U.S. Women’s Soccer Icons Lead NWSL Expansion To San Francisco Bay Area

By Barry Janoff

April 4, 2023: Led by former U.S. Women’s National Team players Brandi Chastain, Leslie Osborne, Danielle Slaton and Aly Wagner and Sixth Street global investment firm, the NWSL said today it plans to have an expansion club in the San Francisco Bay Area for the 2024 season.

According to the NWSL, as the club’s Founding Football Four, they will be “represented on the club’s majority women board and will work alongside majority owner Sixth Street in setting the team’s strategic direction.”

The league said a team name and home venue for its 14th franchise are still being finalized.

The move into the Bay Area, where Sixth Street has a San Francisco office, follows NWSL’s recent expansion with the Utah Royals as its 13th franchise, also scheduled to begin play in 2024.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but NWSL said Sixth Street is “making the largest institutional investment in women’s professional soccer to date.”

According to ESPN, "Sixth Street is putting up $125 million, of which $53 million will go to an expansion fee, with the rest dedicated to infrastructure, staff and a training facility."

An article in The Wall Street Journal in January said ownership in Utah would pay between $2 million-$5 million in franchise fees.

The article also reported NWSL has expansion plans with groups in Boston and San Francisco, one of which would also join the league in 2024, with the groups each “set to pay a record $50 million in franchise fees.”

The league now includes 14 member clubs, nearly doubling the league’s footprint since beginning operations in 2012 with eight franchises.

The NWSL also said it “remains engaged in the expansion process with an eye towards adding teams No. 15 and No. 16," with Boston considered to be at the top of the list.

Inner Circle Sports continues to represent and advise the league on expansion matters.

According to the NWSL, “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 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,” NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman said via the league.

“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.”

Sixth Street also has sports investments including Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and the San Antonio Spurs.

In addition, 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.

“We want to thank commissioner Berman and the NWSL Board for their endorsement and their partnership throughout this process," Alan Waxman, co-chair of the club and co-founder and CEO of Sixth Street.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with this legendary group, who are lifelong role models to a generation of women, and we look forward to working with them to build a championship franchise on and off the field.

“We believe that many years from now we will look back at today as a landmark moment in Bay Area sports history, and a turning point for large-scale investment in women’s sports.”

NWSL said Sheryl Sandberg, founder of LeanIn.Org, is joining the club as a board member and strategic investor with her husband Tom Bernthal, and they will “partner with the club to create leadership programs that empower women and girls and provide resources to sports and youth programs in underserved communities throughout the Bay Area.”

NWSL: Jessica BermanThe club’s board will also include Rick Welts, veteran sports executive who most recently was president and COO for the Golden State Warriors. During his time with the NBA front office, he is credited with being instrumental in helping to launch the WNBA in 1998.

“The Bay Area is where this all began,” Brandi Chastain, two-time FIFA World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist, said via the NWSL. “We are as excited about what this club will achieve on the field of play as we are for what it will represent for generations of women athletes and professionals yet to come.

"We look forward to the Bay fans embracing our team and celebrating the competitive spirit and talent we will put onto the field to continue the strong Bay tradition of playing to win championships.”

NWSL Alive And Kicking Heading Into ’23

NWSL Retuning To Utah With Expansion Royals In ’24

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