{"id":359080,"date":"2025-12-21T05:06:24","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T05:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/359080\/"},"modified":"2025-12-21T05:06:24","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T05:06:24","slug":"liberty-are-no-1-in-forbes-first-list-of-most-valuable-womens-sports-teams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/359080\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberty are No. 1 in Forbes’ first list of most valuable women’s sports teams"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forbes released its inaugural list of the world\u2019s most valuable women\u2019s sports teams<\/a> on Wednesday, and the Liberty sat atop it.<\/p>\n

The Liberty were valued at $400 million, the most of any of the 25 teams on the list. The team \u2014\u00a0owned by Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai<\/a> and led by star players Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones \u2014\u00a0won the WNBA title for the first time in 2024<\/a>. The top five spots on Forbes\u2019 list were all occupied by WNBA teams, with the Caitlin Clark-led Indiana Fever ($370 million) at No. 2 and the Seattle Storm ($330 million) at No. 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey’re in New York, and they’ve been very good \u2014\u00a0those are probably the two biggest factors,\u201d Robert Boland, a sports law professor at Seton Hall Law School, told Newsday on Thursday. \u201cThey are in the biggest market and they have been a front\u00a0of the league franchise\u00a0now for several years, and I think that makes a big difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Liberty did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Forbes’ list of the most valuable women’s sports teams<\/p>\n

1. Liberty – $400 million<\/p>\n

2. Indiana Fever – $370 million<\/p>\n

3. Seattle Storm – $330 million<\/p>\n

4. Las Vegas Aces – $310 million<\/p>\n

5. Phoenix Mercury – $300 million<\/p>\n

6. Angel City FC – $280 million<\/p>\n

7. Kansas City Current – $275 million<\/p>\n

8. Arsenal – $260 million<\/p>\n

9. Barcelona – $255 million<\/p>\n

T10. Chelsea – $250 million<\/p>\n

T10. Dallas Wings – $250 million<\/p>\n

12. Chicago Sky – $240 million<\/p>\n

13. Los Angeles Sparks – $235 million<\/p>\n

14. Minnesota Lynx – $230 million<\/p>\n

15. Washington Mystics – $205 million<\/p>\n

16. Connecticut Sun – $200 million<\/p>\n

17. Atlanta Dream – $190 million<\/p>\n

18. Bay FC – $170 million<\/p>\n

19. San Diego Wave FC – $165 million<\/p>\n

20. Washington Spirit – $130 million<\/p>\n

21. Portland Thorns FC – $120 million<\/p>\n

22. Manchester United – $115 million<\/p>\n

T23. Gotham FC – $110 million<\/p>\n

T23. Real Madrid – $110 million<\/p>\n

25. Seattle Reign FC – $105 million<\/p>\n

Another local team, Gotham FC of the National Women\u2019s Soccer League, was tied for No. 23 on the list with a $110 million valuation. Gotham FC, which plays its home games at Sports Illustrated Stadium (formerly Red Bull Arena) in Harrison, New Jersey, won the NWSL title last month for the second time in three years. Rose Lavelle, a U.S. women\u2019s national team mainstay, was named championship MVP.<\/p>\n

\u201cWomen\u2019s sports continue their skyrocketing growth, and Gotham FC is right there at the forefront as continental champions and two-time NWSL champions in the last three years,\u201d Gotham FC spokesperson Jeff Greer said in a statement to Newsday. \u201cSince 2023, our average attendance is up 41% and our NWSL record-setting partnerships have fueled our rise as the fastest-growing club in the best women\u2019s soccer league in the world. This is only the beginning for Gotham FC.\u201d<\/p>\n

Said Boland: \u201cI do think that (the NWSL) has done an amazing job in creating interest, in generating fandom and finding their moment, so I can’t commend them highly enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

In terms of revenue, which reflected the 2024 season for WNBA and NWSL teams and excluded playoff games, the Liberty\u2019s estimated $25 million ranked tied for fourth. Gotham FC\u2019s $9 million in estimated revenue was the lowest on the list.<\/p>\n

Forbes evaluated 12 of the 13 WNBA franchises, excluding the Golden State Valkyries, who debuted this year. All 12 were in the top 17 of the list.<\/p>\n

Boland said the WNBA\u2019s valuation is \u201cdramatically different\u201d compared to years past for several reasons, including its media rights success, the \u201cCaitlin Clark factor,\u201d and strategic expansion and investment.<\/p>\n

The rest of the list includes eight NWSL franchises and five European soccer clubs \u2014\u00a0three from the Women\u2019s Super League (England) and two from Liga F (Spain). The 25 teams have a combined valuation of $5.6 billion, according to Forbes.<\/p>\n

\"Ben<\/p>\n

Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports’ general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday\u2019s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins’ teams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Forbes released its inaugural list of the world\u2019s most valuable women\u2019s sports teams on Wednesday, and the Liberty…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359081,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[49,48,3457,154834,82,630,4143],"class_list":["post-359080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-new-york-liberty","tag-spadjacent","tag-sports","tag-wnba","tag-womens-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}