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The New York Liberty are basking in the spotlight lately, and the franchise has added yet another reason to celebrate. The organization has raised capital from a group of investors at a record valuation for a professional women’s sports franchise of $450 million.
A total of 10%-19% of the team's shares were sold, but it's unknown how many investors were a part of the capital raise. The WNBA still has yet to approve the deal, but it would give the Liberty a record-breaking valuation across all of professional women's sports.
The money is believed to be part of a capital raise to help build a new practice facility. In March, the Liberty, who won their first title in franchise history in October, said they were building their own 75,000-square-foot practice facility in Brooklyn's Greenpoint neighborhood.
Projected to open in 2027, the Liberty’s training center will have two full practice courts, a private suite for each player in place of traditional lockers, a full recovery suite, an in-house hair and makeup studio, a two-story strength training room, and other features.
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The organization said it will be the WNBA’s first “designed by players, for players” facility and expects to spend $80 million. New York currently practices on a side court inside its home arena, the Barclays Center.
The mark is more than double the last publicly known capital raise made by an organization in the W. Last summer, the Dallas Wings sold two half-percent stakes in the franchise at a $208 million valuation.
Liberty owners Clara Wu and Joe Tsai purchased the organization in January 2019 after first and then-only owner James Dolan put the team up for sale in November 2017.
In the years since taking over, the Tsais have moved the franchise to Brooklyn. Recently, Wu Tsai told Bloomberg that she thinks the Liberty could be the “first billion-dollar women’s sports franchise” by the mid-2030s.
