The Golden State Valkyries achieved several milestones in 2026, and now they stand as WNBA Champions for the very first time.

The WNBA team became the first professional women's sports team to top $100 million in annual revenue back in October.

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This follows after a league-leading $78 million of revenue in its debut season, per Sportico, which was 48 percent more than the second-placed Indiana Fever, who have superstar, and face of the WNBA, Caitlin Clark in their ranks.

Now the franchise can add WNBA champions to their list.

Valkyries forward Gabby Williams claimed the Finals MVP award after averaging 19.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 2.6 steals in the series, including scoring 30 points and recording four blocks in Game 7.

The Ballhalla crowd showed up on Halloween to lift Golden State over 2026 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Angel Reese, Allisha Gray and the Atlanta Dream in the first Game 7 in WNBA history.

What makes these aforementioned feats even more impressive is that the Bay Area-based team are only in their second season, having been introduced to the WNBA as an expansion franchise in 2025.

History only two years in the making

Calling the Chase Center home - also the home of NBA juggernauts Golden State Warriors - the Valkyries have continued the trend from their maiden season and regularly sold out the 18,000-seat arena.

This has partly contributed to them hitting the $100 million gross revenue milestone.

But having gone on an emphatic run all the way to the 2026 WNBA Finals, and emerging victorious in the enthralling series that went the full distance, this figure could yet rise to as much as $130 million.

In fact, they are already the most valuable women's sports franchise and were valued at $1 billion by CNBC earlier this years.

Sponsorships have been a huge asset when it comes to generating so much revenue, with owner Joe Lacob having done tremendous job partnering with some of the world's biggest companies, including JPMorgan Chase, Sephora, Rakuten, and United Airlines.

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Alongside their sister team Warriors, they also penned a $50 million per year deal with AI cloud provider Iren, whose branding is featured on the team's warm-up jerseys.

But the Valkyries organization have gone above and beyond to help out their rivals, too.

When the news emerged that their WNBA Finals opponents Dream were unable to host their home games at the 17,000-seat State Farm Arena due to scheduling conflicts, Lacob reportedly stepped in and helped lobby for the schedule to be made more accommodating.

Even though it would have given more of an advantage to the Valkyries to host at Chase Center and then have Atlanta play to a 3,500-capacity crowd at Gateway Center Arena, Lacob put the growth of women's basketball at the heart of his argument to both the under-siege WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert and NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

The result - the WNBA went and amended the schedule of Game 3, whilst the Atlanta Hawks moved the time of their opening home game to allow Game 4 to go ahead at State Farm Arena in a big W for women's sports.

Game 6 was later brought forward to 12:30pm ET as to not interrupt the Hawks' scheduling that day.

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Valkyries set the standard on and off the court

But Golden State's road to their maiden WNBA champion has by no means been a fluke.

Head coach Natalie Nakase - who has called herself a 'psycho' due to her extreme work ethic - led the Valkyries to the playoffs in her first year at the helm.

After the new lucrative Collective Bargaining Agreement was finalized, the team went out and penned 30-year-old star free agent Williams to a multi-year deal, showing a real statement of intent that they wanted to continue to build as a franchise in their second year.

They also nabbed now four-time WNBA champion Kiah Stokes in free agency who would go on to lead the team in rebounding.

The 33-year-old veteran, Williams, and last season's standout Veronica Burton, have formed an underrated 'big three' in Golden State, with the trio's chemistry serving as a huge contributing factor to Ballhalla finishing with a 32-12 regular season record - the second-best mark in the WNBA.

Furthermore, forward Janelle Salaün made history by becoming the first player to be unanimously selected as the Sixth Player of the Year, showing to the league that you don't necessarily need a standout super star to compete to the highest level.

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In fact, the Valkyries were also the first team to win a championship without a player awarded All-WNBA honors, further showcasing that teams don't necessarily need blockbuster stars to reach the pinnacle.

Nonetheless, the Valkyries success off the court has been just as big as it has on the court, with Ballhalla proving that women's pro sports continues to be on the rise.

For the WNBA's latest expansion franchises, including the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo, who both had their inaugural seasons in 2026, the model set by the Valkyries is there to follow.

With the Cleveland Sirens set to join the WNBA in 2028, and Detroit and Philadelphia-based teams arriving in 2029 and 2030, the league will be up to 18 teams demand is high for that number to grow.

Even the WNBA's current teams, and other sports like women's soccer, should be taking note as the formula to success is very clearly on display in the Bay Area.

And in the words of 37-year-old veteran Tiffany Hayes - who finally becomes a WNBA champion after 15 seasons - "This is just what happens when you invest in women’s sports,"

"We here and we ain't going nowhere."