[Editor’s Note: Today we have a special article from our own Jamie Rathjen, reviewing the uniforms of the WNBA’s newest team. Enjoy! — PH]
by Jamie Rathjen
The WNBA’s new Bay Area expansion team, the Golden State Valkyries, revealed their first two jerseys yesterday. At a basic level they’re simple black and white versions of the same design with some violet accents, at least from what I can see in the few pictures that were released because there are not good views of the sides. There were also no shorts included.
The most distinctive part of the set is the large by basketball standards chest logo, which moves the front number off to the side. The logo is meant to represent the Bay Bridge and appears in the same color scheme on both jerseys, but the “Golden State Valkyries” text is black on the white jersey and violet on the black jersey.
The backs of each jersey were presented with “Valkyries” NOBs.
It’s overall a very basic and safe first set, much like what the recent NWSL expansion teams and the NHL’s Utah Hockey Club have come up with. The catch is that unlike soccer we know these will last more than a year. The use of violet is intriguing and of course could be the basis of an alternate at some point.
I’m wishing the league logo on the back of the black jersey could be violet to better match the numbers and NOB. That jersey is caught between violet and white accents without fully committing to either one, and I would have liked to see more violet.
Here are some more views of the black jersey. The Valkyries will begin play in 2025.
In other WNBA news, the future Toronto team revealed its “Tempo” name and logo yesterday. The team appeared to be using a maroon and silver color scheme, which again would be interesting if it ultimately works out that way.
The Tempo will begin play in 2026. Read more here.
I like the use of violet but there likely will be legibility issues without the use of some sort of contrasting trim on the lettering.
Also, that Toronto logo gives me serious vibes of Indiana Pacers circa 1990s-2000s.
the first thought i had when i saw the tempo logo was “that’s exactly the pacers’ logo without the P shape.”
OG AT&T Death Star logo for me.
Oh, don’t worry; they’ve made certain that you’ll see the AT&T ad very clearly.
Does anyone remember the arcade game Tempest?
Absolutely the first thing I thought of!
Overall, very solid colors and branding.
The logo is the eastern span of the Bay Bridge, not the Golden Gate.
Similar to the Warriors current set (and not like their “The City” unis) using the Bay Bridge is a good way to appeal more to the whole Bay Area and not just San Francisco, especially after the Warriors moved from Oakland.
Sorry, yes, I’m an idiot. That is actually exactly what it’s supposed to represent. Arena in San Francisco, practice facility in Oakland.
I saw on BlueSky somebody say the Toronto Tempo “looks like the logo of an evil corporation in a Paul Verhoven movie.”
Still find it funny that they stole the Sacramento Monarchs’ (and Kings’) colors
Nice color scheme but with the cheat logo, Kaiser logo and number there’s no dominant graphic/feature on the front and it looks a little cluttered. The bridge logo would look great on the side of the shorts, then make the number larger and centered with a word mark above it.
Oh wow, black…. what a surprise…. Yawn…..
I prefer team or city name across the chest vs. a team logo, but I get they’re following what the Warriors do with their jerseys. Maybe they’ll evolve into not having such a large chest logo.
I agree with wanting more violet instead of mixing violet and white. Likely the advertisers wanting their ads to stick out more?
Toronto Tempo – I’m happy to see the use of maroon and what I thought was ice blue but is silver? Keep giving us different colors W!
I believe it is light blue as trim colour for the Tempo in statements released by the team. The logo gives me a 1980s vibe, which isn’t a bad thing.
Those jerseys absolutely suck! Having the full name and logo on there is entirely too much. And the number to the side is stupid. Just having “Golden State” or “Valkyries” on there would have been fine. Also the white trim on the collar looks out of place since everything else minus the Nike log and Chase ad are violet.
It looked like Draymond Green was sporting the black jersey while sitting out of the Warriors’ game last night. Glad to see him and others supporting women’s basketball and all the Bay Area.
Very little redeeming about this. Should have gone with a violet jersey instead of black. Number font is nice, so 1/10 from me.
First thought when I saw the jerseys, ugly.
All of the ads from Nike, Chase, and Kaiser just sucked all of the oxygen, and room for the actual team identity. My eye was drawn to those ads before I had a chance to see the team identity.
Then the logo is being way too much being compressed on too small a space because of it. It is the wrong logo for that space. Then to add the uniform number on top of that is over the top.
It is just bad. Way more going on that there should be.
Asymmetrical nonsense
Looks like a league B soccer jersey.
Other than the unique nickname and the use of violet, this uni is a total fail. This is like the WNBA of Ebbets Field having an Abe Stark sign. And why not show the shorts? Toronto Tempo? I get that they’re going for something unique but did it have to be alliterative? I’m getting flashbacks to the 1980s crapmobile that was the Ford Tempo.
The Golden Girls is obviously the name this team needed.
WNBA unis are usually a fail since they don’t really have “design” as much as it’s a template for advertisements and such, and somewhere in there is a team name or locator. That said, this one sucks, as having the name, locator, and logo all stacked together like that just looks lazy and unprofessional. Also: sac kings/monarchs color scheme.