SAN JOSE — At long last, Bay FC has a home for its inaugural season.
PayPal Park in San Jose will be the initial home of Bay FC, the team announced on Friday.
While the team plans to build its own stadium at some point in the future, Bay FC CEO Brady Stewart told this news organization that the team signed an agreement to spend at least its first five years at PayPal Park.
“We’re incredibly excited,” Stewart said on Wednesday. “It’s great to know where our near-term home will be and we can’t wait to kick off our first season in PayPal Park.”
Built by the San Jose Earthquakes and opened in 2015, the 18,000-seat facility is the Bay Area’s only soccer-specific stadium, making it the expected first home of Bay FC since the first hint of an expansion team for the region. Earthquakes president Jared Shawlee told this news organization his team is thrilled to finally have the agreement secured, which comes 107 days after the National Women’s Soccer League awarded a team to the San Francisco Bay Area in early April.
“We’ve been working with the group and the people who started this going on almost three years now, and it was always my hope and aspiration that PayPal Park would be where the team would play,” Shawlee said on Wednesday. “I think in 2024, there’s going to be a lot of amazing soccer played at PayPal Park.”
Bay FC will spend at least $3 million to build its own 3,600-square-foot facility on the grounds of PayPal Park that will host the team’s locker room, office areas and other necessities. It will be built directly next to the building that houses Earthquakes’ current locker room.
PayPal Park recently hosted the U.S. women’s national team’s lone send-off match before the 2023 Women’s World Cup, as the U.S. beat Wales 2-0 in front of a sold-out crowd. Stewart said the atmosphere “gave me the chills,” and it also earned high praise from several USWNT players.
Sophia Smith, who plays for the Portland Thorns in the NWSL, is not a Bay Area native, but she expressed excitement over getting to be able to come back to the region that she called home for two years in future seasons.
“I’ve always known that women’s soccer was a big thing here and people just want a game to go to,” Smith said. “I’m excited for the new team to be here. They’re going to get a great crowd, people are going to show up and support them.”
San Jose mayor Matt Mahan told this news organization he’s “thrilled” that Bay FC will make its initial home in San Jose.
“This is just a really exciting announcement for our city and for the whole region,” Mahan said. “San Jose really is a soccer town, maybe more than people would realize. This is a town that loves soccer, that has been very loyal to the Quakes.”
The club also plans to build its own training facility in the future, and Stewart said an announcement on a temporary training home will be coming “shortly.” Santa Clara University is expected to host the team’s training.
Bay FC has stated its intent to represent the entire region with its team. While the initial season will be played in the South Bay, the team plans to play exhibition matches and hold team workouts around the Bay Area to allow more fans to connect to the team.
The club has had much of its branding and marketing based around San Francisco, particularly with the Golden Gate Bridge a part of its logo, and Bay FC also held its first public event at the Presidio.
San Francisco officials are interested in Bay FC building its permanent home in the city, and mayor London Breed recently hypothesized that the now-closed Westfield Mall could be turned into a soccer stadium. But Oakland and San Jose are also interested in that.
For at least the next few years, San Jose will be home to the region’s only major professional women’s sports team. Mahan hopes it’s the start of a longer relationship.
“We will do everything we can to facilitate their long-term stay if that ends up being their desire,” Mahan said. “Shorter term, our goal is to just be a great partner.”
