Three weeks before the Las Vegas Aces won their second straight WNBA championship, the league announced it was adding a 13th franchise in time for the 2025 season.
The news might have led Aces owner Mark Davis to break out some additional dance moves.
Given that Davis paid a reported $2 million to buy the Aces from MGM Resorts International in 2021, the team’s valuation in the eyes of sports business experts has dramatically shot up in just two years — especially after the owners of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors agreed to pay a reported $50 million expansion fee to operate the league’s newest team.
Beyond the team’s basketball prowess and the civic pride associated with winning a championship, the Aces have become a success story off the hardwood. Spurred by a consistent investment by Davis, owner of the NFL's Las Vegas Raiders, the team has attracted major celebrity support (including legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady becoming the team’s minority owner) and has become a model of how to successfully market and increase the visibility of a women’s professional sports team.
The Los Angeles-based team is owned by an A-list lineup from the entertainment industry (Natalie Portman, Christina Aguilera and Gabrielle Union) and former U.S. Women’s Soccer team members (Julie Foudy, Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach). The expansion franchise’s initial valuation was $100 million, according to Sportico.
Last month, the publication said the team was now valued at an estimated $180 million because of ticket sales and an increased public profile.
“A whole lot of women invested in a team and completely changed the model of how to market, promote and even draft an entire team,”
She said women currently working in men’s sports leagues could step in and help change the model for women’s professional sports.
In August, Forbes ranked the valuation of teams in eight professional leagues: NFL, NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball, two international soccer leagues, Major League Soccer and Formula One.
The WNBA was not included in the list.
But cracks are starting to appear in that glass ceiling. In February 2022, the WNBA completed a $75 million capital raise, the first in the league’s history. At the time, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the league’s valuation was $1 billion, which placed the average value of a WNBA team at nearly $44 million.
