For years, WNBA players played overseas in the offseason to supplement their low salaries. The need to be able to compete all year round was seen as a detriment to the sport, requiring players to spend time in overseas markets and straining their bodies and limiting their ability to build strong personal brands and win sponsorship opportunities in the United States year-round.
Today the calculation has changed. The most recent example is Azzi Fudd, the 2026 No. 1 draft pick and now a Dallas Wings star. She is the newest player to join Project B. Assets is the first to report. Project B is an international men’s and women’s basketball league built by a former Facebook executive, the co-founder of Skype, and advised by LeBron James’ business partner Maverick Carter. In early 2025, Bloomberg reported that Project B was planned try to increase up to $5 billion to make basketball the world’s leading sport – ahead of football. Co-founder Grady Burnett says the number is “somewhat high” and the league has completed its capital raising; He declined to confirm how much money the league has raised.
Project B hasn’t started playing yet, but plans to launch a Formula 1-inspired “Grand Prix-style” basketball game for men and women in January in six cities, including Tokyo and Valencia, Spain. The model involves underutilized arenas paying Project B to bring international stars to their cities, allowing the league to build an asset-light business. “It puts athletes on a global stage and connects them with fans in every corner of the world,” Burnett says. How the domestic 3-on-3 league is unrivaledwhich has also emerged as an off-season opportunity for female players, offering players a stake in the business.
For Fudd, the international game was appealing. An elite collegiate athlete, the 23-year-old has spent most of her life training in the United States and welcomes the opportunity to travel. “I want to be able to expand my experiences and go beyond the borders of America,” she said Assets. Her father, Tim Fudd, played basketball overseas and she grew up hearing stories from him and other players about their experiences in other countries.
For the right player, international gaming can also be a business opportunity. Fudd traveled to Chongqing, China, with Steph Curry last summer, and fans approached her with copies of Slam magazine, photos to sign, and a custom-made Labubus. “People who are fans of mine all over the world – I’m so far from home, in a country I’ve never been to, and people are cheering for me, giving me gifts and welcoming me with open arms – it was such a surreal experience,” she remembers. “It opened my eyes to how much more there is out there and how basketball can open the doors to so much.”
It’s a different calculation even for a post-NIL player like Fudd, who had more than 800,000 followers at the start of her professional career Instagram and a similar following on TikTok. She has already signed major sponsorship deals in the USA, such as a deal with the hair color brand Madison Reed. She doesn’t build a personal brand in the US in her first year like players of previous generations. The additional opportunity for them now is to build their fan base abroad; For the Chinese market, it is entering the TikTok-like platforms Douyin and Rednote.
“What’s incredible now is that players have this option – they can leave if they want, they don’t have to, they can stay if they want. It’s not compulsory,” says Fudd.
Both the WNBA and the NBA are now becoming increasingly international. With this year’s higher salaries after that his new collective agreementthe WNBA attracts more players from outside the US; In the NBA, an international player has been named MVP in the last eight seasons. Burnett is betting on soccer, where there are several leagues that generate more than $1 billion in revenue. He sees an opportunity to create the same competitive landscape in basketball.
Project B encountered some controversy as it was reportedly funded with Saudi money, a hot topic in sports. Burnett says the league has not accepted Saudi capital; It worked with entertainment provider Sela, owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, but it says the partnership is no longer active.
Other players who have signed up for Project B include Nneka Ogwumike, Alyssa Thomas, Kelsey Mitchell and Jewell Loyd. The league has yet to announce any male players — and the men’s league is poised to disrupt the NBA more given the short offseason and conflict within the league. Burnett has formulated his strategy as “extending the careers of established players” from the NBA.