Upcoming offseason league Project B is making moves, with the global 5×5 basketball upstart announcing Tuesday that it will play in Tokyo in the spring of 2027.
The Japanese capital will host one of Project B's seven circuit-style "tour stops" during the league's inaugural campaign — which runs from November 2026 to April 2027 — with each city showcasing a 10-day mini-tournament as part of a Formula One-style season-long title race.
With Tokyo officially hosting Project B from March 26th to April 4th of next year, the venture will announce its additional destinations at a later date.
"Tokyo sits at the intersection of global culture, innovation, and basketball, with a fan base that truly understands and loves the game," said head of Project B Japan Keisuke Mitsui. "Toyota Arena will be an iconic stage for our athletes and a destination for basketball fans around the world."
Offering multimillion-dollar salaries, Project B is shaking up women's basketball, with big-name WNBA stars like Seattle Storm forward Nneka Ogwumike, New York Liberty center Jonquel Jones, Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell, Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas, and Las Vegas Aces guard Jewell Loyd already signing on.
Project B's men's and the women's tournaments each plan to field 66 players across six teams as it offers compensation that outpaces both the WNBA and Unrivaled — while potentially conflicting with the WNBA's schedule.
Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier was back on stage this week, opening up about her viral exit interview blasting WNBA leadership to former US Vice President Kamala Harris at the "A Day of Unreasonable Conversation" summit in LA on Monday.
"For so long, we tried to have these conversations and move the needle," she said. "And I saw nothing was changing."
"I think I just got to the point where I was fed up [with WNBA leadership]," Collier told Harris. "Whether I was going to get annihilated for this, or people were gonna support me, I felt like what I was doing was right."
Collier also doubled down on her position, publicly cancelling a meeting with Cathy Engelbert after the WNBA commissioner denied Collier's account of a past conversation regarding Caitlin Clark and rookie compensation.
"For [Engelbert] to start her speech saying she has the utmost respect for me and for the players, and then to turn around and call me a liar three minutes later... I think it just speaks to that lack of accountability and so I really have nothing further to say [to her]," Collier told Axios on Monday, confirming the meeting's cancellation.
While both Engelbert and NBA commissioner Adam Silver have committed to repairing relationships between players and league leadership, Collier's recent outspokenness shows just how much ground there is to cover.
The NCAA unanimously approved implementing a women's March Madness revenue-sharing plan on Wednesday, aligning the women's side with the compensation program the men’s edition has enjoyed since 1991.
"This is a historic day for women's sports, women's basketball, and the NCAA," said NCAA president Charlie Baker in the college sports governing body's statement. "Today's vote means our members have the opportunity to do even more on campus to promote and support female athletes. I can't wait to see all the incredible things they do."
Sparked by 2021's landmark NCAA gender equity review, the decision ultimately actualized after years of pressure from administrators and coaches.
"The long-awaited, hard fought for, and well-earned day is here," said UNC coach and Women's Basketball Coaches Association president Courtney Banghart. "I am so grateful for the effort of so many to bring this reality to our sport."
Deep March Madness runs earn more revenue
Beginning this year, each team competing in the Division I tournament will now receive performance-based units of revenue, with deeper runs earning more units.
With plans to grow the prize pool to $25 million by 2028, this year's inaugural $15 million purse represents 26% of the competition's $65 million media rights valuation — putting it proportionally on par with the percentage allocated to the men's fund.
Distributions will begin in 2026 and, like the men’s program, they will be paid directly to conferences, whose member schools will collectively decide how to best invest the unrestricted funds.
For the 2025 edition, a unit will reportedly be worth $113,636. According to ESPN's calculations, a Final Four team could amass approximately $1.26 million for its conference over the next three years.
With conferences and schools set for an influx of funds should their teams flourish at the national tournament, the revenue plan becomes a significant incentive for institutions to further invest in women's basketball.
Ultimately, the NCAA's move not only addresses the sport's equity disparity, it could also bolster the annual tournament's level of competition.