Valkyries Pack 397,408 Fans Into a Second Straight Sellout Season
The Golden State Valkyries finished their second-season home slate with 397,408 fans across 22 sellouts at Chase Center, a 17-5 home record, and the only franchise in league history to sell out every home game over its first two seasons.
Photo: WNBA.com. Official Kaila Charles headshot, Golden State Valkyries.
Golden State beat Seattle 70-57 at Chase Center on Saturday with 18,064 in the seats and Gabby Williams, Janelle Salaun, and Cecilia Zandalasini all sitting.
The Valkyries closed their second-season home slate with 397,408 fans across 22 sellouts, a 17-5 home mark, and the only WNBA franchise ever to sell out every home game over its first two seasons.
That capacity night landed on a depth roster. Natalie Nakase held Williams and Salaun after France's gold-medal loss to the United States 97-79 in Berlin the prior Sunday. Zandalasini stayed out with illness after Italy's World Cup run. Nakase had worked the USA bench in Berlin, then walked back into a Bay Area building that still filled without the three names most casual tickets chase. Ballhalla bought the franchise again on a night the marquee World Cup legs stayed home.
Kaila Charles ran the film that mattered. She finished with 16 points, a career-high-matching 12 rebounds, and four steals. Tiffany Hayes added 10 the night before her 37th birthday. Juste Jocyte and Laeticia Amihere scored 11 each off the bench before Jocyte left with a left-leg injury the team confirmed. Sixth straight win. Overall 31-11. Second place behind Minnesota heading into the postseason. Seattle sits 8-34. Flau'jae Johnson led the visitors with 17.
Do the home math out loud. Eighteen thousand sixty-four times twenty-two equals 397,408. Every Chase home date this year hit the same full house. The Associated Press called Golden State the only franchise in WNBA history to sell out every home game across its first two seasons. That is the product story under the 70-57 box score: a second-year expansion club that already treats capacity as the floor.
Franchise follow-ups published Sunday put the Saturday night as the 22nd consecutive sellout of the campaign and the 44th in franchise history, with a two-season Chase total of 794,816. Sports Business Journal has reported season-ticket renewal above 90 percent. CNBC valued the club at $1 billion in May, framing it as the first women's sports team to clear that mark. Hold those secondary lines next to Charles' 16-12-4 night and the picture gets sharper. A billion-dollar valuation still needs a wing who boards and finishes when the World Cup legs stay home.
Playoff basketball does not grade the regular-season receipt. It does grade whether Nakase can rest international minutes and still close a 17-5 home slate with bench scoring and a wing who matches a career rebound high. Minnesota owns first place. Golden State owns the loudest two-year attendance receipt in the league and a 2-seed that already proved Chase stays full when the marquee names sit. The next film has to match that receipt in May and June, when the same building asks for more than a sold-out night and a depth win over an 8-34 Storm.
Photo: Golden State Valkyries. Kaila Charles #6 in-game still vs Seattle Storm at Chase Center, Sep 19, 2026.
Sources
- Associated Press via CBS Bay Area. Final 70-57. Attendance 18,064. Season home total 397,408. Home 17-5. Sixth straight. Overall 31-11, second place. Williams and Salaun rested after France World Cup gold loss to USA 97-79. Zandalasini illness. Charles 16 points, 12 rebounds, 4 steals. Hayes 10. Jocyte and Amihere 11. Storm 8-34. Flau'jae Johnson 17. Only franchise to sell out every home game across first two seasons.
- ESPN game page / recap gameId 401857200. Attendance 18064. Venue Chase Center.
- EssentiallySports: only WNBA franchise to sell out each home game in two straight seasons. Sunday writeup citing team Instagram and Jess Smith. 22nd consecutive sellout of the campaign and 44th in franchise history. Two-season Chase total 794,816. Secondary.
- Sports Business Journal. Season-ticket renewal above 90 percent. Secondary.
- CNBC (May 2026). $1 billion valuation, first women's sports team at that mark. Secondary.
- Photos: WNBA.com Charles 1630097. Valkyries CDN Charles still vs Seattle Sep 19 2026.
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