April 4, 2023 – National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) News Release
NEW YORK AND SAN FRANCISCO (April 4, 2023) – The National Women’s Soccer League today announced it has awarded expansion rights for team #14 to an investment group representing the Bay Area, California. Northern California has been a key generator of women’s soccer talent throughout the history of the sport, and the Bay Area is a top-ten media market known for its diverse culture and vibrant ecosystem of creativity and innovation. The new club will begin play in 2024.
Today’s announcement follows the recent expansion announcement of the Utah Royals as team #13, also beginning play in 2024. With the newly added duo, the NWSL now includes 14 member clubs, nearly doubling the league’s footprint since beginning operations in 2012.
“The number of bids and the increase in the league’s expansion fees are indicative of both the demand that exists for women’s soccer in the professional sports landscape and the validated growth trajectory of our league,” said NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman. “We said at the start of the expansion process in July 2022 that we would be intentional in seeking out strong markets and ownership groups that not only had the structural integrity for our league to thrive, but also demonstrated a genuine commitment to investing in and creating first-rate organizations on and off the pitch. I am confident that this ownership group and market will help us deliver on the league’s continued transformative growth and success and look forward to watching the Bay Area club kick off in 2024.”
The new Bay Area club’s majority investor is Sixth Street, a leading global investment firm with deep experience in sports including investments with Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, and the San Antonio Spurs. The firm is also partnered with the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys through its majority investment in Legends, a global sports and live venue experience business. Sixth Street is making the largest institutional investment in women’s professional soccer to date as the NWSL experiences record-breaking viewership, attendance, and sponsorship growth.
Sixth Street has partnered with four former U.S. Women’s National Team players in Brandi Chastain, Leslie Osborne, Danielle Slaton, and Aly Wagner, who originally launched the effort to bring an NWSL expansion team to the Bay Area with the support of women executives and community leaders from across the Bay. As the club’s Founding Football…