NBA, Big3 League, & Anticompetitive Conduct
Since the NBA’s inception, Antitrust law has played a role. In 1949, the NBA was created after the merger of the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League. In 1976, the NBA merged with its rival, the American Basketball Association, which was found in 1967. The NBA created its women’s affiliate league, the WNBA, in 1996 and created its minor league, the G League, in 2001. All of these leagues broadcast games on the national level. Today, the NBA stands as the premier professional basketball league in the world recruiting global talent and viewership. There was little to no competition, especially in the United States, for the NBA until the creation of the Big3 League.
The Big3 League was founded in 2017 by musician and actor Ice Cube and executive Jeff Kwatinetz. The Big3 League is a 3-on-3 basketball league that employs former NBA players at both the player and executive levels. The league gained fans and notoriety quickly with a unique format, rules, and a nostalgic feeling for players. As a result of this successful start, the Big3 League began to receive endorsement deals, television deals, and gain legitimacy as a competitor of the NBA. After the NBA Season ends, the Big3 season begins; however, it coincides with the NBA’s Summer League. With this catapult to the main stage, the Big3 League not only caught the eye of consumers as a new league but also caught the eye of the NBA as competition.
In 2023, the United States Department of Justice began investigating the NBA over potential anticompetitive practices used against the Big3 League. The allegations include discouraging sponsors from working with the Big3 League, deterring television networks from broadcasting the games, and creating rules to prevent current NBA players from participating in the Big3 League. Although the investigation findings have not been published, the conduct alleged is a prime example of anticompetitive conduct that enforcers aim to eradicate. The NBA, the tenured market giant, is alleged to be creating barriers to entry in a market where they have remained the sole producer for decades.
The Antitrust Implications
The Sherman Act and Clayton Act prohibit the monopolization or attempt to monopolize any portion of interstate commerce. The use of anticompetitive tactics by placing a proverbial thumb on the scale of fairness to create a monopoly harms the consumer first and foremost. The rule of reason analysis is deployed to determine if the conduct violates Section 2 of the Sherman Act. The rule of reason analysis requires the market to be defined, the market power of the alleged violator to be determined, and finally a balance of the anticompetitive and procompetitive effects. Defining the market is the most crucial part of the rule of reason analysis.
In this instance, there are a multitude of ways to define the market. The market may be defined as professional sports leagues; professional men’s sports leagues; televised sports leagues; televised men’s sports leagues; professional basketball leagues; and professional men’s basketball leagues, just to name a few. The NBA has enjoyed decades of substantial market power as a professional men’s basketball league. As it is regarded as the premier destination to play professional basketball, anticompetitive conduct in violation of the Sherman and Clayton Act is especially harmful.
The WNBA is the major professional women’s basketball league in the United States. With women’s basketball gaining recent popularity, a repeat of the alleged anticompetitive practices carried out by the NBA against the Big3 League would be disastrous. The massive shift in popularity paired with the decades-long push for fair compensation opens women’s professional basketball up to a new level. The support for the WNBA is amazing for the growth of the league, but also opens an opportunity for the WNBA to prevent new entrants into the market to share in the growth.
The New Unrivaled League
In 2021, the average viewership of WNBA games was slightly over three hundred thousand. In the most recent season, that number was over a million. The WNBA is in its 2024 season, seeing an overdue surge with more eyes on them than ever. This surge in viewership and interest in women’s basketball came right on time, with the anticipated inaugural season of the Unrivaled League.
The Unrivaled League, similarly to the Big3 League, is a 3-on-3 professional women’s basketball league, founded by two current WNBA superstars, Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier. The league’s inaugural season began in January 2025, and it is comprised of 36 of the best players from the WNBA on six teams. The Unrivaled League was created to allow WNBA players to play in the United States professionally outside of the WNBA season. Traditionally, many WNBA players played in international leagues during the off-season; however, after the detention of Brittany Griner, there have been fewer players overseas in the off-season.
With the Unrivaled League beginning in the winter, it falls squarely within the NBA’s season. With the NBA’s ratings down 28% for the 2024-25 season, the start of the Unrivaled League’s inaugural season will highlight whether there is a disinterest in basketball or just the NBA. The circumstances are nearly identical to the start of the Big3 League, with the Unrivaled League already securing a multi-year television deal with the TNT Network. Because of the rise in women’s basketball viewership paired with a drop in the NBA’s viewership ratings, all eyes should be on the Unrivaled League to ensure it does not fall victim to anticompetitive conduct.
Although the mere allegation of a violation, in and of itself, is not a violation, vigilance is required to protect consumers from potentially harmful anticompetitive conduct. Consumer choice must be protected and preserved.
Conclusion
When you have previously been accused of harmful conduct, we should not adopt blind faith but instead monitor with a close eye. Consumers, both within and outside the United States, enjoy viewing professional sports and should not be denied the choice of something new. While the eyes of consumers may be on the Unrivaled League’s inaugural season, the eyes of enforcers should be on its potential competitors.
