Chase signs on as jersey patch sponsor of WNBA’s Golden State Valkyries

JPMorgan Chase has signed a multiyear sponsorship deal to be the first founding partner of Golden State Valkyries, the WNBA’s next expansion team.

The agreement will see the Chase Freedom logo appear as the Valkyries’ jersey patch when the team begins play in 2025. Joe Lacob and Peter Guber, owners of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, paid a $50 million expansion fee to land the rights to a team in California’s Bay Area in October 2023.

The multi-year deal is valued as a seven-figure investment, making it one of the largest jersey patch deals in the WNBA, according to industry sources. While the Valkyries’ jersey has not been revealed yet, the deal will see the Chase Freedom logo appear on the left shoulder of both the home and away jerseys. Both the Valkyries and Chase declined to comment on deal terms.

Jess Smith, president of the Golden State Valkyries, said as the team was looking to secure a sponsor for one of its key assets, finding a partner that “wanted to enhance our fan experience” was critical. Chase has been a long-term partner of the Warriors, signing a 20-year deal for the naming rights to the team’s arena in 2016 worth at least a reported $300 million, then the largest naming rights deal in the NBA. The Valkyries will also play its games at the Chase Center, located in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood.

“This isn’t just a billboard – when someone sees Chase and the Valkyries together, I want them to know why,” Smith said.

Carla Hassan, JPMorgan Chase chief marketing officer, said that the Bay Area is a “priority market” for the financial services company, with more than 5,000 employees and two million customers in the region, presenting another opportunity to build on the work it’s already doing with the Warriors and the arena.

This particular deal will also help Chase further elevate the Freedom brand, with a focus around empowering small businesses and driving financial literacy in the community, Hassan said.

While JPMorgan Chase has a vast sports sponsorship portfolio that includes naming rights deals with MLS’s Inter Miami and MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks as well as significant sponsorships with Madison Square Garden and the U.S. Open, among others, Hassan said partnering with a WNBA team “was a really good opportunity for us.”

“There is no denying the growth of women’s sports right now,” Hassan said, noting that the company has long been a sponsor of women’s athletes and events and recently provided financing for NWSL club Kansas City Current’s new stadium, the first stadium built specifically for a professional women’s team. “We’re excited to work with the Valkyries to really continue to drive this meteoric rise we’re seeing right now.”

The WNBA has played a huge role in that growth and has benefited from it as well. At the league’s halfway point in July, viewership was up 67% and on pace to be the most-watched regular season since 2002. Attendance was up 27% year-over-year, on pace to be the highest average attendance since 2018. Partnership revenue is up double digits year-over-year and is at an all time high, while merchandise sales have surged thanks to the popularity of new players like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, as well as the established stars like A’ja Wilson and Sabrina Ionescu.

“We are outperforming every single metric,” Colie Edison, chief growth officer for the WNBA, told CNBC in July.

The Valkyries, the WNBA’s first expansion team since 2008, have not only tapped into that growth, but also the popularity of basketball in the Bay Area.

Smith said the team already has more than 17,000 season ticket deposits, which is a record for a U.S. women’s sports team before its first season. Chase Center can seat around 18,000 fans. The Valkyries are also seeing strong demand for merchandise, even though the team has only released its logo and has no players yet.

“The W right now is unstoppable,” Smith said. “I truly believe this league will be one of the most powerful sports leagues in the world.”