The Golden State Valkyries made a splash on Tuesday, as the 2025 expansion side debuted on Sportico's annual WNBA valuation list at the very top, leading all 13 league teams at $500 million.
With facility ownership and arena management playing major roles, that current estimate of the Valkyries' worth is 10 times the amount that the Golden State ownership group paid in expansion fees back in 2023.
Even more, the figure arguably puts Golden State atop all other women's sport teams worldwide, surpassing even the record-breaking $450 valuation set by the New York Liberty just last month. On Sportico's current list, the Liberty clock in with a $420 million value just behind the Valkyries.
The Sportico report also places the overall average value of a WNBA team at $269 million, a 180% increase over last season's average — and a figure that dwarfs even the $140 million valuation held by 2024 list-leaders Las Vegas.
Of all teams, the Fever saw the biggest leap, rising from sixth to third on the list with a valuation of $355 million — more than 270% higher than Indiana's $90 million mark in 2024.
Valkyries poised to win the 2025 WNBA revenue race
The Fever also led the league in revenue last year with $33.8 million, though the Valkyries are projected to run away with this season's revenue title, as Sportico estimates that Golden State will bring in more than $70 million in 2025.
The Bay Area side already set a single-game WNBA record for revenue generated, making $3 million in their 2025 home opener.
Current calculations put WNBA valuations at an average of 12 times their revenue — the highest revenue multiple among all major pro sports leagues, including the NBA (11.9), MLS (9.4), NFL (9.3), NHL (7.7), NWSL (6.8), and MLB (6.6).
Plus, new media deals with broadcasters like ESPN, NBC, and Amazon Prime — among others — are on track to generate an average of $260 million in annual revenue for the league starting next season.
With Golden State proving that expansion can be immediately profitable, business — and valuations — continues to boom in the WNBA, as the league eyes even more value with the 2026 additions of Toronto and Portland.
Women's teams are big business, with global sports business conference SPOBIS International reporting this week that average WNBA franchise valuations rose to $90 million in 2024, while NWSL clubs weighed in at $104 million — doubling their 2023 mark.
In May, the reigning WNBA champion New York Liberty sold shares at a $450 million valuation, qualifying them as the world's most valuable women's sports team.
SPOBIS's top five includes the WSL's Chelsea FC ($326 million) alongside NWSL side Angel City FC ($250 million), the WNBA's Dallas Wings ($208 million), the Kansas City Current ($182 million), and the Las Vegas Aces ($140 million).
US women's sports teams hold a key advantage in the race to the top of the valuations table, with WNBA and NWSL squads able operate independently from men's systems.
Having separated from their men's side last year, Chelsea FC was the only non-US team to make the list, bolstered by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian's $26.6 million purchase of a 10% stake in the 2024/25 WSL champs last month.
Other European teams in line for similar value boosts include OL Lyonnes and the London City Lionesses, both independently owned and operated by Washington Spirit owner Michele Kang.
With many factors contributing to a team's overall value — namely capital, media deals, viewership, ownership structures, and popularity — it's tough to predict the next big thing in women's sports, but these numbers point to a red-hot market across major pro leagues.
According to a Thursday report from The Athletic, shares of the New York Liberty were recently sold at a $450 million valuation, making the reigning WNBA champions the most valuable franchise in women's sports.
Valued at $130 million just last year, the Liberty's new record-breaking worth is over 30 times what majority owners Joe and Clara Wu Tsai paid for the team in January 2019.
The shares in the multi-investor purchase account for an ownership percentage in the "mid-teens," with the capital intended to help fund an $80 million state-of-the-art training facility near the team's Barclays Center home in Brooklyn.
Growing investment in women's sports fuel high valuations
New York's valuation more than doubles the last-known WNBA capital raise, when the Dallas Wings sold 1% of their franchise at a $208 million valuation last August.
The NWSL's Angel City FC previously held the top mark in women's sports, valued at $250 million in last summer's sale to USC dean Willow Bay and her Disney CEO husband, Bob Iger.
Earlier this month, however, WSL champs Chelsea FC surpassed the LA club behind a $26.6 million investment from Reddit co-founder and tennis icon Serena Williams's husband, Alexis Ohanian.
With varied sources placing Ohanian's stake between 8% and 10%, the Blues valuation in that transaction lands in the $265 million to $331 million range — still trailing the Liberty by a hefty margin.
According to Wu Tsai, this is just the beginning, with the business leader boldly predicting blockbuster growth for her Brooklyn team — and the WNBA at-large — at a May 2024 event.
"I believe that in 10 years — or less — I'll be able to come back here to tell you how we turned the New York Liberty into the world's first billion-dollar women's sports franchise," she said.