WNBA valuations skyrocket in Forbes’ latest evaluation

The GIST: According to Forbes, WNBA teams are valued at a league-high average of $272M, a monstrous 183% increase from the estimated average valuation in 2024. It’s all about supply and demand (and a little dash of optimism). Let’s dig in.

The details: The defending champ NY Liberty topped the league’s valuation table with an estimated worth of $400M, followed by the Indiana Fever at $370M and the Seattle Storm’s $330M. Out of the 12 teams (the Golden State Valkyries were not included), the Atlanta Dream rounded out the list with an estimated $190M valuation.

The context: Despite having limited data, the skyrocketing valuations are miles ahead of the league’s recent team sales. Case in point? The owners of the Liberty spent between $10M and $14M to acquire the team in 2019 while the Las Vegas Aces were sold for a mere $2M in 2021 and are now the league’s fourth most-valuable franchise at $310M.

• Though the price points are a far cry from the NBA — the average team is worth $4.66B — the WNBA is a much younger entity that’s only in its 29th season compared to the NBA’s 80 years of existence.

• In fact, when the NBA was competing in its 40th season in 1986, the league’s most expensive franchise, the Boston Celtics, was worth $120M — or $351M when adjusted for inflation. This would rank them just behind the Fever in the W’s 2025 valuation rankings.

The takeaway: It’s important to note that these numbers are not necessarily representative of where the league is right now. The W’s average valuation is 14.4x greater than average revenue, and while this isn’t unusual, it is much larger than other leagues, like the NWSL, which sits at 8.8x average revenue or the NBA at 11.7x.

• That means these valuations are a bet on the future — and for good reason. With a new $2.2B media rights package and back-to-back rookie classes of megastars, interest in the W is peaking, and with only 13 franchises (for now), the demand dwarfs the supply.

• Although the perfect time to partner with the league was yesterday, the next best time is now. If the NBA’s past trajectory is any indication, the W is ahead of schedule as the league’s reach and revenue continue to expand. Now that’s a bucket.