The Golden State Valkyries are worth $1 billion after one season of play, according to CNBC's 2026 franchise valuations released Tuesday. No women's professional sports team has crossed ten figures before. The number sits 40% above the New York Liberty's $715 million mark, the second-highest in the league.

The valuation reflects what Joe Tsai paid to majority-own the Liberty in 2019 ($10 million), what the Valkyries' ownership group paid in expansion fees in 2023 ($50 million), and what changed in between: a new media deal, visible venture backing, and the decision to build the Valkyries as a sister property to the Warriors rather than an add-on. The team plays at Oakland Arena, the Warriors' former home, under a long-term lease structured by ownership to avoid the per-game rental model that kills margins in older markets. Rick Welts runs operations. The executive who built the Warriors' Chase Center revenue model now applies it to a league where 11 of 13 teams still share buildings with NBA tenants on unfavorable terms.

The valuation assumes continued upward pressure from the league's 12-year, $2.2 billion media package that began in 2026, a 3.6x increase over the prior deal. Golden State captured $38 million in revenue during year one, per CNBC, a figure that includes ticket sales, sponsorships, and their share of league distributions. For context, the Liberty generated $32 million in 2025 despite playing in Barclays Center and reaching the Finals. The gap is sponsorship. The Valkyries launched with 14 founding partners, including Rakuten and Google Cloud, both of whom already write checks to the Warriors. The cross-sell was structural, not opportunistic. Sponsors were offered packages that bundled men's and women's inventory at a discount to separate deals, a model the NBA has discussed leaguewide but not yet mandated.

The number also reflects investor appetite detached from current cash flow. The Valkyries lost money in year one, as all expansion teams do, but their cap table includes Sequoia partner Roelof Botha, Zoom founder Eric Yuan, and a handful of family offices bidding up women's sports assets as a category. The same capital that pushed Angel City FC's valuation to $250 million before the club played a game is now working through WNBA expansion. Comparable sales are sparse but directional: the Las Vegas Aces sold for $2 billion in 2024 after winning back-to-back titles. Golden State's number assumes you're buying the *market*, not the *team*—a bet that the Bay Area will support a winner and that the cost of the next available franchise will be higher.

What to watch: the league's next expansion window, likely 2028, when Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said she wants 16 teams. Portland and Philadelphia are the named candidates. If Golden State's number holds, expansion fees will reset above $100 million, double what the Valkyries paid three years prior. Rakuten's deal with the Valkyries renews in March 2027; the size of that check will signal whether sponsors see the thesis or just the optics. And the Oakland Arena lease comes up for renegotiation in 2030. If the team outgrows the building or the city pushes for a new facility, the infrastructure advantage that built the valuation starts to erode.

The Warriors paid $450 million for the franchise in 2010. They're worth $9.1 billion now, per Forbes. The Valkyries hit ten figures in 365 days.