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The Golden State Valkyries are just under two months away from their first game, but they are already racking up wins off the court. The expansion club is the first WNBA team to ever sell 10,000 season tickets, the team told Sportico.
“This community has shown up, and then some to create this milestone,” Valkyries president Jess Smith said in a video interview. “This is something that we knew was possible and really just signifies the beginning of our journey in a way that will set a trajectory for the WNBA moving forward.”
In October 2023, the Golden State Warriors agreed to pay a then-record $50 million expansion fee to bring a WNBA team to the Bay Area. The Valkyries will play in the $1.4 billion Chase Center the Warriors opened in 2019, but Smith reiterates that despite the venue and ownership overlap, the Valkyries aren’t heavily reliant on a shared-service model.
“We are building a standalone business, and our ticketing team is dedicated to these unique fans,” Smith said.
One indicator that shows the independence of the Valkyries and their fan base: Fewer than 5% of their season-ticket holders also have Warriors season tickets, according to Smith. Last month, the Valkyries unveiled their dedicated practice facility and headquarters, which are located at the Warriors’ former facility from 1997 through 2019.
The Valkyries had more than 22,000 season-ticket deposits and are still working their way through those names. The club made 1,000 partial plan packages available, and those sold out in a few hours. The team recently started group sales and will open up individual sales in a couple of weeks.
Last season, the WNBA had its highest attendance in 22 years at 2.35 million fans, up 48% from 2023. The league’s 154 sellouts marked a 242% increase. Riding the Caitlin Clark wave, the Indiana Fever set a new single-season WNBA attendance record of 340,715 and sold out most of their games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Fever attendance rose 319%, and all 12 WNBA teams enjoyed at least double-digit year-over-year growth.
Per-game attendance leaders were the Fever (17,036), New York Liberty (12,279), Las Vegas Aces (11,283) and Seattle Storm (11,184), according to Across the Timeline.
Before the 2024 season started, the Aces, Dallas Wings and Atlanta Dream all announced season-ticket sellouts, but at buildings much smaller than the Chase Center’s 18,064 capacity. The Ace’s home, Michelob Ultra Arena, holds 12,000 people, while the other two teams play in buildings with fewer than 6,500 seats. Overall, six WNBA home arenas hold fewer than 10,000 people.
The Valkyries are the first WNBA expansion team since 2008. Two more expansion teams, the Toronto Tempo and a Portland franchise, will start play next year. In September, the league hired investment bank Allen & Company to run the expansion process on what was expected to be just the 16th team, but explosive interest has the league considering adding multiple new franchises.
The Valkyries’ first regular-season game is May 16 at Chase Center against the Los Angeles Sparks.
