{"id":617326,"date":"2026-05-01T13:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T13:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/617326\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T13:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T13:50:09","slug":"valkyries-lead-at-850m-average-jumps-59","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/617326\/","title":{"rendered":"Valkyries Lead at $850M, Average Jumps 59%"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe WNBA<\/a> embarks on its 30th season armed with a fresh CBA, ratified after months of negotiations, and a series of TV agreements that start in 2026 and pay far more than the league\u2019s previous set of deals.<\/p>\n

\n\tThese are among the hard-won economic rewards of the WNBA\u2019s exponential growth over the past three years.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe average WNBA team is worth $427 million, based on conversations over the past month with more than 30 people involved with the league, including bankers, investors, lawyers, team executives and owners. It is up 59% versus last year and 345% from 2024, as well as 132% higher than the NWSL average<\/a> of $184 million.<\/p>\n

\n\tAnd the league continues its march toward a $1 billion franchise. The Golden State Valkyries<\/a> ($850 million) rank first for the second straight year, followed by the New York Liberty ($600 million), Indiana Fever<\/a> ($560 million) and Seattle Storm ($425 million).<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 13 WNBA teams that suited up in 2025 are collectively worth $5.55 billion, including real estate and assets related to the franchises, such as practice facilities. The valuations<\/a> are based on \u201ccontrol\u201d transactions, where the new owner takes charge of the franchise, versus an LP sale (here is a\u00a0detailed methodology<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m not sure I ever thought we\u2019d be at the magnitude that we\u2019re at today,\u201d said Lisa Brummel, who bought the Seattle Storm in 2008 with Ginny Gilder and Dawn Trudeau. \u201cBut it doesn\u2019t change anything about the way we think about our business. We still love being in the business we\u2019re in, and we run it the way we run it because we believe there is incredible upside.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe three Seattle businesswomen kept the W in Seattle when they acquired the club for about $1 million from Clay Bennett; he sold the team when he moved the NBA<\/a>\u2019s Seattle SuperSonics to Oklahoma City. It\u2019s been a great business, indeed. The team\u2019s value has gone up 400x.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe investor appetite to get into the WNBA is reflected in the revenue multiples for clubs. Bankers traditionally use these multiples to value sports teams, and the WNBA is now at the top of the table at 13.6, the highest of any major sports league. It is a tick ahead of the NBA at 13.5, with the NFL (10.3) and NWSL (9.8) up next.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tThe dragged-out CBA negotiations caused some team sponsors to sit on the sidelines waiting for a deal, and fans were slow to buy individual tickets, as they waited to see where players would land after free agency. But almost every team has already closed the gap and is trending ahead of 2025 on the sponsor side.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe new CBA will bump the salary cap from $1.5 million in 2025 to $7 million this year. Multiple WNBA teams were profitable last year under the lower cap, and even more teams are forecasting being in the black this year, thanks to higher revenue from media and other sources offsetting the salary spike.<\/p>\n

\n\tAlso, the CBA allows the league to expand to up to 52 games<\/a> from the current 44. Most people around the league expect a jump to 50 games next year and to ultimately reach 52. Another new revenue lever is this year\u2019s launch of the WNBA\u2019s international sponsor plan that allows teams to add two partners outside of North America, similar to the NBA\u2019s International Team Marketing Program that launched in 2019.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\t\tWNBA Economics\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThe 13 WNBA teams generated an estimated $410 million in revenue last year\u2014the Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire, which start play in 2026, were not included in this year\u2019s valuations. Teams each received more than $3 million from the league office for a cut of national media and sponsorship, and that distribution will at least double in 2026, according to executives at multiple clubs. WNBA teams do not receive all central revenue, as NBA owners own 42% of the league, and a 2022 consortium that invested $75 million owns 16%. The WNBA\u2019s revenue distribution formula does send more than 42% of the pie to W teams. The WNBA also uses the funds to pay for for the league-wide\u00a0charter\u00a0flight program<\/p>\n

\n\tNational revenue will jump in 2026 with the start of the new broadcast deals with ESPN\/ABC, NBC and Amazon. The 11-year, $77 billion agreements the NBA signed includes $2 billion per year for the WNBA, a 500% increase over the average of their previous deal. The W also signed auxiliary deals with Ion, CBS Sports and USA Network that push their media haul to $281 million per year on average, according to someone familiar with the details.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere is a massive revenue range in the WNBA, which is inevitable when, on one end of the spectrum, you have a team playing in a 3,500-seat capacity arena (Atlanta Dream) and six teams sharing their facilities and ownership with NBA franchises. Atlanta generated a WNBA-low $16 million in 2025, including its check from the league. The Dream are projecting revenue to double this year, with six games scheduled for State Farm Arena and a new big name, Angel Reese<\/a>, now on the roster. Reese, an All-Star in her first two WNBA seasons, has the most Instagram followers of any W player.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Valkyries\u2014like the NBA\u2019s Warriors, which are owned by the same group\u2014are an outlier in their league in terms of revenue. The franchise generated $78 million in its first season, 48% more than the Indiana Fever, who rank second. In comparison, the Warriors lead the New York Knicks by 34% on revenue.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Valkyries topped 10,000 season tickets in 2025 and established a wait list this year after they cut off season-ticket sales at over 12,000. Courtside seats cost $1,500 per game\u2014the Liberty have similar pricing. Golden State\u2019s robust sponsorship portfolio of roughly 40 partners includes JPMorganChase, Kaiser Permanente, Olly, Rakuten, Sephora and United Airlines. The Valkyries are worth 140% more than any NWSL club, as well as 24 clubs in Sportico\u2018s look at the world\u2019s 50 most valuable soccer teams<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\n\tWNBA teams are largely ticketing and sponsorship businesses. Those categories represent nearly 70% of 2025 revenue, with the new media deals set to boost that line item on the income statement. Yet, teams are seeing opportunity in other revenue streams as the league\u2019s profile soars.<\/p>\n

\n\tMore than half of WNBA teams generated local media revenue last year, and Atlanta will join those ranks in 2026 through a deal with Gray Media. Lisa Bhathal Merage and her brother Alex, who own the WNBA and NWSL teams in Portland, launched the first women\u2019s sports-focused regional sports network, in conjunction with Gray. Washington Mystics games are aired on Monumental Sports Network and include pre- and post-game shows. The network and team both fall under Ted Leonsis\u2019 ownership group and provide the sponsorship team with a more robust sales platform.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Fever catapulted up the W\u2019s financial ranks after drafting Caitlin Clark<\/a> in 2024. Her rookie year set new marks for merchandise, but Indiana was able to increase merch sales 60% last year even with Clark sidelined for 70% of games. The team benefited from hosting the 2025 All-Star Game and a Stranger Things collaboration. The team\u2019s merchandise per-cap, or fan spending per game, was about $8, which would rank near the top of NBA teams.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe value of the Dallas Wings increased 66% to $325 million, as they ride the wave of back-to-back No. 1 draft picks in Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd. Ticket revenue rose more than 150% last year, with two games at the American Airlines Center, while sponsorship revenue nearly doubled. The team has three games at AAC this year and will likely play its full 2027 season at the Dallas Mavericks\u2019 home arena, while renovations are completed at the Dallas Memorial Auditorium.<\/p>\n

\t\tWhat\u2019s Next\t<\/p>\n

\n\tThe WNBA will look dramatically different in the years ahead, with five new teams starting play and another relocating. In March, Houston Rockets owner\u00a0Tilman Fertitta<\/a>\u00a0reached an agreement to buy the\u00a0Connecticut Sun\u00a0and relocate the\u00a0franchise<\/a> to Houston. The deal still requires league approval, but it set a new benchmark for WNBA team values. Competing $325 million bids planned to keep the team in New England; Marc Lasry wanted the team to play in Hartford, Conn., while Steve Pagliuca\u2019s bid called for a move to Boston.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Sun deal was the first control transaction in the W in five years when the Las Vegas Aces and Dream both traded hands in 2021. Mark Davis paid $2 million for Vegas, while the group led by Larry Gottesdiener shelled out $5 million.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Valkyries were the first WNBA expansion team since the Dream started play in 2008. The franchise fee was $50 million over 10 years\u2014the same terms as Toronto\u2014while Portland cost $75 million. Last year, the league announced three new teams that will be owned by the NBA ownership groups in Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia for a get-in price of $250 million.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\tThe teams will roll in one by one between 2028 and 2030, and Cleveland and Detroit have tapped the market for additional investors at higher valuations. Dan Gilbert is the governor of the Cleveland team, but the mortgage billionaire sold a 45% interest in the team to a consortium of investors at a $290 million valuation. Tom Gores is targeting a $325 million valuation<\/a>, as he looks to sell 60% of the Detroit franchise.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Valkyries set a high bar for new franchises, but Portland and Toronto will likely both rank in the top five for 2026 revenue. Revenue in Portland will top $40 million this year, and the Bhathals are opening a $150 million training facility for their Portland WNBA and NWSL teams.<\/p>\n

\n\tToronto is marketing itself as Canada\u2019s team, which will boost sponsorship and local media revenue for the club. It is also taking its team on the road, with two games each at the NHL arenas in Montreal and Vancouver. The Tempo\u2019s home arena is the Coca-Cola Coliseum, but they also moved three games to Scotiabank\u00a0Arena, home of the Maple Leafs and Raptors. Larry Tanenbaum owns the Tempo through his Kilmer Sports and is the governor for Toronto\u2019s NBA and NHL teams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The WNBA embarks on its 30th season armed with a fresh CBA, ratified after months of negotiations, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":617327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[3691,1760,26218,4804,2839,355,99,177472,2714,434],"class_list":["post-617326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-angel-reese","tag-caitlin-clark","tag-data-viz","tag-golden-state-valkyries","tag-indiana-fever","tag-nba","tag-sports","tag-tilman-fertitta","tag-valuations","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=617326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/617326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=617326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=617326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=617326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}