August 26 – Bay FC made history on Saturday by drawing a crowd of 40,091 for their National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) clash with Washington Spirit at Oracle Park in San Francisco – setting a new record.
It was the first time Oracle, home to Major League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants, had ever hosted a women’s professional football match and the event was broadcast live on CBS.
Bay usually play home games at San Jose’s PayPal Park, an 18,000-capacity venue they share with the MLS franchise San Jose Earthquakes, and draw crowds of around 13,000.
Saturday’s record attendance has intensified ongoing talks about the team moving somewhere with a larger capacity.
Lisa Goodwin-Scharff, Executive Vice President of communications at Bay FC, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the city is “an option.”
She said: “Our hope is to have our own stadium one day. We don’t know where that’s going to be, so our goal right now is to connect with all nine counties of the Bay Area, and we’re doing it with the fans. They’re showing up.”
Supporters are split though, as Oracle Park doesn’t have the same intimacy as PayPal Park.
Ultimately, what the attendance does show is that there is an appetite for the women’s professional game that shows no signs of slowing down. The previous NWSL record of 35,038 was set last season at Wrigley Field in another game involving Bay FC.