In April 2023, the Bay Area was awarded the NWSL’s 15th franchise. Former Levi Strauss executive Brady Stewart was hired two months later as Bay FC’s CEO and first employee. By the end of the year, the club’s headcount hit 80. Training camp kicked off three weeks later.
“We like to do everything really fast,” Stewart said during a sit-down at the NWSL’s New York City midtown offices. “Most sports teams take two years from inception to launch. We did it in eight months. We like to do things on fast timelines, and I think the stadium will be no different.”
Bay FC set a new record for most wins by an NWSL expansion team and was just the second to make the playoffs in its inaugural season. Last week, Bay FC unveiled designs for its new training facility, but Stewart is already thinking about the next big project ahead for the club as it kicks off its second season on Saturday on the road against Utah Royals FC.
“Our goal is to be a global sports franchise, and you need a stadium to be that,” Stewart said. “Where that stadium will be, we’re still working on it.”
NWSL started play in 2013 after two earlier women’s leagues failed to make it past three seasons. U.S. Soccer ran the league’s front office and funded the participation of more than 20 players to provide a professional space for members of the U.S. women’s national team, who were assigned to clubs across the league in equal proportions. The overwhelming mantra: Don’t fail. Which meant: Don’t spend much money.
Those days are over, as a new breed of NWSL owner has joined the league during the past five years with big ambitions, including private equity giant Sixth Street, which has more than $100 billion in assets under management and is the control owner of Bay FC.
The club has embraced the San Francisco and Silicon Valley DNA mindset of disruption. As a startup, it is willing to try new things on the sporting and business side in a league that is evolving quickly.
“The historical data around NWSL doesn’t do it justice, because if we’re looking at something that happened five minutes ago, it’s already too old,” Bay FC COO Jen Millet said. “Our fan base is growing at such a rapid scale, and the demographics of it are changing almost minute by minute.”
NWSL has experienced explosive growth with its TV contract, attendance, viewership and franchise values. Angel City FC and the San Diego Wave both started play in 2022 after paying expansion fees of roughly $2 million. Last year, new owners took control of the franchises at valuations of $250 million (Angel City) and $113 million (San Diego). Sixth Street paid a $53 million expansion fee. In December, Denver was awarded the league’s 16th franchise for a $110 million price tag.
A new soccer-specific stadium owned by an NWSL team was a moonshot proposition before Kansas City Current owners Angie and Chris Long privately financed their $140 million stadium that opened last year. Club revenue tripled, and the venue became the envy of the league.
Beyond revenue generation, team facilities will play a larger role in player recruitment after the NWSL’s latest collective bargaining agreement abolished the draft and added a requirement to gain player permission for all trades.
In 2022, the Current opened the first training complex dedicated to a women’s pro team at a cost of $18 million. Angel City, which has also expressed a desire to achieve an expanded global footprint, just relocated to a nine-acre performance facility at California Lutheran University that underwent a multimillion-dollar remodel. “My job has just got much, much more easy with this facility,” Mark Parsons, ACFC sporting director, said at the unveiling.
The NWSL’s Portland Thorns and WNBA’s new Portland expansion franchise are building a $150 million practice facility for both franchises, which are owned by siblings Lisa Bhathal Merage and Alex Bhathal.
Bay FC’s training facility will be located on Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay and is set to open ahead of the 2027 NWSL season.
Bay FC has a five-year lease with MLS’ San Jose Earthquake to play its games at PayPal Park. During its first season, the NWSL club was able to generate an estimated $22 million in revenue despite the quick turnaround from expansion bid to playing. It included the league’s richest front-of-jersey deal with Sutter Health, estimated to be worth roughly $2.5 million per year. Last month, Portland topped Bay’s record with its new agreement with Ring. Bay revenue should approach $30 million in 2025 with more lead time and people in place to help the sales cycle.
Still, there have been stumbles in the first year. The NWSL is investigating the Bay FC coaching staff over allegations of a “toxic” workplace after a report by the San Francisco Chronicle involving head coach Albertin Montoya. In February, the club’s head of domestic scouting, Graeme Abel, stepped down after a week on the job following allegations of verbal abuse while he coached at the University of Oregon.
“We were recently made aware of feedback from the league about our end-of-season survey that is related solely to communication challenges,” Bay FC said in a statement. “We take all feedback very seriously and are working closely with the league to review and will take the appropriate steps necessary based on findings. We were founded as a player-centric club, and we will do what we need to make sure we have a supportive environment for our players.”
(This story has been updated to correct a word in the quote in the first paragraph, and in the 12th paragraph with additional information about Angel City FC’s ambitions.)
