Bay FC, the NWSL expansion team majority owned by Sixth Street, has signed a jersey patch deal with Sixth Street.
You read that right. The private equity giant, which led a group that paid $53 million last year to join NWSL, is going to put its logo on the back of the team’s jerseys. The deal is worth more than $500,000 this year, according to multiple people familiar with the details, the largest back-of-shirt sponsorship deal in the league.
It’s the latest marketing deal for the club, which is majority owned by Sixth Street’s evergreen Tao Fund. The sponsorship isn’t through the fund, but rather through the firm itself, so it is separate from the team ownership. Other investors in Bay FC include Sheryl Sandberg, Andre Iguodala, and a quartet of former USWNT players–Brandi Chastain, Aly Wagner, Danielle Slaton and Leslie Osborne. They committed last year to invest $125 million, including the expansion fee, to get the team off the ground.
That backing has shown in the club’s roster construction. Bay FC is planning to spend well beyond the league’s $2.75 million salary cap, for which it will pay a salary cap tax. The team sold out its inaugural home opener on Saturday and has already signed a number of partnerships, including deals with Sutter Health, Visa, Lyft and PNC Bank.
A representative for Bay FC declined to comment and a representative for the NWSL didn’t immediately respond to questions about the size of the deal or where it fit among other teams.
Like almost every other major U.S. league, the NWSL has opened up more jersey ad space in recent years, creating inventory for teams to sell to existing sponsors, or to new ones. Those spaces include the main front-of-shirt partner, plus room on the sleeve and in multiple spaces on the back. Sutter Health is Bay FC’s front-of-shirt sponsor; Visa is its sleeve partner.
It’s not unheard of for a team owner to also advertise on its uniforms. Perhaps the most prominent example in U.S. sports is the New York Red Bulls. The MLS club is owned by Red Bull GmbH, plays in Red Bull Stadium and incorporates the company’s logo into its own front-of-shirt crest. The New York Knicks, as another example, have a jersey patch deal with owner Jim Dolan’s Sphere Entertainment.
The average NWSL team is worth $66 million, according to Sportico. Those numbers were published in October, before Bay FC made its league debut and before a handful of prominent team sales, includes the Portland Thorns ($63 million) and San Diego Wave ($113 million).
