Where will Bay Area team play?
San Jose's PayPal Park is most likely for soonto-be named team, but details aren't finalized yet
It's going to be a pretty big week for the Bay Area's NWSL team.
Nearly two months after being awarded an expansion franchise, the new club will reveal its name, logo and branding on Thursday.
Two days later, the team will hold its first public event at the Presidio's Main Post Lawn in San Francisco. The noon to 3 p.m. outing on Saturday will feature a concert, games and — most importantly — fresh merchandise available for purchase.
Perhaps the next big question to answer is: Where will this team play?
The NWSL team, headlined by star ownership in Brandi Chastain, Leslie Osborne, Aly Wagner and Danielle Slaton, still hasn't finalized what city and stadium it will call home in the Bay Area. And while this first event will be in San Francisco, the most likely host stadium remains PayPal Park in San Jose, the only soccer-specific stadium in the region.
Built in 2015 for the San Jose Earthquakes, PayPal has already become a destination for women's soccer. The U.S. women's national team will play its only World Cup preparation match in San Jose on July 9 before heading to New Zealand.
Could it be a permanent home for women's soccer? Earthquakes president Jared Shawlee said his organization is interested in having the new NWSL team play in San Jose as its main home.
“If it ends up making sense for them? Absolutely,” Shawlee told this news organization earlier this month. “We want to support their group and let them make the decisions that make sense for them. We're a very open and willing partner for them, if that's the decision.”
Shawlee said the Earthquakes have been working with the NWSL ownership quartet for nearly two years. As a soccer fan, Shawlee's excited for their arrival.
“I'm just so excited for them to come on the market,” Shawlee said. “I think it's gonna be really, really good for the sport.”
There are other possible options for the team. Up in San Francisco, there's Kezar Stadium, the one-time home of the 49ers that has been downsized to its current 10,000-seat arrangement. Kezar hosts high school football in the fall and has hosted local soccer matches for years, including currently hosting the minor league men's team SF City FC.
The team could also explore the East Bay for potential options, but that seems less likely now than it did even a week ago. That's because the Oakland Soul appear to be one of the teams likely to play in the new USL Women's Super League, a top-level league set to begin in 2024.
Oakland's team isn't finalized yet as part of the Super League, and the Soul currently play in the pre-professional W League. But the Soul and its male counterparts, the Oakland Roots, are
working with the city of Oakland to try and get a temporary stadium built on the Coliseum complex.
Those stadiums are all smaller than PayPal and not as well kept. But could the NWSL team follow the Earthquakes' lead and move some matches around locally to bigger venues?
The Quakes play an annual rivalry match against the LA Galaxy at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, timed around the Fourth of July. The Quakes also recently played the other SoCal team, LAFC, at Levi's Stadium, tying in a festival to celebrate Cinco de Mayo — and both the Quakes and the 49ers expressed interest in doing this yearly.
49ers president Al Guido also said his organization would “absolutely” hold the same type of once-ayear match for the NWSL team.
“I hope we can be supportive in any way,” Guido said earlier this month. “If that means an inaugural match or something like [the Quakes hosting LAFC] against Angel City or San Diego, whatever it might be, I think it's a really cool idea.”
Guido has three daughters in their pre-teen years who all play soccer. As the NWSL bid has developed, he's grown close to the ownership group, leaving him even more enthused about the possibility of working with them.
“For me, this one ticks a lot of boxes,” Guido said earlier this month. “I'm a big fan of what they're doing.”
The Quakes drew 45,112 to the match at Levi's on May 6 and put on a show against the defending MLS champions, beating LAFC 2-1.
A crowd of that size for an NWSL match would be a single-match record in women's club football in the United States.
Considering that the Earthquakes say the USWNT match in July is nearly sold out already, the Bay Area's thirst for a professional women's sports team could make a number like that be reachable, making for a splashy entrance to the Bay Area sports scene.