The Golden State Valkyries are worth $1 billion, according to CNBC's 2026 WNBA franchise valuations released this week. The team completed one season of play.
No other WNBA franchise reaches ten figures in the ranking. The Valkyries entered the league as an expansion team for the 2025 season, paying a reported $50 million expansion fee. The valuation represents a 20x return in roughly eighteen months for the ownership group led by Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, who also control the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors are valued at approximately $8.28 billion in Sportico's latest NBA rankings, fourth in the league.
The number matters because it resets the price floor for WNBA expansion. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has discussed adding two franchises by 2028. Portland and Philadelphia are considered frontrunners. If Golden State's valuation holds through diligence, prospective ownership groups now face a $100 million-plus entry price, double the Valkyries' fee. That changes who can write the check. Family offices that sized WNBA stakes as charitable adjacencies two years ago are now running DCF models. The league's previous expansion cycle—Atlanta in 2008—charged $10 million.
The valuation also clarifies the Warriors' subsidy model. The Valkyries share Chase Center, the Warriors' $1.6 billion arena in San Francisco's Mission Bay. They do not pay rent. They inherit corporate suites already sold to Salesforce, Google, and JPMorgan. Their jersey patch deal with Accenture, announced pre-launch, runs five years at an undisclosed sum estimated in the mid-seven figures annually. The Warriors' corresponding patch deal with Rakuten paid $60 million over three years. The ratio is roughly 1:10, but the Valkyries' deal was signed when the team had zero brand equity. Renewals will test that spread.
Golden State's on-court product supports the valuation. The team finished 18-22 in year one, missing the playoffs by two games. They hired Natalie Nakase as head coach, the first Asian American woman to hold the role in WNBA history. They drafted Stanford's Cameron Brink at number two overall, then lost her to a torn ACL in June. Average attendance was 11,018, third in the league behind Las Vegas and Seattle. Chase Center's configuration seats 18,064 for basketball. The Valkyries are not selling out, but they are filling the lower bowl, which is what television sees.
The broadcast picture explains institutional interest. The WNBA signed an eleven-year, $2.2 billion media rights deal in 2024 with Disney, Amazon, and NBCUniversal. The league's previous deal paid $50 million annually. The new one pays $200 million. Golden State benefits disproportionately. Their local rights are bundled with the Warriors on NBC Sports Bay Area, which reaches 6.5 million television households. That distribution is already monetized. Most WNBA teams are negotiating streaming carriage from scratch.
The Valkyries' ownership structure also matters. Lacob and Guber hold majority control, but the investor pool includes venture capital names who treat the stake as a dual-use asset: financial return plus category access. Several limited partners run consumer brands targeting women aged 18-34, the WNBA's core demo. One investor described the math in a private call last summer: if the franchise breaks even operationally but delivers $5 million in brand lift annually, the multiple works at $200 million. At $1 billion, that logic requires either believing the league's next media deal triples again or that Chase Center's infrastructure creates a moat other franchises cannot replicate quickly.
Two comps help test the valuation. The NHL's Seattle Kraken, who began play in 2021, paid a $650 million expansion fee and are now worth approximately $2 billion according to Sportico. The NBA's Charlotte Hornets sold for $275 million in 2010 and are valued at $2.5 billion today. Both franchises play in male-dominated leagues with longer revenue histories. The Valkyries' path to $2 billion requires either the WNBA's revenue growth curve continuing at 30% annually or a liquidity event—sale or minority stake—that validates the number in cash.
The next test is Portland's expansion bid. The application deadline is unannounced, but league sources expect a decision by Q3 2026. If the fee comes in above $100 million, Golden State's valuation is real. If it stays closer to $75 million, the ranking reflects Chase Center's asset value, not replicable franchise economics. Philadelphia's ownership group, led by Sixth Street Partners and Lore-Rodriguez (who are buying the Minnesota Timberwolves), has indicated willingness to pay a premium. That bid will clarify whether WNBA franchises are income-producing assets or call options on women's sports institutionalization.
The Valkyries open their second season April 15 against the Phoenix Mercury. Cameron Brink is expected to return. The team is hiring a chief revenue officer, according to three people familiar with the search. The role did not exist in year one.