The Golden State Valkyries, which will not play a regular-season game until May 2025, are valued at $1 billion according to a franchise assessment completed this week. The figure makes the expansion team the first WNBA property to cross ten digits and arrives as the league prepares to open its 30th season with the richest media deal in women's sports history.
The Valkyries were purchased in May 2023 for $50 million by Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, the Golden State Warriors ownership group that paid $450 million for the NBA franchise in 2010. That 1,900% implied gain in under two years tracks with league-wide repricing: the Atlanta Dream sold for $78 million in February 2023; Toronto's incoming franchise paid $115 million eight months ago. The math is not subtle. Chase Center holds 18,064 seats. The Warriors averaged 97.1% capacity last season. The Valkyries will play in the same building under the same ownership with the same premium suite inventory and a roster built through an expansion draft that netted Kate Martin, Kayla Thornton, and Temi Fagbenle.
The valuation arrives six weeks after the WNBA closed an 11-year, $2.2 billion media package with Disney, Amazon, and NBC. That deal pays teams roughly $16 million annually in rights fees starting in 2026, up from $2.8 million under the expiring contract. Sponsors are repricing accordingly: Ally Financial extended its league partnership in September; State Farm doubled courtside presence in November; Gatorade shifted from NBA overflow to dedicated WNBA creative for the first time. The Valkyries enter this environment with zero legacy debt, a downtown arena, and Silicon Valley institutional money circling minority stakes. One family office told a consultant in October they were modeling $150 million for 10% of a West Coast team. The Valkyries were the subject.
What matters for the other 11 legacy franchises: the Valkyries valuation resets what Portland and the second Toronto bidder will pay when those expansion processes close in early 2025. The league has not disclosed bid floors, but two sources with visibility into the Toronto process said groups were told to prepare offers "consistent with recent precedent," which now includes a billion-dollar comp. Phoenix, Seattle, and Las Vegas—markets with new or renovated arenas and existing NBA or NHL partnerships—are watching. The Atlanta Dream, purchased for $78 million in 2023, would conservatively command $300 million today. Indiana, which plays in a 17,923-seat arena it does not control and drew 4,067 fans per game in 2024, faces a different calculus.
Watch for three catalysts in the next six months: Portland's expansion bid decision, expected by March; the Valkyries' season-ticket deposit figures, which leaked at 8,200 holds as of December; and whether any legacy franchise ownership explores a sale before the new media money arrives. The Indiana Fever, Connecticut Sun, and Minnesota Lynx all operate under structures that predate the current asset class conversation. The Lynx, owned by Glen Taylor since 1994, have no announced succession plan. Taylor is 83.
The Valkyries tip off May 16 against the Los Angeles Sparks, and Joe Lacob will watch from a seat he valued at ten times what he paid for the whole team two years ago.
The takeaway
The first billion-dollar WNBA franchise resets expansion floors and will force legacy owners to defend valuations built before media money arrived.
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