Even in defeat.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019ve been to a Warriors game and you\u2019ve been to a Valkyries game, it\u2019s much different, right? That\u2019s intentional, and it\u2019s built something that is unmatched,\u201d said Jess Smith, the inaugural president of the franchise.<\/p>\n Less than 18 months since she arrived<\/a>, Smith, 39, is taking a well-earned victory lap of sorts.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been only a little longer since Joe Lacob, co-owner of the Warriors, paid $50 million to expand his portfolio into women\u2019s sports. The investment announced on Oct. 5, 2023, that the WNBA\u2019s 13th team \u2014 and first expansion franchise since 2008 \u2014 would be awarded to Golden State, has already paid off tenfold<\/a>, according to some accounts.<\/p>\n A surprising success on the court, above .500 through 15 games with more wins than the past two first-year franchises, the Valkyries have been an even bigger hit at the box office.<\/p>\n The Warriors, buoyed by Steph Curry and a dynasty that has produced four NBA championships, have famously sold out 565 consecutive dates. The Valkyries, with none of that, are 9-for-9 so far at the 18,064-seat arena that\u2019s been dubbed Ballhalla, and will play before another packed house today. And, if you close your eyes, it almost resembles something the Warriors haven\u2019t been able to quite replicate since they moved from Oakland into their state-of-the-art waterfront arena six seasons ago.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s 10 times better than any Warriors game. I\u2019m into it, man,\u201d said Tripper Ortman, 56, a season-ticket holder for both teams. \u201cIt\u2019s as close to Oracle as we\u2019re ever going to get. I\u2019d give up my Warriors season tickets for these.\u201d<\/p>\n The WNBA has exploded in popularity in recent years and shows no signs of slowing down, with two more expansion teams on the way and $2 billion in media rights set to kick in next year.<\/p>\n Still, the only games as likely as any Valkyries home date to fill every seat in NBA-sized arenas are those featuring Caitlin Clark, the transcendent Indiana Fever star in her second season.<\/p>\n League-wide, the WNBA averaged 9,807 fans per game in 2024, nearly 50% more than the year before \u2014 but still just half that of Golden State\u2019s typical draw.<\/p>\n \u201cThe core women\u2019s sports audience is much different than the core men\u2019s sports audience, and it\u2019s additive,\u201d Smith said. \u201cPeople assume it\u2019s a smaller audience, but the reality is that it\u2019s just been understudied. \u2026 And what we\u2019re learning here in the Bay Area is that it\u2019s a large audience.\u201d<\/p>\n Marisa De Hazes, who attended her first game Wednesday night, said it was \u201cway overdue\u201d for the top women\u2019s league to set up shop in the Bay Area, three decades after it was founded.<\/p>\n She accompanied Mary Hile-Nepfel, the longtime women\u2019s coach and all-time leading scorer at USF, who has witnessed a sea change from her playing days. She remembered attending San Francisco Pioneers games at the Civic Auditorium from 1978 to 1981 and said, \u201cThere\u2019s an energy in this building that I\u2019ve never felt before for women\u2019s sports.\u201d<\/p>\n After the Pioneers came the San Jose Lasers (1996-98), and then the San Jose Spiders (2004-06), and then the San Francisco Legacy (2006). None lasted longer than three years, even the Lacob-backed Lasers of the American Basketball Association.<\/p>\n They laid the groundwork, though, including incubating some of the key figures today. Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase played for the Spiders of the National Women\u2019s Basketball League, and current Stanford women\u2019s coach Kate Paye suited up against the Lasers.<\/p>\n Paye said it was \u201cemotional\u201d to see a sold out arena in comparison to the crowds that the sport used to generate and credited the Valkyries\u2019 quick success to one woman.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s because of Tara,\u201d Paye said, referring to her predecessor, Tara VanDerveer, who led Stanford to 13 Final Four appearances and three national titles from 1985 to her retirement in spring 2024. \u201cTara built Bay Area women\u2019s basketball. Period.\u201d<\/p>\n The WNBA might be kicking itself for leaving such a ripe market untapped for so long. In less than two years, the Valkyries have already become the league\u2019s most valuable asset, according to a recent analysis by Sportico, which estimated the franchise to be worth $500 million.<\/p>\n The next most valuable franchises were the defending champion Liberty, at $420 million, and the Fever, at $335 million. The publication hedged that its figure for the Valkyries \u201cmight be conservative.\u201d<\/p>\n Lacob told the Wall Street Journal in May that Golden State was on pace to double its initial estimate of $30 million in annual revenue for its first year, and the Valkyries are on pace to achieve that nearly through sponsorships and ticket sales alone, the source said.<\/p>\n The Valkyries brought on a number of brands seeking to appeal to the women\u2019s sports fan, which are projected to net them more than $20 million in 2025. Ticket sales are projected to bring in more than $35 million, or an average of $1.5 million at the box office for each home date.<\/p>\n The highest-grossing home games have topped $3 million, according to Sportico, which would be a league record.<\/p>\n And that doesn\u2019t account for other revenue streams, such as merchandise at the rebranded Golden State \u2014 not Warriors or Valkyries \u2014 team store. The San Francisco Chronicle, citing an anonymous source, reported a nightly average of more than $200,000 in merch sales.<\/p>\n Tapping into the existing base of women\u2019s sports fans was only one piece of the puzzle, Smith said. Before joining the Valkyries, she led a similar effort with Angel City FC, a newcomer to the National Women\u2019s Soccer League.<\/p>\n Much of that fan base accounted for the 2,500 season-ticket deposits placed on the day the franchise was announced \u2014 a number that has since grown to 20,000, including 10,000 bought-and-paid-for, the most in the league.<\/p>\n In other words, they were on board long before the team even had a name. That came by way of a fan vote. The name, a nod to fierce women warriors in Norse mythology<\/a>, was \u201csomething that paid tribute to these incredible women\u2019s sports fans that was uniquely powerful in our own right while complementary to the Golden State brand,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n The logos and violet color scheme that appear on team merchandise and wash over the arena on game days were a result of \u201chours\u201d spent inside conference rooms with Smith, the ownership group and the marketing department, headed by Amanda Chin and Kimberly Veale.<\/p>\n The objective \u201cwas even when you see the color, you know it\u2019s the Valkyries,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI truly feel like we accomplished that, where even if it\u2019s not our merch, if it\u2019s Valkyrie violet, they think of us.\u201d<\/p>\n From custom bomber jackets to sequined blazers, the stylish merch has turned the team\u2019s gear into a fashion statement, bringing in a more casual fan. Ortman, who sported a flat-brimmed violet hat, is one of a tiny segment of fans with season tickets for both the Valkyries and Warriors, or what Smith calls the basketball diehards.<\/p>\n For everyone else, Veale said, they are building a lifestyle brand.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s very clearly a difference between somebody who\u2019s a basketball purist versus a Gen Z or Gen A fan who maybe isn\u2019t so focused on the outcome of the game but is repping this team because they believe very deeply in the impact that the WNBA will be able to have,\u201d she said. \u201cThose beliefs kind of cascade down into their lives and, presumably, in their individual expression in terms of what they wear.\u201d<\/p>\n The three pillars of fans come together to create an electric gameday atmosphere that others besides Ortman have compared to the Warriors\u2019 days in Oakland, where then-Oracle Arena earned the name \u201cRoaracle\u201d for its decibel levels<\/a>.<\/p>\n During introductions, the arena bowl is illuminated in violet. The sharp \u201cV\u201d logo at center court is outlined with lasers of the same hue. Public address announcer Jamie Coffee introduces the starting lineup to the beat of E-40\u2019s \u201cBlow The Whistle.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Golden](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/BNG-L-VALKMANIA-0629-4.jpg\")
<\/a>Golden State Valkyries fans light up their cell phones during the third quarter of their WBNA game against the New York Liberty at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n![\"Golden](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/BNG-L-VALKYRIES-0628-24.jpg\")
<\/a>Golden State Valkyries\u2019 Kayla Thornton (5) high fives Joe Lacob, owner of the Golden State Valkyries, during a game against Chicago Sky in the fourth quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, June 27, 2025. (Shae Hammond\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n![\"Golden](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/BNG-L-VALKMANIA-0629-3.jpg\")
<\/a>Golden State Valkyries fans watch the action during the fourth quarter of their WBNA game against the New York Liberty at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n![\"Golden](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/BNG-L-VALKYRIES-0628-2.jpg\")
<\/a>Golden State Valkyries\u2019 Monique Billings (25),Golden State Valkyries\u2019 Kaitlyn Chen (2), and Golden State Valkyries\u2019 Tiffany Hayes (15) celebrate against the Chicago Sky in the first quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, June 27, 2025. (Shae Hammond\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n![\"Golden](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/BNG-L-VALKMANIA-0629-1.jpg\")
<\/a>Golden State Valkyries fans cheer during the second quarter of their WBNA game against the New York Liberty at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n
![\"Former](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/BNG-L-VALKYRIES-0615-10.jpg\")
<\/a>Former US National Women\u2019s Soccer team athlete Leslie Osborne leads the crowd in a cheer before the Valkyries compete against the Seattle Storm at the Chase Center in San Francisco, CA on Saturday, June 14, 2025. (Don Feria for Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n