After over a decade, first-division women’s pro soccer is returning to the San Francisco Bay Area, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Journal reported that an investment group led by former U.S. women’s team players Leslie Osborne, Brandi Chastain, Aly Wagner, and Danielle Slaton, known as NWSL to the Bay, has been awarded a franchise in the National Women’s Soccer League for a 50 million dollar expansion fee. Equity firm Sixth Street Partners is providing the financial backing.
The league is also awarding new franchises in Boston and Utah. The Bay Area and Utah are expected to join in 2024. The SF Chronicle later reported that not all the paperwork had been signed, and some additional hurdles remained.
It is not yet clear where exactly the team would play in the San Francisco Bay Area, but the club is expected to be located in the South Bay, possibly as a co-tenant at San Jose Earthquakes’ Pay Pal Park.
It was reported in December that the NWSL Bay Area group was one of the finalists for league expansion after the ownership group officially applied to join the league in 2022. The NWSL currently has twelve teams.
The last first-division women’s professional team in the SF Bay Area was the FC Gold Pride in the Women’s Professional Soccer league, a precursor to the NWSL. That franchise folded after winning the league championship in 2010. The WPS league folded in 2012 and was replaced by the NWSL.
Osborne, Chastain, Wagner, and Slaton went public with a bid to bring the NWSL to the Bay Area in June 2022. But the group, which also played their collegiate soccer for Santa Clara, has been advocating for the return of a women’s pro soccer team to the Bay Area for years.
Brandi Chastain was the first of the group to play for the Santa Clara Broncos from 1989-90. After that, she became an essential part of the US Women’s National Team for sixteen years, earning 192 caps and scoring the decisive penalty kick to win the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup. She currently coaches at Bellarmine College Prep in San Jose.
Danielle Slaton, Leslie Osborne, and Aly Wagner were integral parts of the golden age of Santa Clara University soccer around the turn of the century. All three played for the school when they won their first women’s soccer title in 2001.
Slaton, Osborne, and Wagner have high-profile jobs as television game analysts for soccer games. Osborne has called many US Women’s National Team games and is a studio analyst for FOX Sports. Slaton has featured on San Jose Earthquakes broadcasts and is part of the new Apple TV MLS broadcasters. Wagner became the first female sports announcer in the United States to call a men’s FIFA World Cup game in 2018 and works for CBS Sports covering the NWSL.
In a Soccer Bay Area interview with the four players in 2021, they pointed out that there is already a built-in audience for women’s soccer in the Bay Area, thanks in part to the success of Stanford and Santa Clara in the NCAA College Cup.
“The fact that California and the Bay Area is such a hotbed to me is a signal that this place needs to continue to build the pipeline of women’s soccer that will include a women’s professional team,” noted Slaton. “At the youth level and collegiate level, we continually have women’s national team players that are honing their game and craft here. It’s an important next step, and hopefully, it’s going to happen.”
“I think the opportunity here is massive,” said Osborne.” There is an appetite and a special unique feel to the Bay Area with so many successful companies and startups. We just have to tap into it more.” I think the opportunity here is massive,” said Osborne. “There is an appetite and a special unique feel to the Bay Area with so many successful companies and startups. We just have to tap into it more.”
“I think in the past, the NWSL was being cautious in growth, and rightfully so, to make sure the league was sustainable,” added Wagner. “The Bay Areawasn’tt one of the areas in, and it becomes a little more challenging to get in.”””I think in the past, the NWSL was being cautious in growth, and rightfully so, to make sure the league was sustainable,” added Wagner. “The Bay Area wasn’t one of the areas in, and it becomes a little more challenging to get in.”
“If you have the right people with the right money, you can do pretty much anything” concurred Chastain.” I think stability for an entity like the league has to be part of their decision-making process.” If you have the right people with the right money, you can do pretty much anything,” concurred Chastain. “I think stability for an entity like the league has to be part of their decision-making process.”
After several years of struggling, the NWSL has seen a significant increase in interest, attendance, and ratings recently led by two new successful California teams: Angel City FC and San Diego Wave FC. The two teams only paid a reported $2-5 million in franchise fees to join the league just a few years ago.
Another West Coast team, the Portland Thorns, is perenially one of the best clubs in the league and won the championship in 2022.
Before FC Gold Pride existed from 2009-2010, the Bay Area had one previous first-division women’s pro team, the San Jose CyberRays, in the WUSA from 2001-2003. Chastain played on the CyberRays and Gold Pride, and Osborne on the Gold Pride.
“One thing I remember about [playing for] the CyberRays and Gold Pride was the influence you can have on a community of people who just need to see it to believe it,” noted Chastain. “One thing I remember about [playing for] the CyberRays and Gold Pride was the influence you can have on a community of people who just need to see it to believe it,” noted Chastain.
“It’s always been a personal dream of mine to be able to be an owner and be involved with a women’s professional soccer team,” explained Osborne.
