On October 5, 2023, the WNBA announced an expansion team would be coming to San Francisco.<\/p>\n
The Golden State Valkyries became the first expansion team in seventeen years. Their entire first season brought a kind of magic that you might only see in the movies. A fandom that excited kids, their parents, the LGBTQ+ community \u2014 the entire Bay.<\/p>\n
They flipped the script on what it looks like to support female athletes and ended up becoming the most valuable team in any American women\u2019s professional sports franchise. How did they do it and make the Bay believers? We find out in the season finale of our series Bounce: The Valkyries first season in the Bay.<\/p>\n
Click the play button above to listen!<\/p>\n
HOST ERIN LIM: If you thought that the Valkyries season was a roller coaster – what\u2019s going on now in the W is wild.<\/p>\n
ERIN: Let me break it down\u2026\u2026the best team in the league all season \u2014 The Minnesota Lynx \u2014 had their best player get injured, their coach get suspended, and then lost their playoff series to the Phoenix Mercury all within the final 50 minutes of their season<\/a><\/p>\n ERIN: In her exit interview, that injured player, Napheesa Collier, let the WNBA have it.<\/p>\n NAPHEESA COLLIER: Since I’ve been in the league, you’ve heard the constant concerns about officiating and it has now reached levels of inconsistency that play our sport and undermine the integrity in which it operates. Whether the league cares about the health of the players is one thing, but to also not care about the product we put on the floor is truly self-sabotage. year after year. The only thing that remains consistent is the lack of accountability from our leaders.<\/p>\n ERIN: Then Napheesa focused in on Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.<\/p>\n NAPHEESA COLLIER: Our leadership\u2019s answer to being held accountable is to suppress everyone\u2019s voices by handing out fines. I\u2019m not concerned about the fine.\u00a0 I\u2019m concerned about the future of our sport. We have the best players in the world. We have the best fans in the world, but right now, we have the worst leadership in the world.<\/p>\n ERIN: Mic. Drop. Napheesa\u2019s words have disrupted the league and activated the W\u2019s fanbase. She\u2019s using her platform.<\/p>\n As the Women\u2019s National Basketball Player\u2019s Association\u2019s vice president <\/a>and as one of the founders of Unrivaled<\/a>. An offshoot three-on-three league \u2014 to call out the leaders who seem to dismiss the players ongoing concerns. Her statement is now a major talking point that goes hand-in-hand with the pending collective bargaining agreement.<\/p>\n ERIN: The current WNBA collective bargaining agreement expires on October 31. IT\u2019S an agreement between players and owners that ranges from topics of salary, healthcare, and even family leave.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been five years since the last CBA was revised and a lot has happened since then. The league has grown in audience size.<\/a> Expansion teams are rolling out quickly<\/a>. The appetite for women\u2019s sports has grown. And now we are at a tipping point for the players in the W.<\/p>\n \u2014 \u2014 \u2014<\/p>\n ERIN: The WNBA finals are in full effect. The Las Vegas Aces are battling the Phoenix Mercury in the W\u2019S FIRST best-of-seven game series<\/a> ever to decide the championship. And even though the finals should be the conversation around the W, the bigger plot line is happening behind the scenes.<\/p>\n ERIN: In her own press conference about the WNBA finals, Commissioner Cathy Engelbert responded to Naphessa Collier\u2019s Criticism<\/p>\n CATHY ENGELBERT: \u200aI have been in touch with Nafisa. Um, we’ve exchanged texts, uh, we’re talking next week. Um, so I think, um, obviously a lot of reporting, a lot of inaccuracy about what I said or what I didn’t say. Um, and I will tell you I highly respect the players. Um, there’s a lot of emotion and passion going on right now ’cause we’re in collective bargaining. We’re in the WNBA finals. Uh, and so I’ll leave it there.\u00a0<\/p>\n ERIN: The day after that, Napheesa Collier reportedly called off her meeting with the commissioner<\/a>.<\/p>\n ERIN: In my humble opinion, none of this is surprising. The Commissioner doesn\u2019t seem to know her players, or coaches, very well at all. Just listen to her announcement about the WNBA\u2019s coach of the year, Natalie Nakase:<\/p>\n Cathy Engelbert: So it is my absolute honor to present the 2025 State Street Investment Management, spy, WNBA, coach of the Year Award to Golden State Valkyries coach, Natalie Nakase.<\/p>\n ERIN: When I heard Cathy mispronounce our coach\u2019s name, I kind of lost it. If the league commissioner doesn\u2019t know how to pronounce the best coach\u2019s last name, or at least bother to learn how to say it – it\u2019s a BIG red flag. Cathy we need to talk.<\/p>\n ERIN: The Golden State Valkyries may be out of the W conversation right now, but a lot of us fans are still riding the wave of a history making inaugural season. From a draft day party<\/a> in Thrive City in April, to watching pre-season practices in downtown Oakland, and the first game played at Ballhalla \u2013 covering this team and their first season has been a life highlight.<\/p>\n ERIN: And we\u2019re going take just a minute to talk about a couple of the top moments, with the Executive Producer of BOUNCE \u2014 and KALW \u2014 Ben Trefny. Hey Ben!<\/p>\n BEN: Great memory.<\/p>\n ERIN: Yeah, but all this \u2026 it didn\u2019t just happen.<\/p>\n ERIN: So much work went into making this magical year. And I decided to chat with Valkyries stakeholders and fans to see what it took to enchant so many people into wearing the color violet.<\/p>\n BEN: I can\u2019t wait to hear this.<\/p>\n \u2014 \u2014 \u2014<\/p>\n Erin\u2019s Feature<\/p>\n REPORTER ERIN LIM: There\u2019s this thing that happens when you go to a Valkyries game. It\u2019s like stepping into the happiest place on earth – without the castle or mouse ears. The color violet is everywhere. On hats, shirts, pants, on shoes, capes \u2014 even violet dyed hair.<\/p>\n BECKY:\u200a The atmosphere in here is so electric and we’re all just having a great time and it, it’s an escape from everything else that’s going on in the world.<\/p>\n REPORTER: All kinds of folks, like season-ticket holder Becky, gather inside and outside the Chase Center taking selfies \u2014 giddy to watch the Valks\u2019 take the court.<\/p>\n This was the first season, but the vibe started years ago. Valkyries KPIX-TV commentator Zena Keita<\/a> shared her experience<\/a> as a then employee of the Golden State Warriors at one of KALW\u2019s live Bounce events.<\/p>\n ZENA KEITA: I was put on a task force. To help come up with the concept of A-W-N-B-A team. \u200aI was a person represented from the partnerships department to come up and do the research to figure out how could we bring a team to the bay. That \u200ais how the Valks came to be. We researched every arena. We research average ticket prices.\u00a0<\/p>\n REPORTER: and researched what would make them winners.<\/p>\n ZENA KEITA: Figuring out what type of players should we bring in based on the percentages of the analytics of what would be needed for a championship team. Three pointers versus two pointers. \u200aThat’s how detailed it was.\u00a0<\/p>\n REPORTER: Warriors owner Joe Lacob was already in. He had been an investor<\/a> in the American Basketball League<\/a> in the \u201890s before there was a WNBA. He owned the San Jose Lasers<\/a>. In fact, he was the ABL\u2019s largest private investor.<\/a><\/p>\n ZENA KEITA: \u200aYou don’t have to convince him it’s a good product. That’s what we had to do. It was a six-week ordeal of us presenting to him and Peter Guber.<\/p>\n REPORTER: The task force looked at where this dream team would play. Santa Cruz, the official home of the Warriors G League<\/a>? San Jose? Would they build a new stadium close to where the San Jose Sharks <\/a>play hockey? Or would they play at Chase and block off the top level? Taping off the top level of arenas has been a thing in the W and for teams that don\u2019t sell out big stadiums. I\u2019m looking at you Oakland A\u2019s.<\/p>\n REPORTER: They didn\u2019t want this to feel like a JV team. And, as Zena said, this is the Bay Area: we were built for this.<\/p>\n ZENA KEITA: \u200aIt does start with the roots of this place. \u200aThere’s already a love for women’s basketball here. There’s already respect for women’s basketball from the college level. Talking about Stanford, you’re talking about Cal, USF, you name it, there’s tons San Jose State, there’s tons of already respect for women’s basketball.<\/p>\n STEPH CURRY: I just wanna welcome the WNBA to the Bay Area lookin\u2019 forward to having you all. Can\u2019t wait to see you thrive at the highest level. Let\u2019s get it.<\/p>\n Reporter: ABC-7 covered the announcement<\/p>\n ABC-7 ANCHORS: \u200aLet’s get it. A warm welcome from Steph Curry himself as, uh, he welcomed women’s professional basketball to the Bay Area. Yeah, today the WNBA announced a new team will be playing at Chase Center starting in two thousand twenty five.<\/p>\n REPORTER: Ownership madie its first official hire<\/a> in January 2024. President Jess Smith. She brought receipts. Jess worked her way up the ladder with the Oakland A\u2019s as a Corporate Accounts Manager, was the Vice President of Sponsorship at the San Jose Earthquakes , and then was hired down in Los Angeles in 2020 as the Head of Corporate Sponsorships and then revenue at the Angel City Football Club <\/a>\u2013 a brand new women\u2019s soccer team.<\/p>\n In 2024 Angel City would be named the most valuable women\u2019s sports club in the world<\/a>. This was the kind of experience this new W team needed.<\/p>\n I chatted with Jess before a game. We talked about the business of marketing a brand new team. Like what does it look like to name a team?<\/p>\n JESS SMITH: \u200aSo if you look at the categories across right, often you see types of animals, types of natural disasters, types of fighters of some sort, warriors, obviously, for instance. \u200aAs we were going through that process, we had also put out a survey right when they had achieved the expansion fee to just say, what should we name the team? And it was a open-ended question. There was no dropdown, there was no leading, it was true curiosity. And 25% of people said Valkyries.<\/p>\n REPORTER: That was 1 in 4 people just writing in Valkyries for the team name. A survey that was sent out to Golden State fans by the organization. And it made sense, as the Marvel universe was introducing<\/a> Valkyrie to their audience, a Valkyrie was a good connect to a Warrior but different enough to start building a new brand.<\/p>\n Jess, Joe and the rest of the front office wanted to set the Valkyries apart from the Warriors. No blue and gold. No direct line to their NBA counterpart.<\/p>\n For the decision makers, the Valkyries name brought up an icy, purpleish hue. They just couldn\u2019t quit it. And that color with black let it shine.<\/p>\n JESS SMITH: You’ll see people that have invested in this color because they understand the value set that now people are starting to put together, even from recognizing Valkyrie violet.\u00a0<\/p>\n REPORTER: That violet, though. Coupled with the iconic logo. There is a ton of storytelling involved. The nod to the Bay Bridge. The lines inside the logo that represent the thirteen active teams in the W. And the shape. It\u2019s a V for Valkyries and looks like the tip of a spear \u2014 it\u2019s perfect for battle on the court.<\/p>\n And while all that is fierce, the team embraced the spirit of belonging too. Like the intergenerational dance team, the Violet Vibes<\/a>. And the mascot Violet, introduced to the fans mid-season, who loves shiny things and has plenty of sass.<\/p>\n ELLEN: They just make me feel empowered. \u200aIt elevates all of us by experiencing what they’re doing out there.\u00a0<\/p>\n REPORTER: Superfan Ellen fits right in with her violet wig, violet cape, and a violet jumpsuit. And that feeling she\u2019s talking about gives me goosebumps. You\u2019ve got two female DJ\u2019s rocking the soundsystem at the games. There\u2019s two women on the PA, the WNBA\u2019s Coach of the Year Natalie Nakase on the sideline, and women leading the front office. We\u2019ve got women leading the whole damn thing.<\/p>\n TRISTAN: \u200aI just feel like there’s so many people here supporting women, and I just feel it’s making me feel supported in some way. I don’t know why.\u00a0<\/p>\n REPORTER: Tristan, from Danville, came to a Valks game with her cousin as an outing before they headed off to college.<\/p>\n TRISTAN: It’s just like, I love to see people showing up for women’s sports.\u00a0<\/p>\n REPORTER: The energy at Valk\u2019s games is infectious. The set up feels like you\u2019re in a club made for everyone. Especially for a mother and daughter duo who commute to every game from the East Bay. You\u2019ve probably seen them just a few rows back behind the Valkyries bench donning gold Valkyries headpieces and purple boa\u2019s. Mom goes by Lydia Ortega and her daughter prefers Momo. They could be the second and third mascots for the team. Lydia\u2019s gift to her daughters is bringing them to these games.<\/p>\n LYDIA ORTEGA: It was really hard when she loved basketball and in her early age had to play with the boys and I wanted something beautiful for them and this, this a beautiful opportunity to give to my girls.\u00a0<\/p>\n REPORTER: A lot of folks get in their feelings about the Valks\u2019, including President Jess Smith.<\/p>\n JESS SMITH:\u200aI mean, I get emotional every game. \u200aI am just amazed at the fandom, you know, that comes through here and the fact that I get to be a small part of it and it’s my job.<\/p>\n REPORTER: Nostalgia comes up for some fans. Kevin Santos, another Valkyries season ticket holder who\u2019s a PE teacher describes how Valk\u2019s games feel for him.<\/p>\n KEVIN SANTOS: \u200aThis actually reminds me a lot of how Oracle was back in the day.\u00a0<\/p>\n Reporter: Oracle is now called the Oakland Arena<\/a> and it\u2019s where the Golden State Warriors called home for 47 years<\/a>.<\/p>\n KEVIN SANTOS: It was very affordable for, um, the regular fan. I think, um, as nice as Chase is and with the Warriors, I think it got a bit expensive for diehard fans.<\/p>\n REPORTER: At one point, the Valkyries offered a pair of tickets for 60 dollars which also included two hot dogs and two fountain drinks. I know this because my algorithm was targeting me with these ads.<\/p>\n But You don\u2019t have to be inside of the Chase Center to find that Valks\u2019 joy.<\/p>\n LET\u2019S GO VALKYRIES\u2026clap, clap, clap\u2026\u2026LET\u2019S GO VALKYRIES\u2026..<\/p>\n REPORTER: That\u2019s the sound of Rikki\u2019s – the first women\u2019s sports bar in San Francisco. It\u2019s one of the small businesses benefitting from the violet wave.<\/p>\n That connectedness shows up in the indie merch you see from creators like Oaklandish<\/a>, Donut Time Designs<\/a>, and Old Skool<\/a> too. It boosts the Valk\u2019s brand without the steep licensed league prices.<\/p>\n And seeing those out in the wild makes my eyes happy.<\/p>\n And what about those Valkyries. The season’s magic wouldn\u2019t be anything without the players. They were the underdogs. When the season started, there was literally no star. And as the season unfolded, injuries hampered the team which could have made the season go sideways.<\/p>\n Instead, it made each team member step THE F*&*! up.<\/p>\n