The Golden State Valkyries are worth $1 billion, per CNBC's 2026 franchise valuations released Thursday. The team began play thirteen months ago. No women's professional franchise in any sport has previously crossed ten figures.

Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, who also own the NBA Warriors, paid a $50 million expansion fee in 2023 to enter the WNBA. The Valkyries played their inaugural season at Chase Center in San Francisco, averaged 17,200 fans per game—third in the league—and secured $18 million in annual sponsorship commitments before opening night. The valuation implies a 20x return on the expansion check in under three years, most of it accrued before the roster played a competitive minute.

The number matters because it resets the floor for every other WNBA transaction. The league's next expansion window opens in 2027; Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Nashville are circling. Informal guidance last summer suggested $150 million entry fees. The Valkyries figure makes that look quaint. Separately, minority stakes in existing franchises—Atlanta, Phoenix, Chicago—are being quietly shopped through Raine Group and Inner Circle Sports. Sellers were anchoring asks at $300-$400 million enterprise values as recently as November. Those decks are being rewritten. The Las Vegas Aces, owned by Mark Davis, pulled $60 million in revenue last season and sold out T-Mobile Arena for sixteen straight games. Comparable math puts them north of $800 million. Davis paid $2 million for the franchise in 2021 when it was still in San Antonio.

Three factors built the Valkyries number. First, Chase Center economics. The Warriors control the building, the suites, the F&B, and the parking. WNBA teams playing in shared NBA arenas typically keep 30-40% of gate revenue under lease deals. The Valkyries keep everything, which is worth roughly $25 million annually in operating income the league's median franchise does not see. Second, sponsor density. The Valkyries signed twelve founding partners before Year One, including Rakuten, JPMorgan Chase, and Kaiser Permanente, all of whom were already deep in the Warriors' corporate structure. The NBA team's sponsorship staff simply cross-sold the WNBA inventory at a discount to avoid channel conflict. Third, the new media deal. The WNBA's eleven-year rights package with Disney, Amazon, and NBC begins this season and pays the league $200 million annually, up from $50 million. That number flows through to franchise equity values the same way NFL teams repriced after Sunday Ticket moved to YouTube. The Valkyries entered the league the year before the money arrived, which means they captured the entire basis step-up.

Lacob has already told limited partners the team will be profitable in Year Two, unusual for a startup franchise in any league. The Warriors lost money for five seasons after Lacob's 2010 purchase. The Valkyries are projected to clear $8-$12 million in EBITDA this season, per two people familiar with the forecast, which would make them the WNBA's third-most profitable team behind New York and Las Vegas. The margin comes from Chase Center cost structure and Silicon Valley sponsorship rates, not league-average attendance or merchandise volume.

Two immediate effects. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert is now fielding calls from family offices and sovereign wealth funds asking about the next expansion slot. The league has historically been cautious about ownership quality, favoring operators with NBA experience or deep local civic ties. The Valkyries valuation brings a different buyer class—financial sponsors who see a 40% IRR window if the league adds two more teams and reopens the media deal in 2030. Engelbert's job is to take their money without losing control of the competitive calendar or the pace of growth.

Second, player contract economics lag the franchise value move by eighteen months minimum. The WNBA's maximum salary this season is $241,000. Breanna Stewart, who signed with the Valkyries in free agency last April, makes $230,000. The league's collective bargaining agreement runs through 2027 and includes opt-out language tied to revenue thresholds the new media deal will almost certainly trigger. The players' association has already retained Wasserman's team-sports practice to model a new salary structure. The ask will start at 50% revenue share, matching the NBA's split. That negotiation begins in earnest once the playoffs end in September.

The league's next expansion announcement is expected before June, with the new franchises entering play in 2028. Cleveland's ownership group, led by Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, has already submitted financial projections assuming a $200 million fee. The Valkyries number suggests they are underwriting the wrong case.