The Golden State Valkyries are worth $1 billion, according to CNBC's 2026 franchise valuations released this week. The team launched in 2025. No other WNBA franchise has crossed nine figures in any prior valuation survey.
The Valkyries play at Chase Center, sharing the building with the Warriors. Season-ticket deposits exceeded 20,000 within 48 hours of the expansion announcement in October 2023. The team is controlled by Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, who paid the league an expansion fee of $50 million in 2023. That fee now looks like a rounding error.
This matters because the WNBA is preparing to announce at least two more expansion franchises by summer 2026, and Portland and Philadelphia are the reported front-runners. The Valkyries' valuation sets a new negotiating floor. Portland's ownership group, led by Alex Bhathal, has been circling the league for three years. Philadelphia has the Wells Fargo Center and Elevate Sports Ventures attached. Both cities now know the entrance price is structurally different than it was 18 months ago. Expansion fees for the next round are expected to start at $100 million and could reach $150 million if the Valkyries' comp holds.
The broader implication is debt-market access. A $1 billion franchise valuation unlocks senior secured credit facilities that were unavailable to women's sports properties even two years ago. Family offices that passed on NWSL clubs in 2022 are now returning calls. The Valkyries have not disclosed revenue figures, but Chase Center's premium seating inventory and the Warriors' corporate sponsorship infrastructure give the team structural advantages no other WNBA franchise can replicate. Naming rights, suite revenue, and local media deals are all shared-service plays with the NBA parent club.
CNBC's methodology weights revenue, operating income, and market comparables. The Valkyries benefit from the Warriors' existing $25 million annual local media deal with NBC Sports Bay Area, which added Valkyries games at no incremental rights fee. That arrangement is not replicable in Portland or Philadelphia, where local RSN economics remain distressed. The Milwaukee Bucks' ownership briefly explored launching a WNBA team in 2024 but walked after modeling the standalone P&L.
The valuation also clarifies the Nike negotiation. The league's current apparel deal runs through 2028 and pays roughly $15 million annually across all twelve franchises. That contract was signed in 2018, when no team was worth more than $30 million. The Valkyries alone are now worth more than the entire league was valued at four years ago. Nike's next bid will need to reflect that, or Adidas and Puma will be on the next earnings call.
What to watch: Portland's expansion announcement is expected before the WNBA draft in April 2026. Philadelphia's timeline is less clear but likely follows within 90 days. The league has also received informal interest from Houston, Denver, and Austin ownership groups. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in January the league would cap at sixteen teams by 2028, which leaves two slots after Portland and Philadelphia. The Valkyries' number accelerates that conversation.
The Warriors paid $450 million for their NBA franchise in 2010. Sixteen years later, their WNBA affiliate is worth more than twice that purchase price, and it has played one season.
The takeaway
First billion-dollar WNBA valuation resets expansion fees and opens institutional debt markets that were closed to women's sports 24 months ago.
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