PHILADELPHIA -- The 3-on-3 Unrivaled league made history in its inaugural tour stop, drawing 21,490 fans at Philadelphia's Xfinity Mobile Arena, an all-time record attendance for a regular-season women's professional basketball game as well as for any event in the venue's history.
The record attendance was announced during the first game of Friday's double-header.
"It was unbelievable," league co-founder Napheesa Collier said. "You could feel the love tonight. I'm so glad we came here. I just can't explain it more than I was just so filled up with joy. It was amazing."
Rose coach Nola Henry added: "It was just what women's basketball deserves."
The contest marked the second-year league's first game outside of Miami, where its eight-week season runs early January through early March. It was also Philadelphia's first professional women's basketball game since 1998, when the ABL was still in operation and was home to the Philadelphia Rage. The city is set to welcome a WNBA expansion team in 2030, when it will become the league's 18th team.
The Unrivaled festivities in Philadelphia occurred across two days, with a community event and clinic held on Thursday before Friday's contests between the Breeze and Phantom (a 71-68 Phantom win) as well as the Rose and Lunar Owls (a 85-75 Lunar Owls win).
Fans assembled around the arena hours before tipoff, donning Unrivaled or WNBA gear to support their favorite stars or teams, and stayed through the three hours of action. Among the celebrities who made appearances and sat courtside were women's basketball legend Dawn Staley; former NFL standout Jason Kelce and his wife, Kylie; comedians Wanda Sykes and Leslie Jones; "Good Morning America" anchor Robin Roberts; and Philadelphia 76ers guard Kyle Lowry.
"It's just a testament to what we're building here, how much people believe in it," Collier said of the turnout. "So to have the city show out like this, to break a record in all of women's professional basketball here tonight, and for it to be Unrivaled, I think it's just amazing. The future's Unrivaled."
Collier confirmed that the league plans to hold multiple tour stops next season, with the cities and number of stops to be announced.
Multiple players said they'd be open to Unrivaled continuing or building upon its tour model.
"I think it was awesome to see [the fans] come out and support us like that," said Marina Mabrey, whose Unrivaled-record 47 points and 10 3-pointers highlighted the evening. "I don't know what I expected, but I didn't realize there was going to be so much hype around it and so much support. ... I think going to other cities would be great, so long as it's feasible for everybody putting in all the work to get us here."
The Unrivaled season resumes Saturday in Miami, with the regular season running through February and the playoffs held March 2 and 4.
