Don’t Sleep on Bay FC

On a hot Sunday afternoon in an unsexy part of the Bay Area — where industrial warehouses and the backside of the San Jose Mineta International Airport sprawl within a labyrinth of freeways — thousands of soccer fans gather at PayPal Park for a National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) clash.

I’m welcomed, unofficially, by a gregarious, pirate hat-wearing hooligan passing out beer (“Bay FC Chillsner,” brewed by the San Francisco Brewing Company) during a pre-game tailgate. He’s wearing a neon poppy-colored Nike jersey with “BFC” scripted in Old English.

With few exceptions, everyone’s here to root for the Bay Football Club, Northern California’s sole NWSL team. The Bridge Brigade Supporters Club, women’s soccer diehards who fill the supporters’ section at every Bay FC home game, are naturally in attendance. So is a group of teenage girls who have set up folding tables with vintage cards of women soccer players, an issue of Sports Illustrated with a U.S. Women’s National Team player on the cover, and other soccer paraphernalia for sale. Moms have Hello Kitty x Bay FC collab shirts; dads are rocking special-edition “Girl Dad” Bay FC jerseys.

Over a month after the highs of the World Cup have fizzled across the rest of the Bay, you’ll still find soccer mania bubbling here in San Jose. Bay FC, founded as an NWSL expansion team in 2024, is a major reason why — no matter what the scoreboard says. Because despite this season’s abysmal record, the team has arguably cultivated the most accessible, feel-good sports fandom in the Bay. And there’s never been a better time to get in on it. 

The Bay Area was a hub for pro women’s sports long before such a concept was trendy or profitable — from the first-ever collegiate-level women’s basketball game, which took place between Stanford and Cal in 1896; to the inaugural game of the Pacific Coast Ladies Football League the following year; to the formation of one of the first post-college women’s basketball leagues in America in the 1960s. 

The region became a major engine for women’s soccer prowess in the past three decades, in large part thanks to national championship-winning powerhouses that have produced global superstars at Stanford, Santa Clara University, and Cal. During the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, it was San Jose’s own Brandi Chastain, a graduate of Santa Clara University, who delivered a victory for the USWNT on a penalty kick, sending the nation into a frenzy. Next came a pair of winning Bay Area pro teams that were ultimately thwarted by their leagues shuttering: In 2001, the short-lived Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) became the first fully-paid pro women’s soccer league on the planet and the San Jose CyberRays claimed the inaugural WUSA Founders Cup. In 2009, the Hayward-based FC Gold Pride competed in the new Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) system, clinching a national title before the WPS folded in 2010.

For more than 13 years afterwards, the Bay lacked a top-flight women’s team. 

Then, in 2023, Bay FC was born. Founded by four Santa Clara University alums and USWNT players — including the formerly mentioned Chastain, Leslie Osborne, Danielle Slaton, and Aly Wagner — the team joined the rapidly growing NWSL, now considered the best women’s soccer league in the world.

Unfortunately, it would be inaccurate to say the team has restored the Bay’s reputation for championship women’s soccer teams. Not by a longshot: In their first regular season in 2024, Bay FC snuck their way into the postseason as one of the lowest-seeded teams. The following year, they ended with a dismal second-to-last place ranking in the league. The franchise also faced scrutiny in 2025 for a controversy in which former coach Albertin Montoya was investigated under the league’s anti-harassment, discrimination, and bullying policy (he was cleared of allegations last year).

Right now, the team is near the bottom of the standings yet again. Look deeper, though, and you’ll find something notable happening at Bay FC games: Despite underachieving on the field, the team boasts one of the league’s highest attendance records — underscored by their match on Aug. 23, 2025 against the Washington Spirit at Oracle Park in San Francisco. That match attracted a crowd of 40,091 fans, making it among the highest-attended women's professional sports league events on record in the U.S.

Why are spirits so high when scores are so low? 

Walking around the breezy concourse at PayPal Park, you might run into Meadow Holmes, an avid women’s sports advocate and co-founder of Hysteria, Oakland’s soon-to-be only women’s-dedicated sports bar. Holmes’ business partner, Erin Waddell, is an educator and Bay FC season ticket holder. 

Community partnerships are especially visible during events like Black Heritage Day, which saw collaborations with the Black Women’s Player Collective and local arts collective Hella Creative. During my afternoon at the game, a Black Heritage tee designed by Oakland’s Yonas W. Tesfai was on display, worn by a diverse crowd of supporters all over the stadium. A youth girls’ soccer team was there, goofing around while waiting in line for concessions, thanks to sponsorship from the Bay Area Women’s Sports Initiative, an organization co-founded by Chastain. Fan supporter groups include Big Poppies, Bay Imperio, and Pier ‘75 — each focused on different segments of the Bay’s eclectic communities, including immigrant- and queer-led groups.

“[Bay FC] have brought so much good energy to PayPal, especially after a couple of tough [San Jose] Earthquakes seasons,” says Sage Curtis, a Bay Area sports fan and poet who has been going to Bay FC games with her husband, Eric, since the team’s inaugural season in 2024. “The families, especially the girls who are just so excited, have made it feel like a totally different experience.” 

Danny Briones, a San Jose resident and lifelong Bay Area sports fan who brings his two nieces to games, echoes that sentiment. Briones purchased his Bay FC season tickets as soon as they were announced and even traveled down to Los Angeles for the team’s historic debut against Angel City FC in 2024.

“NWSL games are very family-friendly. They feel very safe,” says Briones, who owns season tickets for the Earthquakes and San Jose Sharks of the NHL. “When I went to LA, everyone was welcoming us to the league [as an NWSL expansion team]. If I were to go to LA in my Quakes jersey against LAFC, I can tell you that it would not be that way at all, at least in my personal experience. Bay FC’s culture is just so positive and uplifting.”

The physical space is appealing to childfree adults and families alike: PayPal Park features the continent’s largest outdoor bar, with a 310-foot jumbotron, behind the stadium’s northern goalpost. The spacious green area nearby includes food trucks, picnic tables, and free soccer activities, which makes it feel especially welcoming to little ones — whether you grew up loving the “joga bonito” or not. 

On the field, an international roster led by Zambian star Racheal Kundananji and Italian forward Cristiana Girelli display world-class talent — the team is always fun to root for. Even when the team loses, Bay FC fans remain optimistic and spirited. That can’t always be said for all of the region’s professional sports offerings. Briones points out that it’s certainly not true of an Earthquakes loss.

You also won’t find the brash territorialism of a 49ers game, the touristy aloofness of a Giants game, or the snobby detachment of a techie field trip at a Warriors game. Those in support of Bay FC are building a community space for folks of all ages and backgrounds, centered around a sport that is all but forgotten in this country, and a gender that’s too often still mistreated and exploited. 

As with the Golden State Valkyries, who have galvanized the Bay Area’s sports world, there’s a sense that supporting Bay FC is shorthand for something bigger: it means you support a framework in which women athletes are valued, paid, and celebrated.

Unlike the uber-popular Valkyries — whose fandom is also known for high spirits and inclusivity — Bay FC fandom remains financially accessible. While a Valks game will generally set you back at least $100, tickets to most Bay FC games start at just under $20, no small thing in this shitty economy.

The only thing that’s missing? Bay FC needs to start scoring more damn goals.

The team’s ownership certainly isn’t skimping on their efforts to make that happen, following a staggering league record expansion fee of $53 million. The team is focused on developing a young midfield core in Claire Hutton, Taylor Huff, and Kennedy Fuller; and new British coach Emma Coates boasts an impressive resume with young talent, having led England’s national U-23 squad on a year-long undefeated run. 

During my visit on gameday, Bay FC defeated Houston Dash, 1-0. Mac Dre blared from the speakers as fans danced their way out onto the empty streets. As a lifelong Bay Area sports fan, it reminded me of what it felt like before my favorite childhood teams — the Golden State Warriors and Oakland Athletics — went from cellar-dwelling jokes to perennial contenders. There is an insidery pleasure that comes with seeing a team build itself up from the ground floor. 

Leaving the match, I thought: This franchise is under construction. The vision is there; the fans are committed and open-armed. All that’s left is for Bay FC to uphold the Bay’s legacy of pro women’s soccer championships on the field. 

It feels inevitable. Don’t wait too long to hop on the bandwagon.