WNBA's Golden State Valkyries are worth nearly $1 billion, per new valuation report
The Golden State Valkyries are the WNBA's most valuable franchise, according to Sportico, worth nearly $1 billion.
It’s no secret that women’s sports have been growing leaps and bounds in the past few years in terms of audience, viewership and fandom. Everyone is looking to cash in, from team owners and league stakeholders to the players themselves. This past offseason, the WNBA inked a groundbreaking collective bargaining agreement with its players after lengthy negotiations that brought big jumps in salaries and revenue sharing.
The league is also in the midst of its richest media rights deal and television ratings for the WNBA have never been higher. As all those things continue to grow, so do the values of teams. And one of them is nearly worth $1 billion.
Sportico released its annual WNBA team valuations on Friday morning and values the Golden State Valkyries at $850 million. The least valuable WNBA team, the Atlanta Dream, are valued at $285 million. The average WNBA team is worth $425 million — an increase of 58% from last year’s annual average.
According to Sportico, the Valkyries reported a WNBA-record $78 million in revenue in their inaugural season largely due to more than 10,000 season tickets sold and an impressive collection of sponsorships, including JPMorganChase, Sephora and United Airlines. The Valkyries are worth 150% more than the most valuable NWSL club — Angel City FC — which is valued at $335 million. In 2023, the Valkyries paid an expansion franchise fee of $50 million.