Bay Area NWSL team
| Founded | April 4, 2023 |
|---|---|
| Majority investor | Sixth Street Partners |
| Co-Chairs | Alan Waxman Aly Wagner |
| Head coach | Vacant |
| League | National Women's Soccer League |
| Website | Club website |
A Bay Area NWSL expansion club will be a women's soccer club playing in the United States top-division National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in the 2024 season. The club was established without a permanent name on April 4, 2023, with investment firm Sixth Street Partners as its majority investor, and Sixth Street CEO Alan Waxman and former United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) player and sports commentator Aly Wagner as the club's co-chairpersons.[1][2]
History[edit]
Lobbying for expansion[edit]
On June 21, 2022, former USWNT and professional club players Brandi Chastain, Leslie Osborne, Danielle Slaton, and Aly Wagner announced the founding of a group called NWSL to the Bay that would lobby the NWSL for an expansion team in the San Francisco Bay Area.[3][4] The bid would compete with interest from groups in other cities, including Columbus, Ohio; Atlanta, Georgia; Austin, Texas; Cincinnati, Ohio; Toronto, Ontario; St. Louis, Missouri; and Nashville, Tennessee.[5]
On December 16, 2022, reports suggested that the NWSL had narrowed the second of its two 2024 expansion selections to the Bay Area bid, another bid in the former Boston Breakers market of Boston, Massachusetts, and a third bid in Tampa, Florida. These reports also revealed the involvement of San Francisco-based investment firm Sixth Street Partners as an investor in the club.[6][7] The reports provided no details about the club's planned venue, but noted that Slaton was leading the group's search for facilities.[8] By January 2023, further reports suggested that Tampa had been eliminated and that the Bay Area and Boston would both be awarded expansion teams, with expansion fees estimated at $50 million each.[9] The league declined to confirm any reports prior to an official announcement.[10]
Establishment[edit]
On April 4, 2023, the league formally awarded one of its two planned 2024 expansions to the Bay Area group at a reported $53 million expansion fee, with the other expansion awarded to the revival of Utah Royals FC at a fee of $5 million or less, negotiated when the club's previous iteration was sold and relocated to Kansas City.[2][9] The expansion announcement also confirmed the involvement of Sixth Street Partners as the Bay Area group's lead investor.[1][2] Chastain, Osborne, Slaton, and Wagner were named as founding board members alongside Sixth Street CEO Alan Waxman, former San Francisco Giants executive Staci Slaughter, former Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg, and Golden State Warriors president and chief operating officer Rick Welts. Wagner and Waxman were announced as the club's co-chairpersons. Sandberg's husband Tom Bernthal was also listed as a club investor.[2]
The expansion fee was the league's largest to date, and 10 times the fee charged in the league's previous round of expansion in 2021.[11] After the announcement, the Bay Area group also announced an additional $72 million in planned startup investment in the club, and Waxman said Sixth Street was committed to owning the franchise for at least 10 years.[11]
Investment[edit]
The club would be the first professional sports team in the United States to have an institutional investor as a majority owner, in contrast to rules established by other United States sports leagues that restricted or prohibited such ownership.[11] NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman noted that the investment did not have a target hold period, and was funded from Sixth Street Tao Partners, a balance sheet fund[12] with no requirement to be liquidated, which the league intended to treat like an individual owner with a large net worth. The Tao fund also covered Sixth Street's purchase of a 20-percent stake in the NBA's San Antonio Spurs.[13]
To mitigate the risks of a premature exit of Sixth Street, the league required as part of the expansion deal that Waxman provide assurances that he can allocate money to the club and also required him to represent the club on the NWSL board of governors.[13] The club also named co-chair Wagner as an alternate representative to the league board.[2]
See also[edit]
- List of top-division football clubs in CONCACAF countries
- List of professional sports teams in the United States and Canada
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hill, Glynn A. (April 4, 2023). "NWSL announces expansion to San Francisco Bay Area". Washington Post. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Ingemi, Marisa (April 4, 2023). "Bay Area lands NWSL 2024 expansion team with largest investment in women's soccer". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
- ↑ Linehan, Meg (June 21, 2022). "Chastain, Osborne, Slaton, Wagner making Bay Area NWSL expansion bid". The Athletic. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
- ↑ Selbe, Nick (June 21, 2022). "Four Former U.S. Soccer Stars Hoping to Be Next in NWSL Expansion". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
- ↑ Kassouf, Jeff (June 30, 2022). "As expansion race heats up, NWSL faces tough questions about its future with Utah expected to join in 2024". ESPN. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
- ↑ Tannenwald, Jonathan (December 16, 2022). "San Francisco, Boston, Tampa are final candidates to join Utah Royals; Philadelphia out". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
- ↑ Caron, Emily; Novy-Williams, Eben (December 16, 2022). "NWSL Narrows Expansion Search to Boston, Tampa and San Francisco". Sportico. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
- ↑ White, Marcus (December 16, 2022). "NWSL Bay Area group seemingly confirms status as expansion finalist". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Toonkel, Jessica; Bachman, Rachel (January 27, 2023). "NWSL Set to Expand With Record-Setting $50 Million Franchise Fees". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
- ↑ "NWSL to expand in Boston, Utah and San Francisco Bay Area – report". The Guardian. Associated Press. January 28, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Germano, Sara (April 4, 2023). "Sixth Street commits $125mn to buy new US women's football club". Financial Times. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
- ↑ Falconer, Kirk (May 25, 2022). "Sixth Street to replenish $1bn of massive Tao evergreen pool". Buyout Insider. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Scott Soshnick, Eben Novy-Williams (April 11, 2023). "NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman Talks Record Expansion, Private Equity". Sporticast (Podcast). Spotify. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
External links[edit]
- Official website
- Bay Area NWSL team on TwitterLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 23: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
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