SAN FRANCISCO — The energy inside the arena is frenetic. Palpable. The colors of the WNBA’s newest franchise — black and a light hue of purple they call violet — fill Chase Center. But the house that Steph Curry built doesn’t belong to him in the summers anymore. It belongs to the Golden State Valkyries, and their rabid fans, some even wearing helmets adorned with wings, like the women warriors or Norse mythology. And they call it Ballhalla, a play on the mythical place for slain warriors worthy of legend, carried there from the battlefield by flying Valkyries.
On this Saturday evening in San Francisco, the place is especially rocking as the Valkyries clobber the Washington Mystics. The roar is loud enough to produce chills. It was widely believed many people in the Bay Area would get behind a WNBA team. But the energy that’s been taking over the region, and bubbling inside of Chase Center on game days, has exceeded expectations. On game days, it bubbles inside of Chase Center.
After struggling to find the adequate words to describe the captivating energy, head coach Natalie Nakase enlisted the crowd of journalists questioning her for help.
“It’s a damn near movie,” Nakase said, before looking down, trying to find the analogy on the tip of her tongue. “It’s like — what do you call those movies?”
The writers blurted out different answers. An immersive experience. A TikTok trivia. One compared it to The Sphere in Las Vegas. Someone shouted IMAX. It wasn’t until her postgame press conference was over that it came to Nakase.
“Marvel!” she shouted before exiting the interview room, suddenly as if it were an epiphany. “It’s like a Marvel movie.”
VALKYRIES coach Natalie Nakase has been the face of the new franchise that has become beloved in the Bay Area. (Photo by Noah Graham/Courtesy of the Golden State Valkyries)
The cinematic universe captured the hearts of its fans and became synonymous with American culture. It tracks as a fitting metaphor for the fervor surrounding the Valkyries.
The Bay Area is a major sports hub with some of the most popular professional sports franchises. The San Francisco 49ers are a glamor franchise of the NFL. The Warriors are one of the most popular teams in the world. The San Francisco Giants are an iconic baseball franchise. And for decades, the Bay Area’s lineup of major sports teams included the Oakland A’s and Oakland Raiders, also two classic franchises.
But what happened this summer was proof that this part of California had plenty of room for women’s sports. The Bay Area has long been a hub for women’s basketball. So when its first professional women’s team showed up since 1998, the fan base showed up in droves.
“There’s a magic about it,” said Megan Parker, a season ticket holder and Oakland resident. “And I hope that that remains.”
The franchise that Warriors owner Joe Lacob paid $50 million for is already worth over $500 million, according to Sportico. That’s the highest in the WNBA, and this is just the first season.
Their popularity came as no surprise to Valkyries president Jess Smith, who was a previous executive with Angel City FC, the expansion franchise that helped change the face of the National Women’s Soccer League.
“I think everyone understood the assignment of what to build in a really powerful way that would draw this market’s attention,” Smith said in an interview with The Express. “You know, with what we built, what you’re seeing happen in women’s sports, it’s what happened at Angel City as well.
October will make it two years since the WNBA unveiled what would become an instant juggernaut. It began on Instagram. The Golden State Valkyries were announced as the league’s 13th franchise. An expansion draft took place. A locker room and state-of-the-art practice facility, both adorned in violet and black, were built. A president was announced. A general manager was hired, a head coach anointed. In an area with 7 professional teams, the Bay had room for one more.
Chase Center had a new tenant and a new energy, backed by the same investors who erected a global sports power in the Golden State Warriors. It only makes sense that the sister team would be just as big.
Fans don merchandise— some licensed, others handmade with care. Violet, nicknamed Vi — a new mascot of a bird complete with her own jersey and glittery sneakers — danced as Bay Area anthems blasted through speakers in Ballhalla.
“It’s credit to Jess Smith and her team,” Nakase said. “Like, we put on a show here, not just basketball, but we are super intentional.”
Justin Alavarez, a longtime WNBA fan and alumni of UC Berkeley, was part of a group at UC Berkeley advocating for the WNBA putting a new franchise in Oakland to play at Oracle Arena, which the Golden State Warriors vacated in 2019. Although the group’s goal never came to fruition, Alvarez said that the Valkyries bring a “noticeable” shift in energy that’s an offshoot of the basketball culture in the Bay.
“The community buy-in has been so nice to see,” he said, “because, like, everybody’s wearing— I don’t know how people are already having— leather jackets with Valkyries’ stuff on it. And this is a team that literally just started this year.”
Historically, expansion teams don’t perform well in their inaugural season or garner audiences of the Valkyries’ size. However, with the Valkyries, it’s been a perfect storm to create this massive success. The love of women’s basketball in the area. The growth of the WNBA, propelled significantly by the superstardom of Caitlin Clark.
The branding and promotion of the Valkyries, choreographed by an NBA team with plenty experience at high-end marketing. The perfect coach in Nakase, whose aggressive style and emphasis on toughness produced much more success than expected. They’ve won more games than any expansion team in history and made the playoffs in their inaugural season. The franchises’ billionaire back and investors who see the value in women’s sports. The grit of the Bay Area and the fanbase of a region that’s used to having teams that captivate.
The Valkyries are doing this without the star power usually required. No elite players A’ja Wilson or Breanna Stewart. No college stars entering the league with a following, like Angel Reese or Paige Bueckers. No established All-Stars to take the mantle like Sabrina Ionescu or Kelsey Plum. The Valkyries are a team of “sixth women,” as center Temi Fágbénlé described it.
But what the Valkyries don’t lack is passion and culture. They’ve sold out all 22 home games this season.
Despite the area’s rich history and strong allegiance to its sports teams, franchises, Smith said it wasn’t particularly difficult to build a fanbase and stand out from the other pro teams in the area.
“It’s important to be representative of our region and also representative of the communities on the court,” Smith said. “ Our job is to be the center point where, shoulders down, everyone feels connected, and, you know, our players can have spaces that they feel safe and celebrated in.”
Just like the Bay Area, the Valkyries are a magnet for diversity. Fans from all 50 states and 70 countries across the globe. Casual viewers. Die-hard basketball connoisseurs. Visiting tourists who want something unique to experience in San Francisco. Those who grew up watching the Warriors and wanted another team to root for— if not harder. Girls with hoop dreams. Families who want to have affordable fun together. Those in need of a hot spot for date night.
The phenomenon that is the Valkyries have attracted a multitude of fan types, including what Smith refers to as the “Bright Believer”— a fan who understands the impact of their dollar and believes they can build a more equitable future with it.
“This is a consumer that cares deeply about where they spend their time and money and understands that where they do those things can have societal impact,” Smith said. “And they are finding that, obviously, you know, doing that within women’s sports, not only finding (a) shared community, but they are progressing women’s sports and therefore, societal equity forward by showing up.”
Escalating the excitement has been a team that’s produced in the court. The Valkyries have consistently been in contention all season. No one expected them to be any good. But despite injuries to key players, they continued to claw their way up the standings with a grit the Bay Area recognizes and loves.
“The fact that we’re not letting the word ‘expansion team’ take over our minds,” said Tiffany “Tip” Hayes, the veteran leader of the squad, told The Athletic in an interview . “It’s like when this team was put together, it was really made for people who are stars in their own way.”
Since its beginning, the WNBA has been a social justice centered league, often being a leading athletic voice in movements and issues such as Black Lives Matter or the gender pay gap across professional leagues. For Smith, the Valkyries are no different, and it’s an important part of Bay’s history.
It’s a way for the fans— and players— to feel included in every step of the team’s journey and city’s history. For the Valkyries, building a lasting culture goes hand in hand with showing up for their fans in the same way they fill the stands for them. It’s sports’ latest feel-good story, a team hoping to etch its name in the hearts and history books of the Bay, and a culture fervently hugging back.
“How deep our fans are in this,” Smith said, “it’s as if this team has existed for 30 years.”
No luck. No magical skills. But epic in a way that must be experienced to be understood. Like a movie.
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TOP PHOTO: ... (Photo courtesy of the Golden State Valkyries)
Raina Dent is an alumni of The Express staff who currently studies at UC Berkeley. Follow her on X, formally Twitter, @_rainasafiya
