The average WNBA franchise is now worth $185 million, up 180% year-over-year, according to Sportico's latest valuation study—more than double the league's previous record annual gain. The Golden State Valkyries, who tipped off their inaugural season eight months ago, are already pegged at $1 billion, making them the first ten-figure property in the 28-year history of the league. Commissioner Cathy Engelbert confirmed that collective-bargaining talks are underway, with a target to finalize terms before the existing agreement expires in October.
The spike follows a season in which average regular-season attendance rose 48% to 9,807 per game, playoff viewership doubled, and Nike renewed its apparel deal at triple the prior rate. Expansion fees tell the same story: Golden State paid $50 million in late 2023; Toronto and Portland each wrote $115 million checks eighteen months later. The league added its 13th team (the Valkyries) and will field 15 franchises by 2026, each of which now commands a valuation that would have bought the entire league in 2020.
The CBA math is straightforward. Players currently receive approximately 9.3% of basketball-related revenue, compared to 50% in the NBA and 47% in Major League Soccer. The union, led by executive director Terri Jackson, is expected to push that figure past 30% and anchor higher minimum salaries, expanded postseason roster spots, and permanent charter-flight provisions. Owners, meanwhile, want clarity on how expansion fees are split—especially the $230 million Toronto and Portland collectively deposited—and whether future media-rights windfalls count as basketball revenue or league infrastructure investment. Engelbert has scheduled three negotiating sessions before the All-Star break in July, with both sides avoiding the opt-out window that would trigger a lockout in October.
Three complicating factors. First, the league's current media deal with ESPN, CBS, and Amazon runs through 2036 but was signed in 2024, before this year's ratings surge; renegotiation triggers exist but require unanimous owner consent. Second, private-equity stakes are now embedded in eight franchises, and those fund managers expect liquidity events within seven years, which means CBA language on sale-proceeds allocation matters more than it did when families owned everything. Third, the players' union has filed three grievances since January over charter-flight compliance during road back-to-backs, signaling they will trade other asks for that one item in writing.
Golden State's $1 billion tag rests on $38 million in projected 2026 revenue, implying a 26x multiple—higher than the average NBA team and in line with English Premier League mid-table clubs. Investors are underwriting that number based on local sponsorship density (the Valkyries have 19 founding partners, each paying high-six to low-seven figures annually) and the Chase Center's ability to command $210 average ticket prices, the highest in the league. If the valuation holds through the next transaction, it resets the comp set for CBA talks; the union can argue players deserve a larger slice of an asset class that now moves like venture-backed software, not minor-league sports.
Engelbert has said publicly the league will not mirror NBA economics but will reflect "the WNBA's growth trajectory," which is executive-speak for a number north of 20% but south of 40%. The union counters that trajectory is driven by on-court product, not infrastructure investment, and that players should capture upside in real time rather than waiting for the next negotiation cycle in 2030. Both sides have retained the same labor counsel who brokered MLS's 2023 deal, which introduced a hybrid rev-share model tied to specific revenue streams rather than a single percentage.
Watch for three milestones. First, whether the league agrees to open its books on expansion-fee allocation; Toronto and Portland money has not yet appeared in basketball-related revenue calculations, and the union wants it counted. Second, the charter-flight grievance rulings, expected by late March; a loss for the league accelerates that bargaining item. Third, any surprise sale before July; if a legacy owner exits at a 200% premium to Sportico's valuation, it pulls the entire negotiation range higher.
The last time a women's professional league saw this valuation velocity was the early WTA tour in the 1970s, when prize money septupled in four years and forced the sport to create a formal ranking system just to manage sponsor demand. The WNBA is past that inflection point. The CBA will either formalize the gain-sharing that reflects it or create the legal scaffolding for the next labor stoppage.
The takeaway
WNBA franchises now trade at **26x revenue**, CBA talks hinge on expansion-fee allocation, and charter-flight language could swing the entire deal.
wnbacbavaluationwomen's sportslaborexpansion
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