An overall aerial view of Chase Center in San Francisco, California on December 31, 2023.
Kirby Lee | Getty Images
JPMorgan Chase has signed a multi-year sponsorship agreement to become the first founding partner of the WNBA’s next expansion team, the Golden State Warriors.
Under the agreement, the Chase Freedom logo will appear on the Valkyrie’s jersey patches when they begin play in 2025. ) paid a $50 million expansion fee to acquire the rights to the team in October 2023 in the Bay Area, California.
The multi-year deal represents a seven-figure investment, making it one of the WNBA’s largest jersey patch deals, according to industry sources. While the Valkyrie’s jerseys have yet to be announced, the agreement will see the Chase Freedom logo appear on the left shoulder of both home and away jerseys. Valkyrie and Chase both declined to comment on the terms of the deal.
Golden State Valkyrie president Jesse Smith said as the team seeks a sponsor for one of its key assets, finding a partner “who wants to enhance our fan experience” is critical. Chase is a long-term partner of the Warriors and signed a 20-year arena naming rights contract with the Warriors in 2016. Reportedly worth at least $300 millionthe NBA’s largest naming rights deal at the time. Valkyrie will also play at the Chase Center in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood.
“This is more than just a billboard — when someone sees Chase and Valkyrie together, I want them to know why,” Smith said.
JPMorgan Chief Marketing Officer Carla Hassan said the Bay Area is a “priority market” for the financial services firm, which has more than 5,000 employees and 2 million customers and serves as a foundation for its existing work. Building on that provides another opportunity with the Warriors and Arena.
Hassan said this special deal will also help Chase further enhance the Freedom brand, with a focus on supporting small businesses and increasing financial literacy in the community.
While JPMorgan Chase has a large sports sponsorship portfolio, including naming rights deals with MLS’s Inter Miami and MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks, as well as a deal with Madison Square Garden (Madison Square Garden) and the US Open, among others, but Hassan said working with the WNBA team “has been a really pleasant experience.”
“There’s no denying that women’s sports are booming right now,” Hassan said, noting that the company has been a long-standing sponsor of women’s athletes and events and recently provided financing for a new stadium for NWSL club Kansas City Current. It was the first stadium built specifically for female athletes. “We are excited to partner with Valkyries to continue to drive the rapid rise we are seeing now.”
The WNBA has played a huge role in that growth and has benefited from it. Ratings were up 67% midway through the league in July and are expected to be the most-watched regular season since 2002. digits, an all-time high thanks to newcomers like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese and established stars like A’ja Wilson and Sabrina Popular, Ionescu’s merchandise sales also grew significantly.
“We’re doing great in every metric,” WNBA chief growth officer Colie Edison said. July told CNBC.
The Valkyries are the WNBA’s first expansion team since 2008, and they’re capitalizing on not only that growth, but the popularity of basketball in the Bay Area.
Smith said the team already has more than 17,000 season ticket deposits, a record for a U.S. women’s sports team before its first season. Chase Center can accommodate approximately 18,000 fans. Valkyrie is also seeing strong demand for merchandise, though the team has only released a logo and doesn’t have players yet.
“The W is unstoppable right now,” Smith said. “I firmly believe this league will become one of the strongest sports leagues in the world.”
