Everyone loves a franchise with a story, with a narrative, with an ongoing history that can be built upon and rediscovered generation after generation. Sure these franchises can never be some sort of ultimate winner, but you try to drape your streamers off high points, conference finals appearances, finals appearances, and, maybe, championships. The Liberty touched more people more widely and more deeply than ever before during last season. That lingers in the heart of the franchise. Everything just means more now, you know?
The Liberty were recently valuated at $450 million according to The Athletic! It’s time to be excited again! Hooray! This makes them the highest-valued women’s sports team in the world. In history. All of those things. Biggest money number ever! Hooray! Inflation!
Now that there is this increased emotional attachment, a wider sense of community pride, a shared narrative between franchise and city, a shared give and take between fan base and Ellie, an honest feeling “I put everything I had into loving this team, and it was worth it! Go Libs!” probably happening on more than a few occasions, and on, and on, and on… it is time to do what we were put on earth to do:
Celebrate money! Yippee!
I’ll give you a moment to calm down.
Does Liberty valuation indicate anything about the team’s ownership situation?
Maybe this means they want to sell like the Celtics did after winning a championship.
Or maybe when you have billions of dollars, you just want to know how much your hundred-million-dollar assets are worth. I very much get it. I run windirstat on my hard drives to see what files are taking up what space and where. On one hand, the Top Gear special where they go to Botswana, occupying 700 MB of space on the C drive. On the other hand, a $450 million professional sports franchise just kinda jostling around, burning a hole in your pocket. That’s basically the same thing.
That is almost entirely exactly the same thing.
I wish I could tell you what’s next. If the wish comes true I’ll come back and then I will.