Jess Smith Drives Growth For The Golden State Valkyries

Jess Smith is no stranger to accelerating the growth of an organization. Before joining the Valkyries as their inaugural President, Smith was the Head of Revenue for the NWSL’s Angel City FC. Under her leadership, Angel City FC renewed over 90% of the team’s season ticket members heading into the 2024 NWSL season.

She also spent over a decade working in sponsorships and partnerships for teams within the MLS, NHL, and MLB.

Smith credits her experience at her previous stops, specifically with Angel City FC, as the catalyst for the numbers generated by Golden State. She said, “At ACFC, we really had figured out how to build, which involved resource, opportunity and strategy into creating an elite, fun sports experience in women’s sports.”

She expanded and explained that seeing women’s sports and specifically the Valkyries as an incredible property that could sell was essential, “Not having looked at it with a limited mindset, but instead, what do we need to do to sell the building out. Full stop. How do we make this something that is electric.”

When discussing the growth and evaluation of the Valkyries, Smith asserted that the “expectation for the team should have been higher.” She continued, “That is not just for us but all of the WNBA specifically. When you look at the hyper growth that is happening, and the hyper growth that is set to continue, that type of visibility, content, and awareness of our players in our league is going to be astronomical.”

Golden State Valkyries Continue Fan-First Strategy In Year Two

As the Valkyries are inching closer to the middle of season two, Smith understands that to keep the momentum, attendance, and energy around the team, the fans have to be deeply centered in the decision-making.

Smith stated, “I think we have done our best work along the way. Even with how we were naming the team, it was really at the table with fans and hearing what they expected from us.” She explained after season one, the team sat down to “reflect on what they wanted to make better, but also on what areas they wanted to double down on."

The marketing theme for year two is “This is Ballhalla” and beyond selling out the arena, which is a major driver for Smith, the team is focused on establishing even deeper roots within the community, but also being an industry and world leader in the atmosphere and experience the organization creates.

Smith finds that merchandise sales is a great KPI and data point that demonstrates the fandom of the Valkyries. She said, “When you look at merchandising you are looking at the pure abundance of it and where it is coming from. For us, we have sold in over 70 countries, all 50 states.”

She continued, “The data we are seeing from last year to this year, selling is not slowing down, meaning fans continue to buy or we have new fans. Within that, we get to test what types of merchandise is selling and making sure we continue to serve all fans."

She concluded, "Merchandise is really about brand expression and it is really cool to see how it has really shifted for the W into a lifestyle brand and a huge indicator for what’s to come. It reinforces that this product, yes is elite basketball, but a mix of sport, purpose, and culture."

Golden State Valkyries Use Impact Council To Deepen Sponsorships

One innovative approach that Smith is taking with the Valkyries is the awareness of how important it is to get everyone in the same room generating ideas and learning from one another. Her background is in sponsorships and partnerships and it shows.

She explained how the impact council operates, which includes brands Sephora, Chase, JP Morgan, and Kaiser Permanente. "Our funding level partners sit at a table together and there are two reasons for that. One, we want collective impact, so each of those funding level partners has a platform of giving, whether it is mentorship, keeping young girls in sport, or STEM research; we also want to come together to make sure that we are doing great work in the community.”

She continued, “Two is, with the growth of women’s sports and the opportunity to keep expanding this audience, how are we sharing information together to make sure that we are continuing to innovate and ideate to make the Valkyries, to make women’s sports something we can continue to grow collectively.”

Smith’s approach is based on real data. Research has found that brands that align with women’s sports are rewarded with purchasing and brand loyalty. Parity (2024) found that women’s sports fans are nearly 3x as likely to purchase a product aligned with a women’s sports team or athlete compared to other social media influencers.

She Plays On Helps The Golden State Valkyries Reach Bay Area Girls

Perhaps a lesson learned from her days at Angel City, Smith has prioritized deep fan engagements and initiatives in her short tenure with Golden State. Recently, the team created a campaign titled She Plays On, specifically working to target middle to high schools girls and keep them in sport.

Research from the Women’s Sports Foundation has found that this particular age group is extremely susceptible to dropping out of sport. Therefore, the combined partnership between the Valkyries, the team’s Community Foundation and Kaiser Permanente’s purpose is to connect young girls in the Bay Area with mentors, coaching, and total health education.

Through the combined effort and promotion of She Plays On, $25 of every jersey sale is donated to the Foundation to ultimately benefit girls at schools in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) and Oakland Unified School District (OUSD).

As of the She Plays On game on May 31, the program and jersey sales had generated over $400,000 to help fund resources, field days, and clinics that equip youth girls and their coaches with the tools to support girls’ overall health.

The She Plays On Program is specifically looking at the impact made on the girls playing and staying in sport in the Bay Area as their primary success datapoint according to Nicole Lacob, Golden State Community Foundation President.

She explained, “First and foremost, success means impact. We want to see more girls playing sports, staying in sports, and feeling like they belong in them. That means ensuring we have significant reach and getting this program in front of as many girls as possible.”

She continued, “But the longer-term measure is what happens after they start playing. Year over year, we want to see the rate of girls leaving sport decline in the Bay Area, and we want this program to be part of the reason why.”

Although “a wonderful byproduct” would be creating future fans, Lacob and her team are more concerned with creating an atmosphere through sport that teaches the intangible leadership skills women need.

“The ultimate goal here is equipping girls with life skills, building their confidence, keeping them healthy, and teaching them how to deal with adversity. The pipeline is irrefutable: 94% of women in C-suite positions played sports. If we want more women running businesses, we need more girls playing sports, said Lacob.”

Although the team is ecstatic at the results and money raised thus far, Lacob emphasized that "scaling means adding a sustainable number of new schools to the program each year. But it’s not just about getting bigger; it’s about getting deeper.”

For Smith and her team, growth appears to extend beyond valuation and sellout crowds. As the nearly $780 million franchise looks toward its next phase, efforts like She Plays On signal an investment not just in the Valkyries’ future, but in the next generation of girls’ sports participation in the Bay Area.

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