Unrivaled to play semifinals at Barclays Center in Brooklyn

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Unrivaled is heading back on the road. This time to play a set of playoff games at Barclays Center in Brooklyn following last month's successful trip to Philadelphia.

The 3-on-3 league co-owned by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier announced Friday that its semifinal round will be played at the home arena of the WNBA's New York Liberty and NBA's Brooklyn Nets next month, marking the second time this season the league has played away from its Miami base.

Unrivaled's postseason will include the top six of the league's eight teams. The first round featuring matchups between the third through sixth seeds will take place at Sephora Arena — the league's home arena — in Medley, Florida, on Feb 28. The final four teams will then head to Brooklyn for a pair of semifinal games on March 2 before the league returns to Florida for the final on March 4.

Unrivaled hit the road for the first time in January, breaking free of its Florida bubble to expand its reach and stage two games at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.

The young league made history, drawing a professional women’s basketball regular-season record crowd of 21, 490 that included “Good Morning America” host Robin Roberts, Sixers guard Kyle Lowry, and comedians Leslie Jones and Wanda Sykes.

The Philadelphia tour stop represented a proving ground on whether taking the product on the road can lead to new revenue and expand the league’s fan base, while recalibrating a business model that was originally rooted in centralization.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball