00:00The team, not 30 years old, brand new, only joining the league last year, already valued at a billion dollars.
00:06It's the first women's team in any sport to reach that valuation.
00:10Welcome to New York. How are you?
00:12Thank you. We're happy to be here. Happy to talk about the Valkyries.
00:14Okay, well, you know, you have some New Yorkers here, and you guys play the Liberty later this week.
00:20We do.
00:20We're going to try to keep things, you know, civil.
00:23I mean, so you're telling me you're not cheering for the Valkyries, just to confirm.
00:26Listen, we are unbiased journalists, okay, who are just focused on, you know, asking the questions and getting the good
00:32answers.
00:32Well, you both look great and violent.
00:34So that's what we're going to do.
00:35Can you talk a little bit about just the business side of this?
00:39Because the valuation is just mind-boggling after a year.
00:42You said to us as we were talking, you're in New York a lot because there are a lot of
00:46business opportunities here.
00:47What is the business behind the team right now?
00:50Well, I think, you know, to back up, for so long, people have talked about wanting more for women's sports.
00:55More games, more visibility, et cetera.
00:57And, of course, more payment for the players.
00:59And that starts with building business and making sure that you're doing that unapologetically.
01:03And so the opportunity is really that there is a unique audience as well as an audience to convert that
01:09may be a traditional sport fan into this incredible product for those that are growing with it, as well as
01:13to create something new.
01:15You know, I think women's sports specifically, and the WNBA is a leader here, is a mix of sport and
01:19purpose and culture.
01:20So, yes, you're focused on selling out your games, creating the best fan experience, but you're also focused on building
01:26community and connection in a much deeper way.
01:28And how you're doing that and how you're building business around it is really important.
01:32And so – oh, go ahead.
01:33Sorry.
01:34Finish your thought.
01:35Yeah, and so as we're building, you know, for us, we are relentless on making sure, of course, the traditional
01:41revenue lines, ticketing, partnership, merchandise, you know, everything to do with the game day and so forth are ones that
01:47are really strong.
01:48But we are also constantly thinking about what are other pathways to revenue expansion and fandom expansion.
01:54For years, women's sports executives have had to prove that there is enough demand.
01:58Do you think that that conversation has fundamentally changed?
02:01It has, and there's a lot of steps that got us here.
02:03You know, a lot of people right now are saying you're a year old.
02:06It's incredible that you have this valuation.
02:08But for us, we were able to build this way because of the work that's been done year over year
02:13over year.
02:14You know, the WNBA is 30 years old, as we talked about, and visibility and game readings and fandom is
02:20on the rise.
02:21You know, when you saw this incredible negotiation finalized for the CBA this last year, if you look back five
02:27years and forward five years,
02:28it's really hard to get this right to look at the upward trajectory for everybody involved, and that's a great
02:34sign of what's to come.
02:37I'm thinking more about the, and well, also thinking about the brand deals and sort of the stuff that comes
02:43with an addition to ticket sales.
02:45And I'm wondering about positioning players, how you're thinking about image, how you're thinking about recruiting these players who, in
02:56some cases, have huge followings already on Instagram and have become their own brands through social media.
03:03How do you think about that, and how do you juggle all that?
03:05I mean, you're seeing a lot of these rookie classes flood in with incredible followership and influence.
03:10But by the way, that's with every sports league, right?
03:12These are folks that have been making content for a really long time already, that have had representation for a
03:17long time already, and are coming with, you know, with that expertise coming into the league.
03:22And that's matching these veteran players that have been building this league and producing.
03:26And it's creating a really fun product.
03:28I think for a long time in women's sports, it was thought of that these athletes were just athletes.
03:32And what you're seeing now, and a lot of the brand deals that you're seeing and storytelling that's taking place,
03:36is showing these multidimensional women, some are fashion designers, some are really dedicated to building in the youth sports space
03:42and providing that access for young girls.
03:45Who they are off the court allows that idolization and fandom to take a lot of different shapes.
03:50It's no longer, in men's sports too, just these superstars that are the top three to five players in a
03:55league.
03:55I think it's an opportunity for every young boy and girl to look and find an athlete that they relate
04:00to in some way, shape, or form.
04:01What has the organization done right to scale the franchise so quickly and create the stardom and fandom that you
04:07are talking about?
04:08Most importantly, we've listened.
04:10You know, I think sometimes when you're building a business, you can have a vision and just start to execute
04:16it.
04:16But you really have to stop and think through, are you being intentional?
04:20Are you building what the fans are asking you to build?
04:22Is this something that the players want to represent themselves and make sure that, you know, they're a part of
04:26that continued growth?
04:27Everything from our team name, we had put a survey out to say, what should we name the team?
04:32And over 25% of people wrote in the Valkyries.
04:35It was on the table, but as we went through the other options, we kept coming back to it because
04:39we said the fans are asking us for this.
04:41You know, throughout this entire journey, we want to make sure that we are building this team with our community
04:46and with our fans.
04:47And so far, that's been something that's landed well and, you know, really created a special environment.
04:52I mean, it worked really well last year.
04:54You had a really impressive inaugural season, the first expansion team to clinch a playoff spot in the first season.
05:01How do you replicate that this year?
05:03Or maybe a better question to ask would be like, how did you get to that level right off the
05:07bat?
05:08Yeah, I think there's two things for us.
05:10One, the Golden State culture.
05:11So one piece that we had an opportunity to come into is being a part of Golden State, this ownership
05:16group, this venue that we get to play in.
05:17It's premier.
05:18But people think of Golden State and they know this is an organization that wants to win.
05:23In fact, our owner came out when we launched the team even before I was hired and said, we're going
05:26to win a championship in the first five years.
05:28But they also want to do things the right way.
05:30And so we have that roadmap to make sure people really trust that.
05:33But the second piece is to invest, making sure that we're investing in that fan experience and everything in between
05:39that is attracting the demand into the community that we've had a chance to build.
05:44And I think if you're talking to our GM and our head coach and myself, when we sat down at
05:48the end of this last season and we thought, what went well?
05:51What do we want to bring with us?
05:52What are things that we want to shift?
05:53The reality is we laid a great foundation, but it is a foundation.
05:56We have a lot more work to do to continue to grow this, but it's a yes and year for
06:01us.
06:02And so I think to talk about them for a minute, because they're both incredible leaders, they have in year
06:06one created a culture where we had the most returning players come back to our roster.
06:10In addition to that, they landed two incredible free agents in Gabby Williams and Kia Stokes to add to that
06:16for year two of a team.
06:17I think often you're not seeing people necessarily look to run to an expansion franchise, but a lot of credit
06:22goes to them in the connectivity and the trust that they've built with these players.
06:26The Valkyries, of course, had become the first women's sports team to reach a billion-dollar valuation.
06:31What do you think that the broader sports industry is still missing when it comes to the business opportunity in
06:36women's sports?
06:37Just how quickly it's growing.
06:39You know, I think even with this billion-dollar valuation, which is such a testament, again, to so many people
06:44doing great work, there's still the questions of, you know, okay, is this it?
06:48And the reality is this is just the beginning.
06:51It's the beginning of the beginning, as Peter Cooper likes to say.
06:53You know, when you think about the WNBA specifically, this new CBA, even when you fast-forward to next year,
06:59there's an opportunity to play 15% more games per season.
07:01This is the collective bargaining agreement?
07:03Correct. Yes, yes.
07:04And so, you know, that alone is going to continue to create these opportunities for visibility, fandom.
07:09You look at expansion.
07:10You know, we're adding two teams this year.
07:12We have Portland and Toronto playing.
07:13And then three more teams.
07:14We have Detroit, Cleveland, and Philadelphia joining by 2030.
07:17That's 18 teams.
07:18But who's not to say there's not more on the horizon?
07:21Do you think there is?
07:22I mean, that's a great question for the commissioner.
07:24What I would say is that I hope so.
07:28You know, when we think of these markets and the opportunity to expand this league, expand the roster spots, expand
07:33this fandom.
07:34For instance, we're a great example.
07:35A ton of WNBA fans in Northern California.
07:38Then you get a team.
07:39Then it's rabid fandom and fans within the Valkyrie system.
07:42That's good for everybody.
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