Masters of Scale · Sep 24, 2026 · 37m · 25m saved
With Jess Smith, President of the Golden State Valkyries
The Golden State Valkyries went from a $50 million expansion fee to a billion-dollar valuation in about two and a half years, host Jeff Berman said. Jess Smith, the team's president and first employee, said the brand was selling merchandise in 70 countries and all 50 states within 60 days, a year before the team had a single player.
Most teams that share an arena with a men's club try to borrow its fans. When Smith checked at her previous team, Angel City FC, she found the overlap was small, and built for everyone else instead.
"And what I found through a very exclusive study, which was me calling people, there was really no more than 10% crossover."
Jess Smith, president of the WNBA's Golden State Valkyries, on Masters of Scale, spent 15 years in Major League Soccer, the NHL and Major League Baseball before helping start Angel City FC with five people working from home during the pandemic, then built the Valkyries from day one.
The full interview is covered here so you can skip it. 37 minutes of audio, 12 minutes of reading.
Here are the 17 lessons that matter.
Key Takeaways
Fans of men's and women's teams sharing a venue overlapped by no more than 10%, so she builds for the other 90%
The Valkyries sold merchandise in 70 countries and all 50 states within 60 days, before they had any players
Women's sports have broken the boom-bust cycle through investment, people and media, she said
Brands wanted to sign on at once, and she told them "not yet" until the team knew what a partnership meant
The most successful sports brands see 1% of their fans ever attend a game
The Valkyries now have 40 partner bars across Northern California
Her one regret: she should have hired ahead of revenue even faster in year one
The WNBA is adding 15% more games, worth six extra games a season for each team
She wants no rush into sports betting
1. Build for the 90%
Berman opened with the numbers: the Valkyries, which he called the fastest-growing sports franchise in America, went from a $50 million expansion fee to a billion-dollar valuation in about two and a half years. He first met Smith at Angel City, the Los Angeles women's soccer club where he held season-one tickets.
What Angel City taught her
Smith spent 15 years in sports before Angel City, learning how Major League Soccer, the National Hockey League and Major League Baseball each operate. At Angel City she joined Julie Uhrman, Kara Nortman and Natalie Portman when there were five of them working from home during the pandemic, aiming to build the most powerful women's sports team in the world.
A new product has to define who it is for, she said, and an audience that has been ignored will show up for an elite product built for it. Her first question at Angel City was how many fans the men's and women's teams sharing a venue had in common.
"And what I found through a very exclusive study, which was me calling people, there was really no more than 10% crossover." — Jess Smith
"So that was an immediate lightbulb — you should be building for the 90 and then inviting the 10 to be a part of that." — Jess Smith
