Then Fowles, after seven seasons with the Sky, sat out the start of the 2015 season until she was traded to Minnesota, where she has won two titles. I strongly suspect they are worth more than any WNBA team. That said, there's something to be said for perception, and also educated guesses. Playoff appearances (record): Seven (8-18) From 2007-2013, the Sparks were owned first by Gemini Basketball and then Williams Group Holdings, but there was concern in late 2013/early 2014 that the franchise might move when Williams opted out of ownership. So, if you do the scales, its pretty tough to even fathom that. The WNBAs capital raise, she said, is further indication that now is the time to get involved with the league. How Breanna Stewart's move impacts the Liberty, Storm and the WNBA, WNBA free agency and trade tracker: Latest deals and news, Sparks' Talbot to miss season with torn ACL, Source: Griner back with Mercury on 1-year deal, Taurasi, 40, signs multiyear deal with Mercury, ESPN's Rowe, Spears receive Curt Gowdy award, Happy birthdays to MJ: Jordan's not the only one sharing his birthday with big-name stars, Former Iowa, Storm center Edwards dies at 49, Jefferson leaves Lynx, signs contract with Mercury, WNBA's best 25 under 25: Ranking A'ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier and all the young stars, WNBA Power Rankings: Connecticut Sun dethrone Las Vegas Aces, while Minnesota Lynx leapfrog over Seattle Storm. The Mystics, who came into the WNBA with Detroit in the first wave of expansion in 1998, had 12 coaches in their first 15 seasons, changing leadership during a season four different times. One thing the league did want was to make sure the Toronto team was more than majority Canadian owned, and we didnt get some overseas money or anything weird like that, Abrahams said. Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. They had been the Orlando Miracle, affiliated with the Orlando Magic, and were just getting established after four seasons. So which WNBA franchise is the best in league history? Meanwhile the average overall WNBA ticket price is $47 on SeatGeek. The WNBA launched with eight NBA-affiliated teams in June 1997. The buyers, Mark Walter and Todd Boehley, have a path to eventually buying out controlling owner Jerry Buss Family Estate at some point in the future. High point: Going 20-12 and making their lone playoff appearance in 2001, falling to New York. Ticket sales and sponsorships are large revenue drivers. A team can have more than one player make over the cap, but they can't have more than $113 million US dollars in total contract obligations. A representative for billionaire Kirk Brown said he is leading the bid to bring a WNBA team to Portland in this round of expansion. MVPs: None 1 pick in the NBA draft. 1 pick. Mike Alter - $1.2 Billion. Low point: The franchise folding after going 15-17 in 2002. The recent capital raise was heralded by Engelbert as a boon. In order to break a tie, the following criteria will be utilized in the order set forth: As an organization, we embrace anyone whose mission is to grow basketball in our region, and with a WNBA team, we would look forward to expanding the reach of our great game together, the Blazers said in a statement. As previously noted, the WNBA generates an average of $60 million in income every year. Which is the most valuable team in the NBA? The wondrously talented Stinson is the franchise's all-time scoring leader but point guard Staley -- who came to the league in 1999 from the ABL -- became the heart of the team. Elena Delle Donne - $221,450. Three have been with single-digit victory totals, and they're closing in on the fourth. After Seattle took Australian star Lauren Jackson No. It was none other than the NBA itself who took the initiative of doing this. Other notable stars: DeWanna Bonner, Skylar Diggins-Smith, Candice Dupree, Brittney Griner, Cappie Pondexter, Tangela Smith, Penny Taylor. But the next year brought Taurasi as the No. Via ESPN. Playoff appearances (record): Two (2-5) Low point: The franchise folding, despite a committed fan base, after the 2009 season. High point: Stiles, on the heels of a magical run to the Final Four with Missouri State, winning WNBA Rookie of the Year in 2001 -- yes, over Seattle's Lauren Jackson, which really shouldn't have happened. We opted to rank the franchises separately rather than group Utah/San Antonio/Las Vegas, Detroit/Tulsa/Dallas and Orlando/Connecticut. Thibault is now in his ninth season with Washington, which also traded for Delle Donne before the 2017 season. The NBA, however, turns a profit of roughly $2.1B per year, which is what allows them to payout 50% of the league revenue to players. Championships: None Boston Celtics: $3.2 . They were established in 1968 and play all their home games at Fiserv Forum. Franchise journey: The Mercury seem to have had the most ownership stability of any WNBA franchise. Dolan put the Liberty on the market in 2017, and Brooklyn Nets owner Joseph Tsai bought them in 2019. Vandersloot to New York, the rise of superteams and a Liberty-Aces WNBA Finals? Curry remains one of the best players in the game (96), and the team sports a plethora of young, promising players in Jordan Poole (81) and Jonathan Kuminga (79). Those new teams could begin to play as early as the 2024 season, she said. Delle Donne, wanting to be closer to her Delaware home, pushed for a trade to Washington after the 2016 season and has won a title with the Mystics. The city already has used this kind of financing for sports arenas. In 2019, it was $74,349. But Pistons/Shock owner Bill Davidson died in March 2009 and Laimbeer left for an NBA assistant's job shortly after. To date, the Monarchs are the last WNBA franchise to fold. WNBA career stats leaders: Elena Delle Donne in free throw percentage (93.9) and offensive rating (124.85) Face of the franchise: Jackie Stiles (2001-02) The Sun haven't broken through for a title yet, but they're a strong contender to challenge for a championship again this year under coach Curt Miller, despite Alyssa Thomas missing the season with an Achilles injury. Figures in USD $6200M for a 5-year period, so for the 2023 season this is USD $1240M for the League, $124M per team, $16.7M per match) Note that this is only the revenue from the sale of media rights to broadcasters. Those four made up the core of the 2004 and 2005 teams that advanced to the WNBA Finals. One of the most storied franchises in WNBA history, the Liberty began play as one of the WNBA's eight original teams and took part in the league's inaugural game, defeating the Los Angeles . Stiles had a strong rookie season but had the first of many major surgeries when it ended and played just 21 more games in the WNBA, all in an injury-plagued 2002 season. MVPs: A'ja Wilson (2020) And Brondello is the longtime coach of Phoenix Mercury. Value: $4.6 billion. Nine players were named to all four of the WNBA's honorary teams named during milestones in the league's history - the All-Decade Team in 2006; Top 15 Players in 2011; Top 20@20 in 2016, and . They officially were the "Silver Stars" from then through 2013, then just the "Stars" their last four seasons. High point: The Mystics and Delle Donne overcoming her back injury and a tough Connecticut team to win the 2019 WNBA Finals. The most recent sale of a franchise occurred when Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore agreed to a $1.5 billion deal to buy . Taurasi will continue with the Mercury, the only WNBA franchise for which she has played, in Season 19 in 2023. High point: Despite going 15-19 in the 2014 regular season, the Sky got hot at the right time, beating Atlanta and Indiana to reach the WNBA Finals. Transactions occur in a black box, unlike most other professional leagues, in which teams are sold and their prices are eventually leaked or announced. Joe Tsai. This allows more people from different economic backgrounds to attend basketball games. Cooper's career ended after Houston's fourth consecutive title in 2000 (she returned at age 40 to play four more games in 2003), and that was when other teams in the league caught up. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Rookie Wire took a look at the NBA through the All-Star break and ranked each team from worst to first. Golden State Warriors: $4.7 billion. Championships: None The Monarchs came close in 2006 but fell in the decisive Game 5 at Detroit. In the next few months, the most talked about issue in the WNBA should finally have some clarity. Take, for example, the New York Knicks. Low point: Having their best record (20-12) and making their first conference finals appearance in 2002 wasn't enough to keep the team in Utah. The WNBA has closed on $75 million in funding that values the league and its teams at $1 billion, according to people familiar with the raise. The Liberty lost Game 3 and the series, but "The Shot" lives on. Playoff appearances (record): Nine (24-19) The league called it "the largest-ever capital raise for a women's sports property." . That season, the Sparks had their fewest wins in franchise history, going 10-24. 9 UConn (26-5) eked out a 60-51 win over Xavier, a team that is 7-22 on the season and 0-20 in conference play. Seattle is our top-ranked franchise in part because it consistently has taken best advantage of its good fortune, and also because it has created such a positive, winning culture. Former Senator Kelly Loeffler is out as an owner of the WNBA's Atlanta Dream. This recent history of the NBA's salary cap tells us again that Cuban's story isn't quite right. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. Nolan, Smith, Ford and McWilliams-Franklin, who were still with the Shock in 2009, never moved with the organization. Playoff appearances (record): 15 (27-36) The Stars then won Game 3 and made their only WNBA Finals appearance. Regular-season record: 72-44 The fact that doesnt happen in the WNBA as quickly or freely makes it difficult to assess the market worth of a team; it can also confound potential buyers about how much they need to get into the league. Franchise investors are looking past the dearth of fanswhich cut average revenue for the leagues 30 teams by 19% from the 2019-20 season, to $214 millionwith eyes on a big rebound: An increasein sponsorship revenue coupled with fans returning to arenas this season should push the leagues revenue to an all-time high of at least $10 billion,10% above the2018-19 campaign, the last full season before the pandemic. The information used to compile our valuations primarily came from the teams, sports bankers, media consultants and public documents, like arena lease agreements and bond documents. MVPs: None Plus, help in the form of two consecutive No. In all but one case -- Tulsa to Dallas -- the ownership was different when the franchise moved, and in all cases the teams have had distinct identities. That history is ancient history, she said. While the average highest listed price is $233. The league knows everything about what this is going to look like (regarding) Toronto.. At its largest, the WNBA expanded to 16 teams, but has been at 12 since 2010. That brought young post players Charli Collier, 21, and Awak Kuier, 20, who could blossom. The New York Knicks are the most valuable franchise in the NBA, with an estimated value of $4 billion. He loves watching all types of sporting events and has made it his personal mission to attend every game he can. Philip Anschutz sold his 27% stake in the Lakers in July at a $5 billion valuation, with an implied controlling stake valuation of around $5.5 billion; Forbes valued the team at $4.6 billion in February. Fourth is the Los Angeles Sparks. Since then, the league's landscape has shifted several times, including to ownership outside the NBA. . Regular-season record: 224-200 High point: Making the WNBA Finals in 2020 in the team's third season in Las Vegas. It was the Sun's third trip to the Finals. Among those who passed through in Tulsa were fallen track star Marion Jones (13 years after she had played collegiate basketball at North Carolina) and Swoopes, who played her final season at age 40 for the Shock in 2011. The average price of a ticket is just over $100. But McCoughtry was injured late in the 2018 season, didn't play in 2019 and left as a free agent for Las Vegas in 2020. Additional research by Justin Teitelbaum. The Mohegan Tribe in Connecticut, which had an arena at the Mohegan Sun Casino and wanted to capitalize on the popularity of women's basketball in the state thanks to UConn, bought the Miracle. It was named one of the WNBAs inaugural Gamechangers (an investor program launched by Engelbertin 2020), was an investor in the recent capital raise and owns equity in the league. By 2005, Brunson, Lawson, Powell and Walker joined the team and Sacramento won the title. There were even discussions about having some games played in Europe. LeBron James' Los Angeles Lakers are now valued at $5.5 billion, joining the New York Knicks and the Golden State Warriors in the $5 billion club. Lacob called owning a WNBA team a dream in 2014. Like Engelbert, Davis the Aces owner is fixated on revenue as his top priority. Regular-season record: 383-341 Playoff appearances (record): 13 (35-33) If you look at the NFL, were getting $10.1 billion a year for television and the WNBA is getting $30 million a year. Theres nobody that wants this more than I do. The WNBA has said that it intends to keep ticket prices affordable.