AMNA NAWAZ: Women's basketball has seen an overdue surge in popularity in recent years.

Last year's WNBA Championship was the most watched finals game in the league's 25-year history with 3.3 million viewers.

Now a new professional three-on-three league called Unrivaled launched last week in Miami is building on that success.

Games air on TNT and truTV and stream on Max, part of a six-year deal worth $100 million.

I spoke to WNBA All-Star and co-founder of the Unrivaled league, Napheesa Collier, earlier this week.

Napheesa Collier, welcome to the "News Hour."

Thanks so much for joining us.

NAPHEESA COLLIER, Co-Founder, Unrivaled: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: So this league was born from the joint force of you and your fellow WNBA star Breanna Stewart.

How is it that two WNBA rivals came together to start this league?

What was the void you were trying to fill?

NAPHEESA COLLIER: Yes, I think just we have both been in women's basketball for so long and the WNBA.

And I think, through that, we just saw the holes of what kind of works and what doesn't.

And for a long time, a lot of players had to play year-round basketball.

They would play in the WNBA, they would have maybe 10 days off and then they would have to go overseas.

So not only is that really hard on your bodies, where we were seeing really just terrible injuries.

Also, a lot of people don't realize that we make most of our money off the court.

And so brand building and being able to activate with those brands is really important for our livelihoods.

And when you're overseas, you essentially go dark for six months out of the year and you can't activate with those brands.

It really hurts us in that way.

And then, thirdly, I think you just see the explosion that is happening in women's sports right now.

It's growing at such a rapid pace.

And it feels like everyone except for the people who are putting the product on the court or the field or wherever it may be are the ones that are benefiting financially from that.

And so we kind of wanted to put all that together and we came up with Unrivaled, where we can hone our basketball skills, where you're getting better.

We have the best weight facilities, recovery facilities.

We have equity in the league, one of the first times ever that people who are playing in the actual league that they have that they're playing and have equity in it, and then also so heavy on content and brand building, which, again, is so crucial to how we make money.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tell me more about the financial piece of it because you guys are offering the highest average salary for professional women's athletes, right, some $220,000, higher even than the WNBA's regular based salary, plus equity, as you mentioned.

Where's the money coming from and how hard was it to bring investors in?

NAPHEESA COLLIER: Yes, I mean, the money is coming from those investors, people who believe in the product and believe in the financial plan that we have for this.

And I think that was something that we were really adamant about from the very beginning, is that we wanted to offer really competitive high salaries because we want to pay players what we deserve to be paid.

And then that also goes with the equity piece, where we're trying to create generational wealth here, where people have equity in hopefully what is a very successful, sustainable business.

And so that was something that we really had to work through in the very beginning.

It was something very important for us.

And so we went out and we got those brands who aligned with what we're thinking.

And I think even better than all of that, for so long, the narrative was kind of support women sports is the right thing to do.

Now, of course, it's the right thing to do, but it's also the smart thing to do financially.

And I think our investors realize both of those parts of it.

AMNA NAWAZ: OK, so for anyone who hasn't been able to see a game yet, walk us through it.

How is three-on-three different than five a side?

What do you love about this game?

NAPHEESA COLLIER: I love that, first of all, there's two baskets still.

So a lot of people don't realize it's not half-court.

We still have that up and down game, but it's about two-thirds the size of a regular court, but you're taking two people off of each team.

And so it just really opens the court up so much, where you get to use your skills.

And we have the best players in the world here.

If we want to see what they can do.

And so, especially for me, for example, I love working in the post.

Well, in the WNBA, it's really bogged down.

It's really crowded here.

I'm allowed the freedom to work more in the post.

And you can see my skill set more and you can see everyone's skill set.

And so I think that's what makes it really fun.

AMNA NAWAZ: I mean, the roster is incredible.

Among the league's 36 players, in addition, of course, to you and Stewie.

you have got stars like Brittney Griner, Angel Reese, Alyssa Thomas, Aaliyah Edwards.

Your league investors include people like the legendary coach Dawn Staley and tennis star Coco Gauff.

Your analysts include women like Candace Parker and Lisa Leslie.

This is really a league built by women for women athletes.

So how does that sort of change how it's run, how the athletes are supported?

NAPHEESA COLLIER: We have said from the very beginning this is a players-led league.

Everyone who's playing this year has equity in the league.

And so we're here for us.

We're here for the players, and so just working really closely about what that means and what that looks like.

What do you guys need for recovery?

What is going to make this the best situation for you to grow as a player and to get better?

And so I think you just see that, where everyone has a vested interest literally in this business.

And so not only do we want to get better, but we want to do whatever we can to support the league as well.

AMNA NAWAZ: Napheesa Collier, co-founder of the Unrivaled league, thank you so much for joining us.

And good luck this season.

NAPHEESA COLLIER: Yes, thank you.