$1.5 million NIL-valued Paige Bueckers plans to use her platform to prevent WNBA athletes in Unrivaled from needing to go overseas
UConn’s Paige Bueckers has had an NIL deal with Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart-owned Unrivaled Basketball league since August. The deal gives her ownership equity in a pro league, which is a first for a college athlete. But until she can join as a player, she’ll use her influence as a star with the seventh-ranked Huskies to promote the league that debus next month.
Bueckers, who also has a deal with Nike as part of an NIL valuation of $1.5 million (according to On3), talked about her role with the Unrivaled League on Saturday in an Instagram post from Paige Bueckers Updates.
"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," she said. "I think it's going to be an amazing opportunity for women's basketball to continue to grow."
According to 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 said. "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 inked a NIL agreement with Unrivaled as well. The starting point guard is a well-known rapper who has created several songs featuring famous artists such as Lil Wayne. Paige Bueckers appeared in Unrivaled's announcement teaser for 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.
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.
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.