53 sellouts and a Halloween Game 7: how Valkyries fans turned Chase Center into 'Ballhalla'

SAN FRANCISCO - Before the WNBA Finals began, Golden State Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase gave the fans their own game plan.  "As soon as they're announced, I need some hostility," Nakase said in a video the team posted Oct. 17.  "If they're shooting free throws, I need that thing to be rocking."

The team and its fans call Chase Center "Ballhalla," a play on Valhalla, the hall of fallen warriors in Norse myth that Valkyries carried them to.  Nakase said the team needed the crowd as "our sixth man," a basketball term for the most important player off the bench.

Every seat, every night

The crowd showed up.  Game 7 on Oct. 31 was the team's 53rd straight sellout, and the Valkyries have sold out every regular-season and playoff game in their history, the team said.

In 2025, their first season, the Valkyries set the league's single-season record with 397,408 fans, beating Indiana's 349,313 that year, the team said.  In 2026 they drew the same 397,408, because every one of the 22 home games sold all 18,064 seats.  They are the first WNBA team to average more than 18,000 fans a game over a full season.

More than 12,000 fans bought 2026 season tickets, a league record, and more than 90% renewed for 2027, the team said.  "We didn't think it was possible, but they brought even more passion, energy, and sense of community this season," team President Jess Smith said.

Halloween in "Boohalla"

Game 7 fell on Halloween, and the team renamed its arena for the night.  "GAME 7.  BOOHALLA," the team posted on X, adding that every fan would get a Finals T-shirt from sponsor DoorDash.

Chase Center's account on X posted that rapper MC Lyte would "rock the Ballhalla party."  In the fourth quarter, it posted, rappers Flavor Flav and E-40 and media personality Sway were "getting us HYPED."  When Gabby Williams hit a three-pointer, the arena's sound meter got its own post.

From the opening tip, "defense" chants filled the building, the team said, as Atlanta missed its first six shots over the first five minutes, the longest shooting drought to start a Finals game in league history.

After the 68-63 win, the arena posted video of celebrations spilling into the concourse and into Thrive City, the plaza outside.  "Looks like we got a new word to get used to in Ballhalla," the team posted on X, with a trophy emoji.

Beyond the arena

The team's videos show fans across the East Bay dressing in violet, the team color, during the Finals.

Off the court, the Valkyries joined Ross Stores and the Golden State Community Foundation to open a refurbished library at Paul Revere Elementary School, part of their Read to Achieve program, the team said.  The project was expected to take five years.  It was finished in under two.

With Kaiser Permanente, the team launched She Plays, a program meant to give girls more access to sports, confidence and friendships, according to the team.

"The moment you walk into the arena, you feel like you're part of the Valkyries family," said Maria Valdehueza, the team's senior vice president of ticketing and events.

Source:  Valkyries pre-Finals video with Nakase, Oct. 17, 2026; Valkyries Game 7 recap; Valkyries 2025 attendance record release; Valkyries sellout release; Valkyries season ticket release; Valkyries on X: Game 7; Chase Center on X: MC Lyte, fourth quarter, sound meter, concourse and Thrive City; Valkyries on X: 'a new word'; Valkyries East Bay Postcards video; Paul Revere Elementary library video; She Plays video.