Valuation Outlook

The institutionalization of the sports industry is in full force following the NFL’s decision to accept minority private equity investment of teams in 2024. The last major sports league to allow institutional investment, the NFL’s move typifies a new era of ownership sophistication that moves away from traditional individual control. Since opening its doors to private equity, the NFL has seen an 18% jump in average franchise valuations up to $7.65 billion,¹ underlining that, in addition to providing liquidity, institutionalization can drive valuations.

Private equity’s entrance onto the gridiron follows runouts in the NBA, MLB, NHL and other leagues such as Indian cricket, international volleyball and mixed martial arts; institutional interest is now swirling around U.S. college sports as well. However, one fast-growing field remains relatively untapped, has low entry points for investors, and is among the most welcoming for private equity – women’s sports.

 

Spectator Boom

U.S. women’s sports have been enjoying an explosion in spectator interest in recent years. In August 2025, San Francisco’s Bay FC recorded the highest ever attendance for a NWSL (National Women’s Soccer League) fixture when 40,091 watched the team take on the Washington Spirit.² NWSL data shows that women’s clubs achieved an average attendance of 11,250 during the 2024 regular season, led by Los Angeles’ Angel City with almost 20,000 per game,³ a near doubling in numbers since 2022.

Women’s basketball, which is more well-established than the NWSL, is seeing equally large hikes. The WNBA had its highest attendance in 22 years, more than 54 million unique viewers across all platforms, record social media engagement and record merchandise sales.⁴

Other events are putting women’s sports in the spotlight. Tensions around the WNBA Collective Bargaining Agreement follow a $2.2 billion, 11-year TV deal that includes partnerships with Disney, Amazon Prime and NBCUniversal. In September, the league announced an additional media rights agreement with Versant. Female stars are demanding a higher proportion of league revenues to reflect the rising popularity of the game. Currently, WNBA players share 9.3% of the league revenues and each team has a salary cap of $1.5 million, far behind their male counterparts, who share 50% of league revenues with a salary cap of $154.65 million. The WNBA has a hard salary cap, while NBA teams can exceed the cap through various exceptions such as re-signing their own free agents. 28 out of 30 NBA teams exceed the salary cap for the 2025-2026 season.

The WNBA, which dates back to 1996 and is the most well-established women’s professional league, has struggled until the last few years. With the emergence of star players such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, whose prominence rocked the national scene as college players, the league has turned a corner with rising TV ratings, attendance figures and fan engagement. The recent influx of on-court talent—which brings viewership—is critical in influencing the product, and thus valuations.

The league is at an inflection point, with tailwinds supporting further revenue growth. As such, the WNBA has announced plans to implement five new franchises by 2030.⁵ Rising fees, in addition to increased media and sponsorship revenue, figure to propel the league closer to profitability while supporting increased player payrolls.

While WNBA players may not achieve their full salary demands, the dynamic marks another step up in the status of women’s sports. The WNBA’s next iteration of labor relations could influence private equity investment decisions. The labor stability established through a new CBA may make the long-term outlook of the league more secure and thus more attractive to private equity.

 

Early Adopters

Some firms have already bought in and are putting together dedicated strategies for women’s sports. Sixth Street is majority owner of the NWSL’s Bay FC, having helped launch the team in 2024 with $125 million in investment. Earlier this year, the firm built on its position by launching the Bay Collective, a multi-club women’s soccer platform.⁶

There is room for further institutional investment as the NWSL plans to add two new franchises by 2026 and is working on a proposal to expand with a second division. Further, the NWSL is bucking the trend of minority ownership in sports and since 2024 has permitted private equity to take majority control, and even 100% ownership, of a single league franchise in an effort to drive up value. The NWSL’s current CBA—valid to 2030—will see a 55% increase in salary cap over the next five years.⁷

 

Trip Hazards

Despite opportunity, there are risks that investors need to navigate. Valuation growth for some franchises has already been astronomical, and while some backers have made great returns, others have shouldered heavy losses.

In 2019, James Dolan, owner of the New York Knicks, sold WNBA team New York Liberty to an investment group led by Brooklyn Nets owners Clara Wu Tsai and Joseph Tsai for a figure reported to be between $12-14 million, after having admitted to losing over $100 million on the team.⁸ Six years later, a minority stake in the New York Liberty was reportedly sold at a valuation of $450 million,⁹ a figure that, outside of improved on-court performance, may have been largely influenced by a rise in league interest and the prospect of growing media and sponsorship revenue. That deal swept past the $250 million paid for Angel Bay FC the prior year by Disney CEO Bob Iger and TV journalist Willow Bay.

Even at these levels, women’s franchises still trade at a fraction of the valuations of their male counterparts. However, the resilience of women’s sports fan bases is less proven. Supporter interest often revolves around individuals with star power, rather than teams. That can drive their personal brands, create marketing opportunities, and may increase players’ negotiating power within the collective bargaining agreements. The flipside is that it leaves teams and leagues exposed if they depart.

The departure of talent has always had a potentially negative impact on team performance, but it could also have a disproportionate impact on valuations in women’s sports. This is especially relevant in the NWSL, where top players can leave the league altogether for clubs in Europe; earlier this year, star defender Naomi Girma moved from San Diego Wave to English WSL Champions Chelsea for a record fee of over $1 million.

Furthermore, rising valuations—such as $450 million for the WNBA’s Liberty—imply a large multiple of current and future revenue. While the new WNBA media deal will undoubtedly increase team revenues going forward, investors will be betting on long-term revenue growth for a league that has historically been subsidized by the NBA to cover operating losses. There is still a disconnect between the financial performance of the franchises and their reported value, potentially fuelling a labor argument that the players are primarily driving the appreciation in franchise values.

Competition for streaming platform rights further complicates valuations. While the streaming market is likely to drive value in the short-term as streamers have an increased appetite for content, there is long-term risk as leagues will need to put up viewership numbers to support growing valuations.

 

Conclusion

Despite these risks, the overall outlook for women’s sports is positive, with viewing figures and fan engagement both growing strongly. Franchise valuations may still be lagging far behind the figures for men’s sports, but they are rising rapidly. However, long-term fanbases are less tested and, in a relatively immature space, franchise fortunes are more tied to individual stars with strong personal brands.

Kroll’s team of sports valuation specialists works across men’s and women’s sports and is on hand to help discuss and assess opportunities in sports investment as private equity increasingly enters the mix.

 

Sources:
¹https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/04/cnbcs-official-nfl-team-valuations-2025
²https://www.espn.co.uk/football/story/_/id/46060142/bay-fc-nwsl-attendance-record-oracle-park-washington-spirit
³https://www.sportspro.com/commercial-guide/nwsl/data-analytics/attendance/
⁴https://www.wnba.com/news/wnba-delivers-record-setting-2024-season
⁵https://www.wnba.com/news/wnba-expansion-cleveland-detroit-philadelphia
⁶https://sixthstreet.com/investment_announce/kay-cossington-mbe-to-launch-bay-collective-a-multi-club-womens-football-organization-in-partnership-with-sixth-street/
⁷https://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/nwsl-and-nwslpa-agree-to-historic-collective-bargaining-agreement
⁸https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6624105/Nets-minority-owner-buys-WNBAs-Liberty.html
⁹ https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/may/22/new-york-liberty-purchase-valuation#:~:text=New%20York%20Liberty%20owners%20sold,sports%20franchise%20as%20prices%20rise