SAN FRANCISCO — There’s yet another territorial battle shaping up between the cities of Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose.
Now the Bay Area’s three largest cities are vying to become the future home of Bay FC.
The National Women’s Soccer League’s newest franchise is set to kick off in the spring of 2024 at a temporary home, which will likely be the San Jose Earthquakes’ home of PayPal Park.
And while there is still so much for Bay FC to do in the run-up to that first match next spring, Alan Waxman, co-founder and CEO of Sixth Street and co-chair of Bay FC, has made it clear that the organization wants its own training facility and stadium in the long-term future.
“You can’t be world class without having your own stadium,” Waxman said.
The desire for a stadium specific for a women’s team might have seemed far-fetched as recently as even three years ago. But by the time Bay FC takes the pitch next spring, the NWSL will already have one team in a stadium built specifically for a women’s team, as the Kansas City Current are nearing completion on an 11,500-seat stadium.
Bay FC could eventually emulate what the Current are doing here in the Bay Area — and all three cities appear ready to help do that. At Bay FC’s kick-off event in the Presidio this month, representatives from each city gave stump speeches for their city to be the team’s home.
In follow-up conversations with this news organization, it became even clearer that all three cities are gearing up for these discussions with Bay FC.
San Francisco
The City by the Bay might be the most enticing location for a permanent home, both because of how much Bay FC has used SF in its branding already and because of its central location to the greater Bay Area. It matches up with Bay FC’s message to unite and represent the entire region.
It’s also the most difficult city to place a stadium in. But according to SF Parks and Rec department general manager Phil Ginsburg, it’s something city officials are already discussing.
“We’re quite serious about this,” Ginsburg said this month. “And we’re really starting to do some of our own due diligence to identify some potential opportunities.”
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, downtown San Francisco may have changed permanently as more companies allow employees to work from home part- or full-time. The Giants have said that shift is why weeknight games have seen an attendance dip. That hasn’t happened to the Warriors, whose less frequent games feel more like events.
In that sense, a soccer stadium hosting matches once or twice a week around Pier 70, a few blocks south of the Warriors’ Chase Center, could draw people back to the city, and would remind Ginsburg of his hometown of Philadelphia’s “stadium corridor” setup. MUNI rail lines extend all the way down that neighborhood now, and Caltrain’s 22nd Street station would be a short walk away.
But there are already development plans at Pier 70, as well as other options farther south along the water like at Hunter’s Point or Candlestick Point. It could get expensive for Bay FC to even get the land from developers, and that’s even before building.
San Francisco mayor London Breed also floated the recently closed Westfield mall along Market Street near downtown as a possible location to build a soccer stadium at the Bloomberg Technology Summit on Thursday.
As San Francisco plans how to shape its downtown for the next century, Ginsburg can see how having a soccer stadium woven directly into the heart of San Francisco’s downtown — with a BART station right underneath, Union Square a few blocks north and the Civic Center Plaza less than a mile west — would make the city comparable to many major European cities.
“It’s not going to happen tomorrow, obviously,” Ginsburg said. “But they could really be an anchor part of this re-envisioning of downtown, and at the same time, make the soccer experience very accessible for families and young kids from all over the Bay.”
Oakland
When Oakland mayor Sheng Thao’s chief of staff Leigh Hanson made her pitch to the Bay FC crowd in the Presidio, she alluded to the city’s other professional sports teams who have departed, saying, “We’ve got all the stadiums you’d ever want.”
In terms of ready-made locations, it’s certainly true. Not only could the Coliseum complex be available soon if the A’s leave for Las Vegas after the 2024 baseball season, but so too could the Howard Terminal site the A’s sought for years.
But there are already two soccer teams in the city in the Oakland Roots and Soul, who both currently play in lower division soccer leagues. Hanson said the city is “excited” to be working with the teams and the African American Sports and Entertainment Group (AASEG) as they seek to build out a potential temporary soccer stadium at the Coliseum, and the Roots have been presenting to the Coliseum complex authority in their last two monthly meetings.
“We think that the [Coliseum] location is perfect for all parts of the Bay,” Hanson said. “It’s accessible, it has a great community vibe and Oakland likes to party.”
From the city’s perspective, a stadium hosting three teams would be even better than two, though it’s fair to wonder if future plans would make collaboration on one venue difficult. Two brand-new stadiums of similar size is also difficult to imagine.
But the ambition for The Town is clear, in Hanson’s eyes.
“Oakland would love to be the home of soccer in the Bay Area,” Hanson said.
San Jose
The South Bay city that will likely be Bay FC’s initial hometown already has a soccer-specific stadium for the Earthquakes. Given that Levi’s Stadium is just north in Santa Clara as a larger but similarly-shaped venue, it might be hard to see the South Bay adding another stadium of similar setup.
But San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan made note of his city’s “300 days of sunshine”, and knows it has another sizable advantage in the bidding.
“The South Bay has a lot more land than other parts of the Bay,” Mahan said.
San Jose will also get a prime opportunity to showcase itself as a great home for women’s soccer next month, when the U.S. women’s national team plays its lone send-off match for the World Cup at PayPal Park.
Mahan says he plans to attend the match with his kids and hopes that it shows San Jose is the right host city for Bay FC — for 2024 and maybe beyond.
“PayPal Park is a world-class park,” Mahan said. “It’s got a great fan experience, really easily accessible.
“We’ve got a lot of assets. But that’s up to them. We’re going to make the pitch and then they’ll decide.”
