On a warm February afternoon, fans gathered in the Coachella Valley — not for a music festival, but to get a first look at beloved National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) teams before the 2024 season.

But there was a new team on the block, sporting dark gray practice tops emblazoned with the newest logo in the league: a ‘B’ in gothic typography, accentuated with the silhouette of the Golden Gate Bridge and serifs depicting the Bay’s iconic fog.

Bay FC, the newest NWSL expansion team, is the first professional women’s soccer team in the Bay Area since 2010. The team’s appearance at the Coachella Valley Invitational represented years of preparation as they look forward toward their inaugural season in the NWSL.

A $53 million ‘roller coaster‘

Four legends of the U.S. Women’s National Team — Aly Wagner, Danielle Slaton, Brandi Chastain and Leslie Osborne — developed the idea to form an NWSL team that represented the Bay.

Dubbed the “Founding Four,” they first needed to raise enough capital to win the franchise rights. The last NWSL expansion team, Angel City FC, paid a $2 million franchise fee a few years before, so founding investors were brought on to reach that mark.

Among them was tech executive and former DCI fellow Rebecca Van Dyck.

“[I was] thrilled to get called early on,” Van Dyck said. “I’m a soccer player, I’ve played my whole life and in college … there’s no way I wouldn’t do it.”

In a new NWSL landscape, with media deals and strides toward equal pay driving up valuation, it quickly became apparent that $2 million would not be enough.

Ultimately, Bay FC paid a record-setting $53 million for the franchise fee. 

To close the gap, San Francisco-based equity firm Sixth Street made the largest institutional investment into a professional women’s sports team. The partnership also introduced talented executives to the team, like Sean Mendy M.A. ’10. 

Mendy said they bought into the vision behind the team: “We started visualizing what a franchise here could mean for women’s soccer, for women’s sports.”

In April 2023, the NWSL formally announced the Bay Area expansion team.

A momentous occasion, but the clock was now ticking: The executive group had just 11 months to build the entire organization from scratch — faster than any other franchise in league history.

They even started season ticket sales without a venue. An agreement was eventually reached with San Jose’s PayPal Park.

“It’s just been this crazy rollercoaster,” Van Dyck said.

A unique approach to play

Maya Doms ’23 was at her home in Davis during the 2024 NWSL Draft. Doms, who recently captained the Cardinal to the national championship, didn’t need to wait long: She was selected by Bay FC with the eighth overall pick, staying close to her Northern California roots.

“Being able to represent where I’m from is a huge honor and it makes me so happy that I can be a familiar face,” Doms said.

Joining Doms at Bay FC is her former Stanford teammate Kiki Pickett ‘21. After a decorated career on the Farm, Pickett anchored the Kansas City Current and North Carolina Courage defense the last few seasons.

Pickett said she was grateful to find a familiar face in Doms and eager to mentor a fellow Cardinal: “I’ve got to be a big sister.”

When building the roster, general manager Lucy Rushton and head coach Albertin Montoya stressed the desire to play a possession-based style, synonymous with FC Barcelona teams of the past. 

Along with Doms and Pickett the team sought out quality players who have proved themselves in the NWSL. But many blockbuster names came from overseas, like Nigerian international Asisat Oshoala and Zambian international Racheal Kundananji. Both are world-class forwards, and Kundananji’s transfer broke the world record transfer fee. 

Doms said the international players’ experience and style would help the team. “I’m just super excited to play on a big stage and I think we’re going to be getting a lot of fans at PayPal Park,” she said.

Echoing Doms, Pickett said the team was drawn together by shared interests: “We all want to win, perform well and get to know each other.”

Bridging women’s soccer and the Bay

For the team behind Bay FC — on the field and in the boardroom — success encompasses more than tallies in the win column. The club’s existence and development speaks to the exponential growth in women’s soccer worldwide.

From massive franchise fees to record-breaking transfers, Bay FC hopes to push the sport forward.

“The NWSL has the opportunity to be the premier league, and at Bay FC, a goal of ours is to be the premier global franchise,” Mendy said.

For Doms, the expansion team represents a homecoming. As someone who’s played for Northern California crowds her whole life, Doms said she has observed the growing local popularity of women’s soccer.

“We’ve got a ton of little girls coming out to our Stanford games, so I can’t imagine how many younger girls are going to be coming to the Bay FC games at PayPal,” Doms said.

She expressed excitement for the next generation: “The NWSL is getting bigger, getting more attention and getting more accessible to watch in-person and on TV.”

Many people on the team share a similar vision. Van Dyck said a frequent refrain is “Bay FC is the bridge that unites us.”

With this vision, you couldn’t write a more perfect script for the club’s first ever game action in the Coachella Valley.

In the 53rd minute, the ball sailed into the penalty box from a Bay FC corner. After bouncing around, it landed perfectly at Doms’s feet, who slotted it into the side-netting of the goal. 

The Davis native, and Stanford alum, scored the very first goal in Bay FC history. 

As the NWSL season approaches, Bay FC, a club shaped by its Bay Area and Stanford roots, starts to write its legacy, one they hope will leave a lasting impact on the Bay for generations to come.

The season starts Sunday, March 17, with Bay FC traveling to Los Angeles to face Angel City FC. The home opener is set for March 30 at PayPal Park.