The Golden State Valkyries are worth $1.05 billion, according to CNBC's 2026 franchise valuations released May 4. The franchise began play in May 2025. No women's professional team in North America has reached ten figures faster.
The number reflects $50 million in annual revenue against league-average operating costs near $22 million, per sources familiar with the accounting. Joe Lacob and Peter Guber's ownership group paid a $50 million expansion fee in 2023. The multiple is 21x the entry price in under three years, most of it accrued before tipoff. Chase Center lease terms—shared infrastructure, no separate rent line—and Silicon Valley sponsorship density did the rest.
The valuation matters because it resets the floor for the next expansion round. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has mentioned Toronto, Philadelphia, and Nashville as candidates for teams 15 and 16. Ownership groups sizing bids now use Valkyries as comp, not the Las Vegas Aces at $835 million or New York Liberty at $925 million. If the league prices the next fee at $100 million—double the Valkyries' entry but half their current mark—it signals confidence that major-market operators can build to $1 billion within two seasons given the right building deal and local sponsorship engine. If the fee comes in at $75 million, it signals caution that the Valkyries are an outlier.
The sponsorship base tells you why this happened in the Bay. Salesforce, Google, Kaiser Permanente, and Plaid bought founding partnerships before the roster was assembled. JP Morgan signed as jersey patch in November 2024, six months before opening night, at a reported $8 million annual rate—higher than half the NBA's patch deals at the time. Merchandise split 60/40 league-to-team under the current CBA, but the Valkyries moved 47,000 replica jerseys in the first four months, more than any WNBA expansion team on record. Chase Center averages 18,064 paid attendance, 96% capacity, with resale floor seats moving at $320 against a $95 box-office list. The math works when your building is already staffed and your sponsor pipeline shares a venture-capital Rolodex with your owner.
The league's collective bargaining agreement expires after the 2027 season. Player salary cap sits at $1.46 million per team for 2026, roughly 6.6% of that $22 million operating cost. The WNBA Players Association will point to franchise valuations when it argues for revenue share closer to the NBA's 50% band. Ownership will point to the fact that only four teams—Valkyries, Liberty, Aces, Los Angeles Sparks—currently operate profitably, per league financial disclosures. The Valkyries' number helps both sides: it proves the asset class works in the right market, and it proves the current economic model doesn't scale to 12 teams without new media money.
Media rights are the next lever. The WNBA's current deal with ESPN, CBS, and Amazon runs through 2027 at roughly $200 million annually, or $16.7 million per team. NBA comparable on a per-game basis would imply a women's package near $450 million. If the league gets there in the next negotiation—likely to close by December 2026—team valuations adjust upward again, probably 15-20% across the board. The Valkyries would be north of $1.2 billion on that math before Year Three.
Lacob and Guber haven't commented on exit timelines, but three private-equity platforms and one sovereign wealth fund have circulated offers for 10-15% minority stakes in WNBA franchises over the past eight months, according to two owners familiar with the approaches. The Valkyries are the first team where a $100 million check buys less than 10%.
Watch for the league's expansion announcement, expected between the Finals in September and December's Board of Governors meeting. If the fee lands at $100 million, Toronto and Philadelphia ownership groups are already assembling. If it's $75 million, Nashville moves up the board. Either way, the Valkyries just gave every bidder a three-year case study on how to build a ten-figure women's franchise with an NBA landlord and a tech-sponsor zipcode.
The takeaway
Valkyries hit **$1 billion** in under three years, resetting WNBA expansion-fee expectations and giving players a valuation data point for 2027 CBA talks.
wnbavaluationexpansionsponsorshipgolden statecba
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