The Connecticut Sun are expected to sell for north of $200 million, according to three people familiar with the process, roughly 3x the $70 million valuation implied by the Golden State Valkyries expansion fee just eighteen months ago. The buyer group includes a mix of family-office capital and at least one institutional LP, none of whom were active in women's sports prior to 2024.
The jump tracks with a broader repricing across women's leagues. NWSL expansion fees now clear $110 million per franchise, up from $2 million in 2019. The WNBA's media rights deal, finalized last November at $200 million annually over eleven years, reset the revenue base every valuation model uses. Attendance is climbing in both leagues—WNBA averaged 9,800 per game this season, up 21% year-over-year; NWSL is tracking toward 11,200, a 17% gain. The Sun themselves drew 8,400 per game in 2024, filling 84% of Mohegan Sun Arena on a season-ticket base that renewed at 92%.
What changed is the buyer profile. Five years ago, WNBA and NWSL franchises traded among celebrity owners and local real-estate operators willing to absorb losses for community goodwill. Today's buyers are running IRR models. They see stable attendance curves, media rights that triple in real dollars over the next cycle, and sponsorship inventory that still prices below comparable men's properties despite comparable reach among women aged 18-34. One allocator sizing a minority stake in an NWSL team noted that women's sports franchises now trade at 4-5x revenue, in line with MLS a decade ago, before Apple and broadcast deals pushed multiples to 8-10x.
The Sun sale is complicated by Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment's ownership structure—the tribe holds the franchise through a gaming entity, and any deal requires council approval—but the $200 million+ price has already set the floor for future WNBA transactions. The Las Vegas Aces, who draw 10,100 per game and occupy a newer arena, are now privately valued near $250 million by two banks that underwrote recent franchise debt. The New York Liberty, whose Brooklyn home sells out 17,200 seats nightly, are not for sale but would command $300 million+ in any hypothetical process.
Sponsor-side, the spend is following the capital. Brands allocated $1.2 billion to women's sports partnerships in 2024, up from $750 million in 2022, per two agencies that track activation budgets. That figure includes kit deals, naming rights, and in-venue inventory, but excludes athlete endorsements. Nike's new WNBA apparel deal, effective 2026, pays the league $60 million annually, 4x the prior contract. The NWSL is negotiating its next kit cycle now; early bids are landing between $15 million and $20 million per year, comparable to MLS deals a decade ago.
Watch three follow-on events. First, the Sun sale closes by mid-September, and the buyer's identity will clarify whether institutional capital is entering through one-off bets or dedicated women's sports funds. Second, the WNBA's next expansion round—Toronto and Portland are expected—will test whether $200 million+ expansion fees hold after Golden State's $70 million entry. Third, NWSL media rights renew in early 2026; current deal pays $27 million annually, and the league is targeting $75 million+ based on streaming comp data from Apple and Amazon.
The Sun's price is the forward curve. Every franchise owner in both leagues now underwrites the next media cycle at 3-4x current rates, because the attendance data and the capital inflows say the same thing: the floor moved.
The takeaway
WNBA franchises now trade at **$200M+**, up **3x** in eighteen months, as institutional buyers price in steeper media curves.
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