How The Valkyries Became The WNBA’s Breakout Stars

Moments after the Golden State Valkyries ended their season on Sept. 17 with a heartbreaking one-point loss to the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx, guard Kate Martin stood on the court and listened as the din of cheers from the sold-out crowd of 18,500 people swelled.

“From the tip-off to the final buzzer — and even after the final buzzer — it was so loud in there,” she said in a news conference the next day. “The loudest I’ve ever heard it.”

Due to a scheduling conflict, the game was at San Jose’s SAP Center, not the Valkyries’ usual home arena, San Francisco’s Chase Center, which is known as Ballhalla during WNBA games. The nickname is a nod to Norse mythology, where female figures known as valkyries bring souls of the dead to Valhalla, the afterlife. But even away from home, Ballhalla’s fiercely passionate spirit persists.

“The energy is unmatched,” says stylist Brittany Hampton, who’s known for her work with WNBA athletes like Paige Bueckers. “You go to a game and hear the roars,” adds the Bay Area native, who was also tapped as a member of the Valkyries Collective, a group of thought leaders who advise the team as it grows its footprint in the area and within the league. “We’re selling out arenas, filling each and every foot. The fans are there as if we’ve won championships for decades.”

The thing is, the team is less than a year old.

The Valkyries are the WNBA’s first addition in 17 years, going 23-21 in its first season and making history as the league’s only expansion team to make the playoffs straight out of the gate. By comparison, during their debut seasons, the Atlanta Dream went 4-30 in 2008, the Chicago Sky went 5-29 in 2006, and the Seattle Storm went 6-26 in 2000.

Success can be tough for expansion teams. They have scrappy squads of players drafted from a pool of free agents and athletes who hadn’t been “protected” or prioritized by their old teams. Brand-new rosters, coaches, and fan bases present challenges both on and off the court. Financial expectations are uncertain. As a result, at the start of the season, the league’s own power rankings listed Golden State ninth out of 13 teams, with an 11% chance of making the playoffs.

Yet the Valkyries sold out every home game. They had a record-smashing 20,000 season ticket deposits before the season even began, more than any other women’s sports team in U.S. history. They inked multi-year partnerships with JPMorgan Chase, United Airlines, Sephora, CarMax, Kaiser Permanente, Rakuten, PG&E, Olly, and Waymo. The fan base quickly grew a reputation for being loyal and loud, and after a single month of play, the Valkyries were valued at $500 million, more than any other U.S. women’s sports franchise in history.

Sports experts credit this unprecedented success to the right leadership, a fresh approach to business in women’s sports, deep pockets, strong branding, highly entertaining games, and savvy coaching. And on a broader level, it could serve as a blueprint for teams in Portland, Toronto, Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia, where the league will expand over the next five years thanks to the rising interest in both women’s athletics in general and the WNBA in particular.

Business Came First

The Valkyries benefit from being owned by business executives Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, who also run the Golden State Warriors, one of the NBA’s most popular franchises. They were strategic about hiring the right people and investing whatever was needed to make the team succeed, according to Jess Smith, the team president.

Several sports business experts tell Bustle that bringing on Smith was one of the team’s most impactful moves. She was one of the Valks’ first hires, coming from the NWSL’s Angel City Football Club, where she cemented her reputation as a leader by helping bring them to a $250 million valuation. She brought in $35 million in sponsorship revenue before Angel City played a single game.

“Jess is an amazing leader,” says Caroline Fitzgerald, host of The Business Case for Women’s Sports podcast. “[Hiring her is] an example of the Valkyries making sure they were set up to have all the business functions firing on every cylinder.”

She made the team’s value clear by asking top dollar for sponsorship and tickets instead of offering lower rates than the men’s team, according to several basketball insiders.

Smith credits the team’s success to support from its leaders; Lacob, the majority co-owner, is a longtime passionate supporter of women’s basketball. (When he owned the San Jose Lasers in the ’90s, he spent millions to support the American Basketball League, which folded after just two and a half years.) He and Gruber were willing to invest in a first-class fan experience and player amenities, including a newly renovated practice facility and locker room. They also brought in key hires and sponsors to create a culture around the Valkyries.

Sephora sponsored a fashion show, Kaiser Permanente put its name on flag-raising ceremonies and other events leading up to the home opener, and DoorDash made activations around the mascot reveal (Violet the Valkyrie) possible.

They Know The WNBA Isn’t Just For Women

The Valkyries knew they could have fans beyond the WNBA’s traditionally female-heavy audience. Stylist Hampton says the team’s front office did a good job of engaging with its community. In August, for example, the Valkyries Fashion Show featured menswear and unisex garments alongside womenswear from local designers.

“We didn’t just think about it from a ‘female perspective,’” she says. “Our fans are not just women anymore. They’re the dads bringing their daughters and the uncles tailgating outside.”

Indeed, season ticket holder Dave Hollenberg, a San Francisco resident who attended games with his wife and two young sons, says, “It’s probably the most fun I’ve had attending a sporting event in quite a while.”

“The playbook is understanding who your audience is and then being relentless to serve them,” Smith says.

Fans Are Impressed

From the branding to the atmosphere in the arena, the Valks are top-notch. Fittingly, the purple V-shaped logo stands for victory and symbolizes valkyries flying as a unified group. “They hit the mark on their name, their colors, their logo,” says former WNBA president Donna Orender.

According to ESPN analyst and former WNBA coach Carolyn Peck, the team provided a “huge fun environment” with an in-game announcer, Ari Waller, who kept people engaged from the pregame to the last shot, and an enthusiastic crowd that was genuinely excited to be there. (Winning also helps.) “Golden State got it right,” she says.

“[At a preseason game,] it almost felt like we were going into a playoff game,” says Andi Burnett, a season ticket-holder and longtime women’s basketball fan. “There was already so much going on, and the energy was already, early on, pretty solid.”

They Have A “Master Poker Player” Coach

Natalie Nakase, formerly the Las Vegas Aces assistant coach, guided her team to success. According to Aces coach Becky Hammon, the players adopted Nakase’s personality — one that is gritty and tough.

“I thought she did really great making the pieces work,” Hammon says. She points to the challenges the Valkyries faced when they lost Kayla Thornton, the team’s best player, to a knee injury midway through the season. “She was dealt a tough hand with that, but I just felt like she was a master poker player,” Hammon adds. Sure enough, Nakase was named the 2025 WNBA Coach of the Year.

For similar results, Peck’s advice to the next expansion teams is to not “hire for the press conference” — that is, look beyond well-known, splashy names to find someone with the right vision. “Not just to buy something bright and shiny,” she says, “but to invest in a coach who’s going to make a difference in your franchise and to help you compete in an already competitive league.”

Will Other Teams Become Breakout Stars?

Possibly. Timing is on their side. “Certainly they’re going to benefit from coming to market in the middle of this women’s sports renaissance that we’re in right now,” Fitzgerald says. “But just because they’re a new team, that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily going to be set up for long-term success,” Fitzgerald says. To flourish, she says, they should look to the Valkyries’ playbook.

She thinks the ultimate game-changer will be money. “If the leaders of these teams treat them like businesses and invest in them properly, I think it’ll directly offer results,” she says.