While the focus may be on the men in the NBA All Star weekend, women in sports took center stage at the new Golden State Valkyries practice facility on Thursday.

Big names in women’s sports met at the facility to discuss the growing impact of women in sports and how they are leading the way.

“We can be loved and watched if we are just ourselves without trying to be what people have told us to be 18:07 and I think you see the remanence of that in the power of the growth of women’s sports right now,” said Jess Smith, president of the GSV.

Leaders stressed the importance of representation, investment, and equity in women’s sports. They also highlighted previous challenges of attracting investors, TV airtime, and overall appreciation.

“This isn’t only the right thing to do, this is a good business decision, and if 80% of every household consumer purchasing decision is made by a woman, why wouldn’t you support a women’s league,” said Cathy Engelbert, the WNBA Commissioner.

Engelbert said that just five years ago, 1% of corporate dollars went to women’s sports, which made up less than 5% of all media coverage.

However, that is changing quickly.

“We could not be in a better place as far as the investment coming into the WNBA, whether it’s our existing owners and building practice facilities like we’re here at the Valkyries practice facilities, or the investment coming in and expansion teams globally,” she said.

GSV is helping mark that change, as tickets for opening day in May are already sold out, and a commitment of 22,500 season ticket deposits before the season’s tip-off.

“When you think about those 22,500 deposits, less than 5% cross over to Warrior season ticketholders. Same sport, it really unlocked a playbook,” Smith said.

Despite the growth, Engelbert said there are still struggles to overcome.

“Well, the challenges continue to be the social media vitriol and hate for women and women of color and women in our league and LGBTQ+, and it’s so unacceptable, [but] as our players have become more and more famous, the growth is great, but we need to protect them,” she said.

In the next 18 months, the Bay Area will host All-Star Weekend, the 2026 Super Bowl, and the FIFA World Cup.

The Bay Area Host Committee is responsible for bringing big events to the region and is now looking to leverage those games to bring more women’s sports to the Bay Area.

“The next set of events, what we want to do is start to make sure that message is seen by a lot of people, and we get more sporting events in the Bay, more women’s sporting events in the Bay,” said Zaileen Janmohamed, president of the committee.