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Before the Golden State Valkyries ever drafted a player, 15,000 fans had already placed deposits for season tickets.
“This fan base acts as if we’ve been here for 30 years,” Jess Smith, the team’s president, told Business Insider.
These sales set a high bar for the newest team in the Women’s National Basketball Association, which is seeing unprecedented growth. Record viewership has led the league to ink an 11-year media rights deal in July 2024 with Disney, Amazon Prime Video, and NBCUniversal, worth about $2.2 billion.
With a majority of the season complete, the Valkyries became the first expansion team to clinch a playoff spot in its inaugural season — and have already set the record for wins by a first-year expansion team.
The franchise has also fueled record WNBA attendance this year, selling out every home game at Chase Center. So far, almost 400,000 fans have packed the arena, according to Across The Timeline.
Today, the Valkyries organization is valued at $500 million, the highest in the league, according to Sportico. But building momentum took time. The franchise focused on hiring the right talent, cultivating a strong brand image, forging strategic partnerships, and relying on supportive ownership. These strategies could provide new sports ventures with a playbook for successful expansion.
Building a brand from the top
The Valkyries named Smith the team president in January 2024, but this wasn’t her first time building an organization from scratch. She was one of the early leaders with Angel City FC, part of the National Women’s Soccer League, as its head of corporate partnerships before becoming the team’s head of revenue in 2021.
Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, the majority owners of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, paid a $50 million expansion fee for the Valkyries. From the beginning, Smith said she felt the players, front office staff, and community believed the ownership group was committed to the success of the Valkyries and women’s sports as a whole.
“You cannot take away from an owner that’s dedicated to the vision and resources that it takes to build into greatness,” Smith said.
With full ownership support, Smith said she was given the freedom to craft the brand’s identity. The name “Valkyrie” was selected for its roots in Norse mythology as a female warrior, and the color violet was chosen for its association with royalty.
“We built the brand with intention all the way through,” Smith said. “That began with the name, but was truly executed in our selection of Valkyries violet — something that brought our community and fandom together, even with a color.”
The strategy seems to have paid off; a Fanatics spokesperson told Business Insider that the Valkyries rank No. 2 in merchandise sales behind the Indiana Fever. The ranking includes jerseys, hats, and other memorabilia sold across Fanatics’ network of sites, though the company declined to disclose total sales figures.
Building a loyal fan base
Smith said future expansion teams should focus on building a dedicated audience. “You are building a product for the consumers that are pouring into women’s sports specifically,” she said. “You have to build a brand that allows them to associate with the lifestyle.”
“Really speaking to the heart of our fans, they feel like this team belongs to them and they take such an immense amount of pride in how they talk about the team,” said Maria Valdehueza, the senior vice president of ticketing and events at the Valkyries.
Smith told Business Insider that while the franchise values data-driven strategies and growth marketing, authenticity is a bigger priority for her team, and it’s resulted in a more passionate fan base.
She added that community investment isn’t solely about growth metrics. “Nothing will ever replace being genuine in the marketplace and we can’t lose sight of that either,” Smith said. “‘Should we be there? Why should we be there? How do we show up?’ should be a constant conversation we’re having, not ‘If we show up, will it generate 100 leads?’ — wrong question.”
To strengthen ties within the community, the Valkyries have also focused on building partnerships local to the Bay Area and with larger brands. For example, Sephora holds the naming rights to the Valkyries’ performance center and sponsored the runway for a Valkyries fashion show to celebrate fashion, beauty, and sports.
On a local level, the Valkyries, through its partnership with JPMorgan Chase, have promoted women-owned businesses throughout the Bay Area with its Violet Book of Business initiative, which features excerpts from local small business leaders.
Looking ahead
The WNBA plans to expand to 18 teams by 2030. The Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo debut in 2026, while Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia’s franchises launch in 2028, 2029, and 2030, respectively.
Those teams could be eyeing the Valkyries’ playbook as a new standard for expansion. “This is a unique experience being an expansion team and the first one in so long,” Smith said. “We absolutely chat with all of the other expansion teams and share anything and everything that may be helpful.”
Still, Smith credits the teams that came before the Valkyries for helping them get the organization off the ground. “You look at the success of the New York Liberty or Seattle Storm, there are so many people that we have learned a lot from along the way in this journey,” Smith said. “We really would not be where we are without their work.”
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