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2w ago

Sportico Values Golden State Valkyries at $850 Million as WNBA Valuations Surge

New media money is resetting what buyers will pay.

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Valkyries guard Kate Martin said the pay raises across the WNBA will make the cost of living in the Bay Area more tolerable, citing “those $10 coffees around here.”
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Overview

  • Sportico’s report Friday puts the league’s average franchise value at about $427 million, up roughly 59% from 2025, with Golden State at $850 million and New York and Indiana at $600 million and $560 million.
  • The Valkyries’ leap reflects record local results in 2025, including $78 million in revenue, more than 10,000 season tickets, sellouts at Chase Center, and major sponsors such as United Airlines and JPMorgan Chase.
  • The surge ties to an 11-year, roughly $2.2 billion national media deal that begins this season and a new collective bargaining agreement that lifts team salary caps and expands revenue sharing.
  • Bankers say buyers priced out of the NFL and NBA are shifting to faster-growing, lower-cost leagues, and Sportico notes the WNBA now carries the highest value-to-revenue multiple in U.S. sports at about 13.6, prompting questions about sustainability.
  • Sportico based its valuations on talks with more than 30 industry insiders and excluded 2026 expansion teams in Toronto and Portland, while future franchises in Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia won board approval on April 9.