The league’s worth has grown incrementally
It is Mother’s Day and it is a good time to take a look at the Sportico valuation of the Women’s National Basketball Association’s franchises. It generally is an exercise in futility because a franchise is worth whatever a potential owner thinks it is worth. For what it is worth, Sportico put out its list and claims that the average WNBA franchise is worth $427 million, a 59% increase over 2025 and more than four times the average value in 2024. It is hard to believe that a league whose teams really never made any money has grown substantially in value in just 24 months. Sportico has the San Francisco-based Golden State Valkyries as the most valuable team at $800 million. The Brooklyn-based New York Liberty business comes in second at $600 million. Small market, Indianapolis-based, the Indiana Fever franchise with Caitlin Clark at $560 million is third.
The Seattle Storm franchise is worth $425 million and comes in at four. The fifth spot has held by the Phoenix Mercury business at $420 million. The Las Vegas Aces franchise comes in at sixth at $410 million. The number seven spot is held by the Los Angeles Sparks franchise at $400 million. In eighth place is the Minnesota Lynx franchise at $355 million. In the ninth slot is the Dallas Wings franchise at $325 million. The Chicago Sky is valued at $320 million at number 10. The 11th position is the Washington Mystics franchise at $310 million. The lame duck Connecticut Sun franchise comes in at number 12th at $300 million. That valuation is probably correct as the team has been sold for that amount to Tilman Fertitta and will be relocating to Houston for the 2027 season. The Atlanta Dream franchise is worth $280 million at 13. Teams in Portland and Toronto started this year and were not evaluated.
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Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
