Does Project B Have The Basketballs, Finances For Plan A Women’s Pro League?

By Barry Janoff

Unrivaled BasketballUPDATED November 25, 2025: Project B New Signees

Yahoo Sports: Project B, the planned international women’s basketball league scheduled to begin competition next year, has added a significant new name: the Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham.

Designed as a global sports enterprise, with an array of international investors, Project B is planning for a late 2026 start to its women’s basketball league. 

Chicago Sun Times: WNBA Chicago Sky star Kamilla Cardoso is joining Project B, a Formula One–style basketball league set to launch in November 2026. Cardoso joins Janelle Salaün (France) and Li Meng (China) as the start-up league’s first wave of international signees.

San Francisco Chronicle: Janelle Salaün became the first Golden State Valkyries player to join Project B, 

UPDATED November 19, 2025: AP Sports: Two-time Olympic gold medalist Jewell Loyd announced that she would join Project B, the new women’s basketball league that is expected to begin in Europe and Asia in November 2026.

Loyd announced her decision on social media a day after former WNBA MVP Jonquel Jones said she’d play in the fledgling league that offers players high salaries and an equity stake. Loyd helped the Las Vegas Aces win their third championship in four seasons, coming off the bench for the first time in her career. She has now won three WNBA titles.

“Jonquel and Jewell represent Project B’s core principles of elite talent, global impact and leadership beyond the court,” Project B chief basketball officer Alana Beard told the AP. “They’ve both defined excellence in their own way and now they’re redefining what’s possible for players and fans around the world. Having them as partners and owners reinforces everything we’re building." (Full story here.)


UPDATED November 18, 2025: Jonquel Jones, New York Liberty center and the 2024 WNBA Finals MVP, posted to social media that she has signed with Project B.

“I’m super ecstatic and super honored to announce that I will joining Project B to be able to continue to play against the best players in the world, play with the best players in the world and be able to see new parts of the world. Let’s get it.”

Alyssa Thomas and Nneka Ogwumike previously said they were joining Project B, scheduled to launch in November 2026.


November 17, 2025: Unrivaled presented by Samsung Galaxy has already caused a. seismic shift in the pro women’s hoops landscape.

Can Project B do the same?

And can the WNBA withstand the competition?

The second season of Unrivaled — the 3x3 pro women’s hoops league that had an impact across sponsorships, media, marketing and fans during its premiere season in 2025 after being co-founded by WNBA stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart — is scheduled to begin Jan. 5.

It includes eight teams and 48 players — all from the WNBA — and concludes in early March, all during the WNBA’s offseason. All games will be played in Wayfair Arena, Medley, Fla. (about 15 miles northwest from Miami), with the exception this season of Unrivaled’s first road trip — two Unrivaled Presented by Xfinity games Jan. 30 in Philadelphia’s Xfinity Mobile Arena.

Project B said it plans to launch with 66 players divided into six teams using the traditional 5x5 format in November 2026 with games in Europe and Asia during a season that would run through April 2027.

Reports say that Project B is being co-constructed by former Facebook executive Grady Burnett and Skype co-founder Geoff Prentice.

It  is stockpiling its finances with investments including Mangrove Capital, Quiet Capital and Sequence Equity, along with such initial investors as former WNBA stars Candace Parker and Alana Beard and tennis icon Novak Djokovic 

The league said it has signed its first two players: former WNBA MVP Nneka Ogwumike, who is the current president of the Women’s National Basketball Players’ Assn.; and All-WNBA First Team star Alyssa Thomas (who plays for the Phoenix Mercury).

Former WNBA star Alana Beard is Project B’s chief basketball officer.

An article in The Financial Times tied Project B to financial backing from the Saudi Public Investment Fund.

Burnett subsequently qualified that Sela, a subsidiary of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, is an event partner of the league.

WNBA Basketball“We’re building a global basketball league, so we want a global diversified cap table around us,” Burnett told Front Office Sports. “That doesn’t include any dollars from Saudi Arabia.”

Project B is, according to reports, offering players seven-figure contracts and equity stake in the league.

Unrivaled contracts cap out at about $260,000, with players also becoming league investors.

Under its current structure, WNBA salaries range from about $66,000 for rookies to a super-max of just over $249,000. That is expected to have a significant and vital increase with WNBA and union CBA negotiations currently underway.

Unrivaled’s roster features a majority of young WNBA players who are in the prime of their careers.

Ogwumike will be 36 and Thomas will be 34 at Project B’s projected start November 2026.

But they are seen by Project B as keys to attracting other younger stars.

“Alyssa is the kind of player and person you build around,” Beard, told AP Sports. “Her leadership, competitiveness and professionalism elevate everyone around her. As one of the most respected players in the world, she represents the new era of player partnership and global competition that Project B stands for.”

For its part, Unrivaled is confident in its strategy.

“We’re confident with what we’ve built in collaboration with our athletes, partners and investors,” Unrivaled president Alex Bazzell told AP Sports. “We remain consistent in our approach to pay players competitively, provide a meaningful stake in the business and keep them home year-round.”

Unrivaled Releases Expanded Regular, Post-Season Schedule For Second Year

Back to Home Page