The deal positions Thorne within the growing U.S. professional women’s three-on-three basketball league and reflects a broader industry push toward certified products, gender-specific research and real-world athlete data to inform formulation and innovation strategies.
‘Women’s sports is one of the most underexplored areas in performance nutrition’
Colin Watts, chief executive officer at Thorne, told NutraIngredients that the partnership aligns with the company’s long-term innovation roadmap, particularly in understanding female athlete physiology.
“Women’s sports is one of the most underexplored areas in performance nutrition, despite the elite level at which women train and compete,” Watts said. “This partnership aligns with our broader innovation pipeline by providing a real-world environment to deepen our understanding of sex-specific physiology, recovery and nutrition needs at the highest level.”
He added that one of the goals for the collaboration is to generate insights that can support future product development.
“At its core, this is about supporting athletes with smarter, evidence-based nutrition solutions while generating insights that inform our long-term innovation roadmap,” he said.
Certified products and sourcing standards
Under the agreement, Thorne will provide Unrivaled athletes with a range of the brand’s NSF Certified for Sport supplements, including protein, creatine and magnesium products. Watts said demand from elite athletes continues to shape internal quality systems.
“Ensuring safe and effective products has always been central to Thorne’s mission, and working directly with elite and professional athletes reinforces the need for rigorously tested, high-performance solutions,” he said. “All products provided to these athletes meet the strictest of standards.”
At Thorne, certification requirements influence ingredient sourcing, analytical testing and formulation decisions.
“This commitment shapes our ingredient sourcing, testing protocols and formulation practices, ensuring every product performs reliably and safely in demanding, real-world athletic settings,” Watts said.
Research gaps in women-focused sports nutrition
The partnership also includes plans to co-develop an innovation platform focused on women’s sports science, an area Watts noted remains underrepresented in published research.
“There are significant gaps in understanding how sex-specific physiology affects performance, recovery and nutrient metabolism,” he said. “Areas like micronutrient timing, hormonal influences on energy utilization and safe supplementation strategies for female athletes remain underexplored.”
He added that the league environment offers an opportunity to collect data that could inform clinically supported formulas, as “this collaboration gives us a chance to study these factors in a controlled, high-performance environment.”
On-site integration and athlete feedback
The agreement includes jersey patch placement on Miami’s Breeze BC team uniforms and naming rights for the team’s player lounge, where Thorne products will be integrated into refueling and recovery areas.
“Visibility and on-site integration allow us to show up authentically in the environments where elite athletes train and compete,” Watts said. “From a brand perspective, it reinforces trust and credibility by aligning Thorne with performance, safety and science at the highest level.”
He added that physical presence supports education and feedback, as “from an athlete-first standpoint, it ensures access to education and products that support informed, responsible fueling.”
Next steps
According to a recently published estimate from McKinsey & Company, “women’s sports could generate at least $2.5 billion in value for rights holders in the United States by 2030, [which is] a 250% increase from the $1 billion generated in 2024.”
Within the context of this growing commercial landscape, Watts said the opportunity extends beyond branded products to the broader supply chain.
“As women’s sports continue to grow, our focus is on applying the same scientific rigor and regulatory standards that have always defined Thorne,” he explained. “More broadly, we see meaningful opportunity across the ecosystem to raise the standard for women’s sports nutrition by prioritizing quality, clinical validation and long-term trust in a rapidly expanding market.”
Unrivaled’s second season is scheduled to begin in January 2026, with Thorne’s on-site nutrition support in place from the opening tip.
