In just two years, president Jess Smith has built the Valkyries into the first $1B franchise in women’s sports. From Golden State’s iconic purple colors and unique merch to its gameday environment in Ballhalla, the Valkyries have built a brand using tech and data insights to do it.
“We really feel like we’re just getting started,” Smith said on stage at SBJ Tech Week. “There’s a lot of folks talking about valuation at this point in time. We’re very proud of that, and a lot of people have been looking for that for women’s sports team for a long time. But we’re more proud that there’s so many more coming that it’s not going to be a talking point in the next number of years.”
Part of that building has come in the Valkyries efforts to understand their fans. In data collection and in thousands of conversations at community events, Golden State has segmented them into broad groups:
- Women’s sports fans who can be converted to fans of the team
- “Bright believers” who see their support as creating better outcomes for athletes and society
- Traditional sports fans who might have come to the WNBA from following college players or other sports
Those groups are ones the Valkyries spent time learning about as they went into their first season in 2025. A runaway success by every measure, that campaign saw the Valkyries lead the league in attendance (averaging more than 18,000 per game) and revenue (with $73M) while building a fan base distinct from the Warriors.
While the NBA team has the same owners in Joe Lacob and Peter Gruber and both play in the Chase Center, only 8% of the Valkyries 12,000 season ticket holders for this season have the same with the Warriors.
Smith said the team’s ownership empowered the Valkyries to build their own distinct brand.
“We’re not just trying to sell 4,000 tickets,” she said. “We came in and we’re like, ‘How do we sell it every single game? How do we create a global brand?’ And I think that roadmap when you have a clean slate is really fun.”
Using technology has fueled the growth in everything from understanding who their fans are and how they behave to ensuring an entertaining gameday experience. AI has been and will be a part of that, Smith said, noting the Valkyries have found in their deep dives in understanding male fans that 20% are searching for the teams on AI platforms.
The club will continue to be nimble as it grows in its second season, looking for tech innovations to accomplish its business objectives.
“It really goes back to that fan profile,” Smith said. “Yes, there’s the overall experience, but the more customization that we can understand how to drive those results with each audience and give them something that they’re seeking specifically allows us to create generational fandom.”
