Candace Parker and Sloane Stephens Back New Equity-Granting Global Basketball League

Women’s sports stars Candace Parker and Sloane Stephens have joined the investor group behind an ambitious new professional basketball venture, currently known as Project B, that promises players not only top salaries but equity stakes in the league. Organisers are targeting a Fall 2026 debut with events staged across Asia, Europe and the Americas.

The investment syndicate is led by Geoffrey (Geoff) Prentice, a co-founder of Skype, and former Facebook executive Grady Burnett. Tennis great Novak Djokovic, NFL Hall of Famer Steve Young, and former WNBA All-Star Alana Beard, who will serve as chief basketball officer, are also involved.

Early backers include Quiet Capital, Sequence Equity and Mangrove Capital, with Sequence saying the commitment is its largest to date.

Project B plans a circuit of five-on-five tournaments featuring both women’s and men’s competitions. The women’s side is expected to launch first, reflecting surging global interest in the game. Burnett has said the league will offer compensation “multiples higher” than current women’s team-sport norms—combining salary and equity packages aimed at attracting elite talent.

The format under discussion mirrors elements of F1/LIV-style touring: six teams of 11 players contesting seven two-week tournaments in major cities, scheduled November through April to avoid direct conflict with the WNBA calendar. Organisers say they have begun talks with top WNBA players and have already secured initial commitments.

Project B emerges amid a broader reimagining of women’s basketball economics. Unrivaled, a player-founded three-on-three league operating in the WNBA offseason, closed an oversubscribed Series B that lifted its valuation to $340 million after a first season that nearly broke even—an indicator, investors argue, of growing commercial headroom.

The initiative was once linked to Maverick Carter, LeBron James’s business partner, during an early capital-raising effort reported at $5 billion; Carter is no longer involved, and Project B’s backers have not disclosed current fundraising totals.

Beard, who is helping shape the basketball product, stresses that the model is built around genuine partnership with athletes. “The players are our partners … creating value, and getting paid for that value,” she has said, underscoring the league’s equity component and its intent to showcase “elite basketball,” not exhibition entertainment.

If timelines hold, Project B would stage its inaugural season in 2026, positioning itself as both an international showcase and a new earnings lane for top professionals—and a test of whether equity can become a norm rather than an exception in women’s team sports.