The WNBA has been experiencing exponential growth for the last few years, adding supreme talent along the way, like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, who have helped draw loads of new fans into arenas and to their TV screens. Suddenly, it feels like everyone is watching women’s basketball. Strike that — women’s sports.
The expansion Golden State Valkyries, who are set to begin play in 2025, are betting that phrase will resonate in the Bay Area with an unlikely ally.
The franchise is partnering with Togethxr, the multimedia company co-founded by trailblazers like WNBA great Sue Bird, to launch the first-ever collaboration with a WNBA team.
Which means, yes, the Seattle Storm’s newest rival on the west coast is in business with the Storm’s most iconic player in franchise history.
The brand’s “Everyone Watches Women’s Sports” shirt has become an unofficial uniform of a long-standing women’s basketball movement. Reaching across the aisle to seek out Togethxr and intentionally create a special piece of merchandise in “Valkyrie Violet” was something even Togethxr’s chief content officer and co-founder Jessica Robertson couldn’t pass up.
“It was a no-brainer for us,” Robertson told For The Win. “We share a lot of the same values, thought partnership, and if there is a way we can…link arms and continue to share this message that the tired narrative of ‘no one cares about women’s sports’ is just that — it’s tired. …There’s no hesitation around that.”
Robertson shared that connecting with Valkyries president Jess Smith and the progressive culture Golden State is building, along with their women-led leadership team, deeply matters to Togethxr. The Valkyries are showing up and investing in women’s sports and its fans, and those ideals are woven into the brand’s DNA.
“For us, that statement — ‘everyone watches women’s sports’ — is exactly what we want to make sure we’re sharing with the world,” Smith told For The Win. “This is something for everyone. …It’s men, women, all genders. It’s all ages,”
And it’s especially for Sue Bird, though maybe not on days when the Valkyries are facing the Storm.
