Unrivaled Revealed, Part 2: TNT Sports’ Studio Show Revels in Behind-the-Scenes Access, Off-the-Court Content

Player-driven league and stellar talent at the desk are a recipe for success

TNT Sports’ legacy of studio shows is adding another to its long list of standouts. The broadcaster’s Unrivaled studio programming — deriving from its Techwood facility in Atlanta and driven by host Lauren Jbara, analysts Candace Parker and Renee Montgomery, and special appearances by women’s basketball legend Lisa Leslie — will link the action of the new Unrivaled 3-on-3 league in Miami to fans around the nation through a top-tier roster of talent and thorough coverage of the athletes both on and off the floor.

“This is the first time I’ve watched a sport where you’re inside the game and players’ personalities are coming out in a way that’s engaging because they’re having so much fun,” says Morgan Weinbrecht, studio director, TNT Sports. “Fans will see that not only in the interviews we do and the moments in the hallway or locker room we capture but also throughout the game.”

CLICK HERE for Part 1 of our two-part series on Unrivaled, focused on TNT Sports’ game production ops. 

Deeper Storytelling: Relationships, Dedicated Facility Make for Enhanced Coverage

Conceived by New York Liberty superstar and 2024 WNBA champion Breanna Stewart and Minnesota Lynx’s Napheesa Collier, the Unrivaled league is intended to blend high-quality professional basketball with boundless athleticism and pop culture showcasing the fun side of sports. Fans are accustomed to seeing the impressive fashion of players walking to the locker room; seeing pockets of personality during downtimes in the schedule, such as the WNBA All-Star Game; and peeking into other aspects of players’ lives on their respective social-media platforms, but this new league will place all that in the spotlight.

In addition, many of the players are connected to one another: for example, WNBA teammate vs. WNBA teammate or former teammates in college now going against each other. Such relationships will provide friendly competition in this 3 vs. 3 format, as well as moments of levity throughout any game.

“I think you’re going to hear from them a whole lot more than you would in any other setting,” says Weinbrecht. “We’ll also be conducting interviews with players from different teams at the same time, which is something you wouldn’t normally see at the end of the games.”

The interviews will provide opportunities to go deeper into analysis of the action or compare the gameplay of each team simultaneously. Off the court, the league’s dedicated facility in Miami will encourage the players to develop content for their own channels.

“They can now establish [themselves] outside of their teams because they’re not traveling as a group to various locations,” Weinbrecht adds. “All six teams are in one place, so they get to hang out, get dinner, and create content together. We hope to see as much of them off the court as we do on the court.”

Like the players, TNT Sports’ on-air talent have ties to the athletes. Whether it’s former WNBA players Parker, Montgomery, and Leslie; former college players like reporter Ros Gold-Onwude; current WNBA broadcasters play-by-play announcer Brendan Glasheen and analysts Sarah Kustok; or notable voices in sports — such as reporters Taylor Rooks, Allie LaForce, and Stephanie Ready — this familiar group will create moments for engagement.

Adapting and Evolving: Crew Expects Changes To Refine Workflows in First Season 

Not only will the inaugural season of Unrivaled present 3 vs. 3 women’s basketball to a larger domestic audience, but the timing of the games will be different from what most fans are accustomed to seeing. With four quarters of seven minutes each on a compact court, games will be shorter than the typical professional basketball game. Given this time differential, as well as understanding what the players enjoy the most, Weinbrecht and her team of Supervising Producer Ann Lutzenkirchen, Game Producer Damon Fisher, and Content Producer Kyle Wells will adjust their run of show, broadcast elements, and pacing as the season goes on.

“The players’ having equity in the league makes a really interesting workflow,” Weinbrecht says. “We went through rehearsals on Monday night, and we played the first and second games differently to test out what works best for television, the fans in the arena, and the players. It’ll be an ever-changing environment because the players will want to try new things. It’s fascinating because fans are going to see something different when they tune in every week.”

Other properties, including TNT Sports’ partnerships with the NBA and the NHL, dictate the length of their studio shows because of preexisting times for tip-off or puck drop. For Unrivaled, the network is in close conversation with the players about their desired tipoff times. This has to do with the fact that all the games will be played in one building and also because the players had a large say in the schedule.

“The players told us when they wanted to arrive [for games],” says Weinbrecht, “and we needed to see what made most sense from a coverage perspective. We’ve been in lockstep with the players and the teams in a way that you don’t really get across any other league.”

The changes made throughout the year will ultimately become the blueprint for future seasons, but the broadcaster will always be committed to keeping fun at the heart of the coverage.

“If we come to work every day and we’re having fun, the viewers and the players will have fun,” says Weinbrecht. “We’ll have the ability to use ideas from all these people who know each other really well from other projects and put them onto this new project that we all get to figure out together.”

Creatively, the shows from Atlanta will be aided by a new studio design by VP/Creative Director Jordan Shorthouse and Senior Design Director Simon Coffin.

Pivotal Moment for Sports: Unrivaled Provides Platform for Players-First League

Women’s sports may have only recently become popular with viewers generally interested in televised athletics, but, for hard-core fans, the formation of Unrivaled has been a long time coming. The league, which guarantees sufficient pay for some of the greatest women’s basketball players on the planet, is a much-needed alternative that allows them to stay closer to home rather than traveling overseas during the offseason. Though providing an outlet for the WNBA’s top participants, Unrivaled points toward the overall rise in popularity of all women’s sports.

“We’ve always really enjoyed women’s sports,” notes Weinbrecht. “So it’s more about the impact of this changing attitude toward women’s sports than it is about a league. There are a lot of investors, both male and female, from across all sports, and a lot of people are really excited about this.”

There aren’t many times when a player can be a part of a brand-new professional league. For Weinbrecht — an eight-time Emmy Award winner who has been a contributor to Inside the NBA and played a key role in creation of the NHL on TNT’s studio show when the league returned in 2021, among other projects — it’s a highlight that stands well above the rest.

“I’ve gotten to do a lot of things at TNT Sports that I’m really grateful for,” she says, “but this is probably one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done. To be able to work for a company that invests in something like this is one of the proudest moments I’ve ever had.”

Coverage of Friday’s Opening Night doubleheader of Lunar Owls Basketball Club vs. Mist Basketball Club (7 p.m. ET) and Rose Basketball Club vs. Vinyl Basketball Club (8 p.m.) will begin with a 30-minute pregame show at 6:30 p.m. on TNT and Max.