The Golden State Valkyries are WNBA champions in just their second season. On Saturday night, they beat the Atlanta Dream 68-63 in the first Game 7 in WNBA Finals history. Gabby Williams scored 30 points and took home Finals MVP.
That is a great sports story. However, the business story behind it may be even better. This team won because customers chose it, owners risked their own money and the front office was free to do its job. Nobody needed a mandate, a bailout or a government program to make it happen.
Key Takeaways
- The Golden State Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream 68-63 on Oct. 31 to win the first WNBA Finals Game 7 and a title in their second season.
- Finals MVP Gabby Williams, who joined as a free agent this year, scored 30 points, including 15 straight across the third and fourth quarters.
- The team became the first women’s sports franchise to reach $100 million in annual revenue, according to Sportico.
- Owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber agreed to pay a $50 million expansion fee in 2023. The next three WNBA expansion teams will each pay $250 million.
- The Valkyries play in Chase Center, an arena their ownership group privately financed.
How the Golden State Valkyries Won Game 7
First, the game itself. Atlanta led 30-24 at halftime, and Williams had made just one field goal in the first half. Then she took over. According to ESPN, Williams hit three straight 3-pointers in the third quarter. In the end, she scored 15 points in a row for her team, the first time any WNBA player has done that in a Finals game.
Meanwhile, the supporting cast came through. Kiah Stokes grabbed 13 rebounds and won her fourth WNBA title. Veronica Burton sealed it with two free throws with 5.1 seconds left, the official WNBA recap noted. Burton was cut by Dallas two years ago. Afterward, she said she was “just so blessed.”
Coach Natalie Nakase summed up her star simply. “Gabby is our closer,” she said. Along the way, the Valkyries beat Dallas, the defending champion Las Vegas Aces and then Atlanta.
The Business Behind the Golden State Valkyries
Now look at the numbers. In 2023, Lacob and Guber agreed to pay $50 million for the first WNBA expansion team in 15 years, and they are paying that fee over 10 years. That was a real bet with their own money. Back then, a new women’s team selling out an NBA arena was far from a sure thing.
It did. The Valkyries have now posted 47 straight sellouts at the 18,064-seat Chase Center, Sportico reported. This year, the team cut off season-ticket sales at more than 12,000. It also signed more than 40 sponsors. As a result, its 2026 regular-season revenue hit $100 million, a first for any women’s sports team in the world.
Sportico now values the franchise at $850 million, a 1,600% jump from the price Lacob agreed to pay. CNBC put it at $1 billion this spring. Either way, those owners turned a risky bet into one of the best investments in sports.
No Taxpayer Arena Required
Here is the part politicians should notice. The Lacob-led group privately financed Chase Center, the San Francisco Standard reported. That means the owners collect the ticket, naming rights and concession money because they paid to build the building.
Too often, it works the other way. Cities across the country hand team owners public money for stadiums and promise that the jobs and growth will follow. Here, the risk sat with the people who would earn the reward. That is how it should work.
Moreover, the market has already put a price on this success. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia will each pay a record $250 million to join the league. In other words, the fee went up fivefold because one team proved what a WNBA franchise could be worth. No bureaucrat set that number. Buyers and sellers did.
Customers, Not Mandates, Built the Golden State Valkyries
There is a lesson here for anyone who wants women’s sports to grow. For years, some argued that the women’s game needed special treatment to survive. The Golden State Valkyries took a different path. They built a product people wanted to buy, and then they sold it hard.
According to Sportico, the team grew its staff by 40% this year and doubled its marketing department. Brandon Schneider, president of the Golden State parent company, explained the approach. “The key is to hire the best people and let them do their jobs,” he said, quoting Lacob’s own rule.
That is a simple idea, yet Washington rarely follows it. It is the same reason Americans keep voting with their wallets, as they did when the Cheesecake Factory posted a record quarter after being mocked on the campaign trail. Customers know what they want. When a business delivers it, they show up.
What Other Leagues Can Learn From the Golden State Valkyries
Of course, one title does not prove a whole league is healthy. Many WNBA teams do not have the Valkyries’ market, arena or ownership. Still, the formula is not a secret. Hire well, invest your own capital and earn your fans one game at a time.
Compare that with the fights elsewhere in sports. Baseball owners want a salary cap even though small-market teams keep proving they can win. College sports are still waiting on Congress after the Big Ten capped NIL spending. Those fights are about who controls the money. The Valkyries simply went out and made more of it.
Finally, credit where it is due. Williams changed teams as a free agent and changed a franchise. Burton went from cut to champion. And thousands of fans in violet showed up night after night because they wanted to, not because anyone told them to.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won the 2026 WNBA championship?
The Golden State Valkyries won the 2026 WNBA title, beating the Atlanta Dream 68-63 in Game 7 on Oct. 31 for a 4-3 series win.
Who was the 2026 WNBA Finals MVP?
Gabby Williams of the Valkyries won Finals MVP after scoring 30 points in Game 7. She joined Golden State as a free agent before this season.
How much are the Golden State Valkyries worth?
Sportico valued the team at $850 million in 2026, the highest in the WNBA, while CNBC put it at $1 billion. The owners agreed to pay a $50 million expansion fee in 2023.
What do you think? Should more team owners pay for their own arenas, the way the Valkyries’ owners did? Tell us in the comments.
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