Throughout the past few years, the Bay Area has seen a tremendous amount of growth in women’s sports, as they have gained two professional teams. Bay FC was an expansion team for the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in 2024 and this year is the inaugural season for the Golden State Valkyries, an addition to the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA).
With the increasing number of teams and leagues for women’s sports, it has become much easier for fans to become invested. Additionally, many competitions, such as the Olympics, have made these events more popular, as the United States has had very competitive teams the past few years.
The NWSL and WNBA both began with just eight teams, with the former beginning in 2013 while the latter was founded in 1997. Since then, both have grown significantly, as there are now 14 women’s soccer teams and 13 women’s basketball teams.
The increasing amount of opportunities to attend women’s sporting events has allowed future generations of players to see female athletes play, also providing the space for more young girls to find inspiration.
“I’m so excited for young girls to be inspired to play soccer, because when I was younger, there [were] not as many players as I see now,” said junior Maisie Street. “I coach many young girls who are not afraid to play with the boys and not afraid to try their best or get physical, and I think women’s soccer at a professional level will promote that.”
Women’s soccer has had an earlier surge in popularity than many other female sports in the United States, which is largely due to the national team, who have won the Olympics five times and the Women’s World Cup four. The impact of their success has had obvious results locally, as just this past April the team played Brazil at PayPal Park in San Jose in front of a sold out crowd of 18,000 people.
The NWSL has positively impacted from the success of the national team, as there have been many new expansion teams added in recent years with more in the works. Bay FC, although it has only been around for a year, has already garnered a substantial following and is widely attended by fans, having the fourth highest average attendance in the entire league during their inaugural season, according to the Bay FC website.
“I think [having a women’s team in the Bay Area] promotes inclusivity and diversity in the sport because it allows people to have opportunities to play soccer at a professional level. Especially in the Bay Area where soccer is a huge thing, it’s important to have a women’s team to raise awareness about women’s sports and increase women in sports,” said Street.
Senior Sophia de Haaff, an avid basketball viewer, is anticipating how accessible the Valkyries games will be.
“[I’m] most excited to just be able to, like, watch [the Valkyries] on TV and know there is a Bay Area [team]. I feel like that’s a really cool thing, especially like going off to college, to be able to have that team that’s nearby my home, like I have a home team in the WNBA, because for so long there wasn’t one,” said de Haaff.
While supporters are very excited about the expansion of the WNBA as they will be able to watch more games in-person and on TV, professional players will also benefit from the increased number of teams.
“I think it’s really important [that women’s sports expand], first of all, just because there are so many talented players all over the world, and so this gives more players a chance [to play] … obviously, teams expanding, so that means the whole league is expanding, so more people can be active in the league, and also more viewership and more areas for people to go to watch the games and support different teams,” added de Haaff.
Due to the increase in women’s sports teams in the Bay Area, there is the opportunity for many more fans to become involved. Both Bay FC and the Valkyries are important additions to the community, and it is exciting to see how the increased representation of women’s sports will inspire fans and lead to growth of the sports.
