Growing up as a sports fan on the south side of Chicago, I was spoiled. The Bulls were a perennial disappointment, but the Blackhawks owned the 2010s with three Stanley Cups in six years. The Bulls had a nice run, but trading Jimmy Butler in 2017 was the end of my support for the franchise. Yes, I’m one of those people. You ask around the city, and there are a plethora of folks who will say the same thing. The highlight of my sports fandom included two other championships hoisted by the Indiana Fever in 2011 and the Cubs in 2016. Throughout the years, not once did television ratings cross my mind.
For the last week and change, it’s been quite the task to scroll on social media without seeing basketball fans engaged in debates about Unrivaled’s ratings as the second season of the three-on-three league takes the court in Miami. Unrivaled kicked off this campaign on Jan. 5 and averaged 175,000 viewers for the two games on TNT and truTV on opening day, which included a midday game. On Jan. 9, two games averaged 139,000 viewers. Four games took place on Jan. 10 and Jan. 11, which drew 71,000 viewers on truTV.
NEW: Unrivaled’s opening weekend ratings are down significantly from last year, with viewership averaging:
– 175,000 across TNT and TruTV on Jan. 5
– 139,000 across TNT and TruTV on Jan. 9
– 71,000 on TruTV on Jan. 10-11
– 32,000 on TruTV on Jan. 5— Front Office Sports (@FOS) January 14, 2026
These numbers pale in comparison to the inaugural season, where the league averaged 221,000 viewers on TNT throughout the regular season and playoffs. The popular one-on-one tournament was the prize draw, averaging 312,000 viewers. There are a plethora of reasons to point to why Unrivaled isn’t seeing the same draw as last season. For one, some basketball fans aren’t enticed by three-on-three basketball, which is understandable. The rules and play styles are night and day.
Others will say that their favorite players aren’t participating. For example, WNBA superstar Angel Reese opted out for the second season. She was a huge draw during the inaugural season due to her popularity in pop culture for hoop heads and casuals alike who tuned in for her, especially. Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier is out this season after undergoing surgery on both of her ankles after suffering an injury in the WNBA semifinals against the Phoenix Mercury.
Unrivaled was created to provide more stateside opportunities for players in the WNBA’s offseason to earn higher wages. The league has also become a great tool for development, with state-of-the-art facilities and a reliable training staff to further cultivate the skills of young players. In plain view, that should be enough to support players striving to be the best they can be. Instead, the league is continuously compared to the WNBA when it shouldn’t be.
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Born and raised in Chicago, Christan Braswell is a women’s sports journalist with a focus on the WNBA and women’s college basketball. He’s an avid fan of elevator screens and stuffed-crust pizza. Outside of sports, he’s an avid cook and lover of the great outdoors.
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