The Valkyries’ inaugural season has been everything fans could have hoped for. Coach Natalie Nakase wasted no time establishing a winning culture in the Bay Area, every single player bought into her system, and the Valkyries became the first-ever expansion team to clinch a playoff spot right off the bat despite playing without Kayla Thornton, Tiffany Hayes, and Cecilia Zandalasini for much of the season.
The Valkyries have also found incredible success off the court, quickly becoming one of the most popular teams in the league. The Valkyries didn’t just sell out every single home game at Chase Center, but they also set a single-season record for total and average attendance.
22 for 22 ✨🪽
— Golden State Valkyries (@valkyries) September 7, 2025
We've set the all-time @WNBA record for total (397,408) and average (18,064) attendance in a regular season, selling out each of our 22 home games.
Thank you, Valks Fam! pic.twitter.com/KKCPabapyG
Golden State’s success bodes well for the expansion teams following them. The Toronto Tempo and Portland Fire will join the league in 2026. In 2028, Cleveland will join the fold, and Detroit and Philadelphia will get teams in 2029 and 2030, respectively. The Valkyries’ success proves there is interest in new WNBA teams and fan bases just waiting to cheer on an expansion team.
However, fans shouldn’t try to compare the Tempo’s and Fire’s first seasons to what the Valkyries did. Golden State made history in several ways and measuring new teams’ success by whether or not they can match the Valkyries’ historic success wouldn’t be fair.
The Valkyries put together a one-of-a-kind season
The WNBA started play in 1997 with eight teams: the Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, Houston Comets, New York Liberty, Los Angeles Sparks, Phoenix Mercury, Sacramento Monarchs, and Utah Starzz. The league added several expansion teams in the late 90s and early 2000s. Some of those teams folded, while others are still in the league, but none of them found the kind of success the Valkyries did.
Ten teams joined the WNBA between 1998 and 2008. Only one of those teams finished the season with a winning record. The Detroit Shock finished the 1998 season with a 17-13 record, but narrowly missed out on a playoff spot. Minnesota and Orlando both finished their inaugural seasons with respectable 15-17 records, coming closer to a winning record than any other expansion team in the 2000s. The Mystics, Fever, Storm, Sky, and Dream all won fewer than 10 games in their first seasons.
It is no coincidence that it took so long for an expansion team to make the playoffs in its inaugural season and shatter several other records on the way. Being a new team in a league with established franchises is difficult. There is little chance of landing a superstar, who will help draw in fans right away, and choosing to sacrifice winning for the chance to draft a young star is often the easiest way to fill that hole. Building a culture and a team identity that fans can latch onto can also take some time.
If the Fire and Tempo don’t find as much success in the 2026 season as the Valkyries did this year or choose to approach their first seasons differently, it isn’t automatically a failure. Every team has a different timeline, and the Valkyries set impossible standards with their historic first season. Their success was a rare result of finding the perfect first coach, building a roster that fits the coach’s style, and absolutely nailing the marketing and branding side of the business. Not every expansion team will be able to strike that balance in its first season.
As long as the Fire and Tempo follow the Valkyries’ lead when it comes to investing in players and establishing a strong culture, they will be just fine.