Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 women’s pro basketball league co-founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, has hired Liz Marro as its first chief marketing officer. The move was announced on Tuesday during Sportico’s RISE: Women’s Sports event in New York City.
Marro will now oversee all aspects of Unrivaled’s marketing strategy from content to sponsorship activations. She will be tasked with shaping Unrivaled’s identity, developing marketing strategies and elevating the league’s positioning across the sports landscape ahead of its second season. The Miami-based winter league looks to cement itself as the go-to destination for the game’s best players during the WNBA offseason.
Marro arrives at Unrivaled after serving as CMO at sports gaming and media company Underdog; the company achieved unicorn status as it was valued at $1.2 billion following a Series C funding round earlier this year.
The news comes one week after Unrivaled announced that it has increased its valuation to $340 million after closing an oversubscribed Series B round led by private equity firm Bessemer Venture Partners. Last week, the league also announced that it was adding two more teams (Breeze Basketball Club and Hive Basketball Club), bringing the total to eight; Unrivaled is expanding sooner than expected after outperforming financial projections.
Unrivaled, which also competes for talent with Athletes Unlimited, has already signed most of its rosters for next season and is expected to announce the players later this month. It remains to be seen if it will secure Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark and three-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson
The league has also signed NIL marketing deals with 14 college players, including UCLA’s Lauren Betts, UConn’s Azzi Fudd, USC’s JuJu Watkins and LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson. Both Watkins and Johnson already had equity in the league.
Unrivaled gained significant attention with average Year 1 salaries that mirrored max deals in the WNBA. This has added to the complexity of the ongoing collective bargaining agreements between the WNBA and its player association.