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Unrivaled Basketball's Kirby Porter on Building a Brand That Empowers Female Athletes
Entrepreneurship meets sports
Kirby Porter was hired as chief brand officer of Unrivaled last May. Just eight months later, the 3-on-3 women’s basketball league’s inaugural season tipped-off at Miami’s Wayfair Arena on Jan. 17.
Porter recalls watching the league’s first game. “It was definitely surreal seeing it all happen—the fans being there and people walking in with Unrivaled merch and getting super hyped. That part was crazy. We’d seen the practices and everything. We were here every day. But seeing other people experience it and care about it—that was the moment of, ‘Okay, we did it.'”
Here, Porter, an entrepreneur known for launching New Game Labs and serving as director of marketing at sports-tech investment firm Will Ventures, discusses launching the league co-founded by WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier.
MUSE: It’s one thing to step into the role of chief brand officer at an established league that’s been around for decades. Unrivaled was built quickly, from the ground up. That challenge appealed to you as an entrepreneur?
Kirby Porter: Absolutely! I love an entrepreneurial challenge, love starting things from scratch, love being a part of things that haven’t really been defined yet. I think that’s what’s exciting as a marketer. It’s when there’s no constraints, and you can create the brand you want.
What were your priorities in your earliest days on the job?
The first thing that we thought about was creating the brand—the league logo, the basketball club names, how we would introduce and build up hype for the key moments leading up to the season, like communicating who’s going to be in the league, our basketball club selection, partnership announcements. Between May and tip-off, we wanted each moment to feel big. We wanted to show that Unrivaled is adding something new to the table.
How would you define the brand ethos of Unrivaled?
We always say, the best for the best. To create a brand for the best, we have to think about how we are moving the needle. How are we pushing things forward? How are we doing things in a different way?
Everything we do is with the aim of bringing a new experience to the players, to the fans that meet us in the arena, or are watch us, or engage on social with us. Across all touch points, we have a consistent level of effort, so that we’re received on the other end with, “That’s thoughtful,” or “I haven’t experienced this before.”
Startups are all-consuming. How has it been for you and your team dealing with the sheer amount of things that have to get done?
With any startup, you know what you are signing up for in terms of the work. I do think a certain type of person signs up to be a part of that.
I will say, “Yes, it is a lot.” But I think all of us enjoy that we’re able to be a part of shaping what this looks like from day one. How many times do you get to say that you were part of launching six teams for a league, or creating a league logo?
And now we’re seeing fans in the airport wearing Unrivaled merch. That all started with 10 of us in room talking: “I like this logo” and “No, I like this logo!” And we decided on one, and now that’s out in the world. And it’s becoming bigger than any of us could imagine. So, yes, it’s all-consuming work. But it’s meaningful.
You were captain of the Harvard women’s basketball team. How does your background as an athlete inform the way you do your job?
Passion, true passion for what you do, beats everything. Because eventually, everyone gets tired. The job is always hard. Really caring about this keeps you going, helps you come up with great ideas.
And my passion has always been helping athletes be successful at the highest level in sports and out of sports. Unrivaled is about that. Yes, we are a professional women’s basketball league. But it’s founded by two of the top players. All of the players have equity. Just thinking of the real meaning behind this, of what it’s doing to raise the profile of women athletes in the business space, is huge. Knowing that everything we’re doing is a part of working towards that really energizes me.
