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Ninety minutes before tipoff, Unrivaled received a warm welcome from Philadelphia before a ball was even dribbled.
A swarm of fans entered Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday night to take in the 3-on-3, Miami-based league’s first tour stop amid its second season after it was co-founded by Napheesa Collier and Liberty star Breanna Stewart in 2025.
One fan entering the venue immediately said, “Alright, where’s the merch?”
Another, seeing the lines that grew to look endless, said “Oh my god, maybe not.”
It was a positive start to the barnstorming stop that was announced in October and was announced Jan. 14 as a 21,000-seat sellout.
Paige Bueckers fan Annabelle and mother, Roslyn, from New York, booked resale tickets this week after the latter said she wanted to go to Philly one day.
That instantly gave Annabelle a reason to go see for a fourth time her favorite player, whom she started to follow after seeing UConn highlights on social media a year ago.
“I knew since it’s the one time it’s not in Miami, people are going to take this opportunity, but I didn’t think it was going to be this crazy,” Annabelle told The Post.
Outside of the merchandise store, Unrivaled set up photo ops similar to their media photo shoots, a DJ booth and basketball hoops to get in some practice.
It was easier to get food or a drink than a jersey or take a jump shot.
But basketball fans in the building didn’t mind, and those from the city have waited 28 years for professional women’s basketball.
Lauren and her husband, Steve, of Bensalem, Pa., came because of her love for women’s sports, especially college basketball, and she has followed Unrivaled since the start.
“As soon as it was announced, we were on that day getting tickets,” Lauren said.
According to a report from Just Women’s Sports, the ticket demand for Unrivaled’s one-night-only event was higher than the demand for the 76ers.
The average ticket price was $165 compared to $85 for the city’s NBA team, the outlet reported.
On Thursday night, Liberty guard and Philadelphia-area native Natasha Cloud reposted it to her Instagram account.
“I posted it mainly because I think there has been this question of, do we invest into women’s sports? Do people watch women’s sports? And yes, everyone watches women’s sports,” she said Friday morning at Phantom’s shootaround. “I think that ticket price is a prime example of how high, booming, demanding that women’s basketball and women’s sports in general is right now.”
English (US)