does when she tips off at Barclays Center.Instead, she will be playing in front of just 850 fans on a soundstage near Miami.But organizers of Unrivaled, a new 3-on-3 women’s basketball league, are banking that thousands more will tune in from home, drawn by a condensed format, some of the best players in the world and a made-for-TV approach that aims to bring viewers close to the action.“The content piece and the TV piece of this is huge for us,” said Napheesa Collier, a forward for the Minnesota Lynx who founded the league with Stewart. “We want to make it the most interactive, fun and exciting experience we can for people.”Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty, right, is one of six players on the Mist, one of the Unrivaled league’s six teams.Unrivaled LeagueIn addition to packaging the game in a digestible format, the league is also firmly centered around its athletes, providing equity stakes, child care, on-site therapeutic services and, for many players, a higher salary for the eight-week competition than they will make in the five-month Women’s National Basketball Association season.“Success can be a bunch of different things, but most importantly it’s making sure the player experience was the best one possible,” Stewart said. She added, “The red carpet is rolled out.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More