Soon to be the 14th club in the NWSL, the San Francisco Bay Area announced themselves as the Bay Football Club along with dropping their team colors and logo.
Before the 2023 NWSL started, league commissioner Jessica Berman announced they would be expanding to add two more teams for the 2024 season. It was announced in March that the league had granted expansion rights to the Utah Royals, welcoming them back to the league after they stopped playing in 2020. The second expansion team was revealed a little over a month later on April 3rd when the NWSL granted expansion rights to the Bay Area.
The Bay Area team was announced as a collaboration between the "founding four" USWNT legends Brandi Chastain, Danielle Slaton, Leslie Osborne, and Aly Wagner, and global investment firm Sixth Street. Their team's name and colors were a mystery at the time, but not anymore. The Club dropped its branding on Thursday, June 1, and dubbed itself Bay FC. Notably, Bay FC is the largest investment ever into a professional women's sports franchise, as the Bay Area joined the league for the record-breaking price of $53 million.
Along with the branding announcement, fans are now able to purchase Bay FC merchandise on Bay FC's new website as they build excitement toward the new team. Ticket deposits for 2024 are also currently available for any Bay Area NWSL fans who want to get ahead on being a part of the season. Co-founder Aly Wagner described Bay FC as "a uniting force, building a culture of belonging and shared pride."
Their logo takes inspiration from the famous Golden Gate Bridge and gothic typography, creating an easily recognizable and unique symbol for the Bay Area team. The Bay Area creative team stressed the importance of keeping their branding simple and uniting everyone under a common logo. There will surely be more information to follow in the future, including a home stadium and player signings as we get closer to the 2024 season. For now, Bay Area fans can begin getting excited for the future of having the NWSL at their doorstep.
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