Jun 14, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase talks to guard Veronica Burton (22) in the third quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Eakin Howard-Imagn Images Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

Golden State Valkyries Make Announcement on Making WNBA History

Originally posted on Golden State Valkyries on SI
By Jack Haslett | Last updated Sep 6, 2025 11:54 PM ET

18,064. That's how many seats the Chase Center in San Francisco has at its capacity. That's also how many fans have poured into the Chase Center in every single home game this season for the Golden State Valkyries.

Fans have packed the Chase Center night after night to show up for the Valkyries, transforming the arena into Ballhalla when the Golden State is in town. Fans have shown up in force to cheer on the Valkyries in their debut season and have watched as their new hometown team has broken records and defied all expectations for what an Expansion team can be.

Throughout the season, the Valkyries have sold out home games night after night. On Saturday night in their matchup against the Minnesota Lynx, the Valkyries had one more chance to sell out a home game, and Ballhalla did not disappoint.

Valkyries make history

It was another packed house and another sellout, setting in stone that all 22 Golden State home games this season were sold-out games.

The Golden State Valkyries have set the all-time WNBA attendance record pic.twitter.com/5NIHPkcCDg
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) September 7, 2025

Even better than that, Saturday night's sell-out crowd gave the Valkyries another record: the all-time WNBA attendance record, drawing 397,408 fans in their very first season as a franchise. This record smashes the number two spot set by the Indiana Fever, also in 2025, by close to 50,000 fans in attendance.

The way the Valkyries have been embraced by Bay Area basketball fans has truly been a remarkable aspect of their remarkable season. San Francisco fans have already been spoiled by quality basketball for the past decade with the Golden State Warriors in town, and the way that fans have shown up in droves for the Valkyries has proven that there is just as much desire for the women's game as there has been for the men's.

David Gonzales-Imagn Images

The Valkyries' announcement of their attendance record also revealed another fascinating mark that's indicative of the success the WNBA has been experiencing as a whole. The top three season attendance marks in WNBA history were all set this season. Including the Valkyries' record-setting number and the Fever's second-place mark, the New York Liberty set the third-highest ever attendance total in 2025 with 341,525 fans showing up for New York.

The kind of growth the WNBA as a whole has experienced has been nothing short of meteoric. With infusions of popular young talent over the past few years, with even more coming out of the NCAA and beyond in the future, women's basketball has never been bigger, and it looks like the Valkyries will be leading the way.

This article first appeared on Golden State Valkyries on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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