The Golden State Valkyries reached a $1 billion valuation in their inaugural season, becoming the first WNBA franchise to cross the threshold, according to CNBC's 2026 franchise rankings released Monday. The expansion club launched play thirteen months ago.
The Valkyries opened in May 2025 under majority owner Joe Lacob, who controls the NBA's Warriors, and president Jess Smith, formerly of the Sacramento Kings front office. The team plays at Chase Center, shares the Warriors' business operations infrastructure, and sold out its 11,500-seat lower bowl configuration for all seventeen home dates in Year One. Season-ticket deposits exceeded 15,000 within six weeks of the franchise announcement in October 2023. The valuation reflects $210 million in basketball-related revenue for fiscal 2026, per CNBC's methodology, which weights gate receipts, local media, and corporate partnerships at 2.8x trailing twelve months.
The Valkyries' ascent arrives as the league's ownership landscape reshuffles. Serena Williams joined the Toronto Tempo ownership group Monday, three months before the league's first Canadian franchise tips off in September 2026. Williams takes an undisclosed minority stake alongside principal owner Larry Tanenbaum, who chairs Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment and paid a $115 million expansion fee in May 2024. The Tempo plays at Coca-Cola Coliseum, the 8,400-seat arena that houses the AHL's Marlies, with plans to move into a planned 12,000-seat venue in the Port Lands district by 2029. Williams sits on the boards of Poshmark, Impossible Foods, and Noom; her Serena Ventures fund has deployed capital into eighty-four startups since 2014, sixteen of them sports-adjacent. The Tempo hire places her in proximity to Canada Goose, Lululemon, and RBC, three anchor sponsors who signed five-year deals totaling $47 million combined, according to a Toronto Star report in November.
The league simultaneously approved the Connecticut Sun's sale and relocation to Houston, effective after the 2026 season. The Sun, one of the WNBA's original eight franchises dating to 1999, will vacate Mohegan Sun Arena after twenty-eight seasons. New ownership group led by Houston real estate developer Tilman Fertitta and investor Angela Benton paid $85 million for the franchise, below the $115 million Toronto and Golden State paid for expansion slots but above the $50 million benchmark set by San Francisco's sale to Lacob in 2023. The Houston franchise inherits the Sun's playing assets, including forward Alyssa Thomas and coach Stephanie White, and will play at Toyota Center, the 18,000-seat arena that houses the NBA's Rockets, whom Fertitta controls. Connecticut averaged 6,890 fans per game in 2025, ranking ninth in the league; Houston's feasibility study projected 9,200 average attendance based on the metro's 7.1 million population and corporate sponsorship density.
The Valkyries' $1 billion valuation sits 4.3x above the league's median franchise value of $232 million, per CNBC's full ranking. The spread reflects Chase Center's premium inventory—the arena commands $14,500 per courtside seat per season, triple the league average—and the Warriors' existing corporate partnerships, nineteen of which extended to cover the Valkyries. Rakuten, JPMorgan Chase, and Google each added $3 million annually to existing Warriors deals to include Valkyries assets, according to two people familiar with the contracts. The franchise's local media deal with NBC Sports Bay Area pays $6.2 million per season through 2028, the highest rate in the league.
The Connecticut-to-Houston move creates the league's first Texas rivalry when the Dallas Wings visit in 2027. It also eliminates the WNBA's last remaining Northeast corridor team outside New York, a gap the league office is tracking as Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington emerge as expansion candidates for the 2028-2029 window. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert told CNBC the league will announce two additional franchises by June 2027, targeting markets that can support 10,000-plus average attendance and generate $25 million in annual local revenue.
Golden State's front office is hiring two additional vice presidents—one for partnerships, one for analytics—with offers expected by March. Toronto begins season-ticket sales February 10. Houston's rebrand and kit unveil is scheduled for May 15, sixty days before the Sun's final Connecticut home game.
The takeaway
The WNBA's first $1B franchise validates Chase Center economics as Toronto adds Williams and Houston replaces Connecticut at $85M.
wnbafranchise valuationexpansionownershipgolden statetoronto tempo
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