Big chance and WNBA is missing its moment
NWSL now coming to Bay Area, but region has no WNBA team
Tara VanDerveer had two immediate reactions to the official arrival of a National Women's Soccer League team to the San Francisco Bay Area.
First: “I'm thrilled for the Bay Area and women's soccer,” VanDerveer said on the phone last week.
And second?
“Damn, I wish it was basketball.”
As women's sports hits an accelerator across the country and the NWSL prepares to launch a team in the Bay Area, it's hard not to think that the WNBA is missing out on a big chance to place a team here.
“We should have one,” VanDerveeer said. “It's crazy that we don't.”
The WNBA has remained a 12team league for more than a decade now, despite interest from prospective ownership groups and cities as the league's reach has grown across the country. In fact, there are two right here in the Bay Area: the African American Sports and Entertainment Group wants to bring a team to Oakland and the Warriors are interested in San Francisco.
But WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert continues to kick the expansion can down the road. The league originally targeted 2024 but Engelbert recently told media she's looking more at 2025 — or perhaps later.
“We're not in a rush,” Engelbert said at a February event in Portland where the city declared its interest in a WNBA expansion team. “I would say 2-4 years out, I would like to see at least two teams come into the league, and longer term more than that.”
It's a stark contrast to how the NWSL has aggressively pursued expansion and moved quickly. New Bay Area team owners including Brandi Chastain and Aly Wagner didn't say anything directly about other leagues, but it's pretty clear they are cherishing the fact that they're first to the Bay Area market.
“We are so excited to be the only professional female sports club and brand” in the region, Chastain said. “We believe that
we have something so uniquely special that's going to be an ultimate game changer in every way possible.”
NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman, in an exclusive interview with this news organization, said she doesn't “think we'll be the last” women's sports team in this region.
“This is a massive market of people who are thirsty for great sports,” Berman said. “Being able to witness professional women's soccer on a consistent basis is something we're really proud to bring to the Bay Area.”
It stands to reason that being the first Bay Area women's sports team in this era would carry additional value in terms of fan interest and financial support, though Berman didn't answer directly about that.
Women's soccer has a lot going for it right now.
There's the excitement of the World Cup this coming summer.
The NWSL also had its most-watched regular season match ever two weekends ago — pretty good timing, since the league's television rights deal expires at the end of this year.
And then there's expansion, with Utah and the Bay Area joining next year to bring the league to 14 teams.
Add in the record $53 million expansion fee for the Bay Area team and it's pretty clear that Berman feels the league is well-positioned to strike it big.
“We think that this couldn't come at a better time,” Berman said. “You look at what's happening on a media consumption basis in women's sports — not just for the NWSL but across the entire women's sports ecosystem. We have various case studies and proofs of concept that, when women's sports are shown in places and spaces where people consume content, that people are excited to watch it.”