UConn Huskies No. 5 Paige Bueckers shoots the ball in the second half during the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Final Four semifinal game against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio on April 5, 2024.
Steph Chambers | Getty Images
University of Connecticut star Paige Bueckers will sign a name, image and likeness deal with the new women's basketball league Unrivaled, people familiar with the matter told CNBC.
The deal is believed to make her the first NCAA athlete to receive an equity stake in a professional sports league as looser sponsorship rules allow college players to pursue more endorsements and business opportunities. Terms of the deal were not available.
Unrivaled was founded last year by Women's National Basketball Association players Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty and Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx. The league is set to launch in January, ahead of the WNBA season.
Bueckers, a two-time NCAA All-American, is likely to appear in the league’s promotion but won’t play until her college career at UConn is over, the people said. In February, Bueckers announced she would forgo the 2024 WNBA Draft to return to UConn for her senior season.
Unrivaled was born as a way to allow WNBA basketball players the option to play in the U.S. during the offseason. Previously, many players had to travel abroad to supplement their WNBA salaries.
The player-owned league offers equity stakes to all 30 players and none will earn less than six figures. Current WNBA maximum salaries are around $250,000 per season.
The league will consist of six teams competing in 3-on-3 full-court play. Players announced so far for the league include Stewart, Collier, Chelsea Gray and Kelsey Plum of the Las Vegas Aces and Arike Ogunbowale of the Dallas Wings. Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky was the first player from this year's WNBA rookie class to join the league.
The star-studded list of investors in the league includes Bueckers' UConn coach Geno Auriemma; former National Basketball Association players Carmelo Anthony and Steve Nash; former and current soccer stars Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe; media executives John Skipper and David Levy; and actor Ashton Kutcher.
