Bay Area Women's Sports Are Finally Having Their Moment
And they're most inclusive, more raucous, and more affordable than men's pro sports.
In the Bay Area, the past decade and a half has been defined by success in men’s sports. Until recently, women have been notably absent from the local professional sporting scene. Finally, that is changing.
The most-hyped team in the Bay Area in 2025 might have been the first-year Golden State Valkyries of the WNBA. Everywhere you looked, Valks violet kept popping up. Every game became must-see TV. Or ideally, must-watch in person, as the squad sold out every regular-season tilt.
In a profession long dominated by men, women are finally having their moment.
I attended multiple Valkyries games last year, including the first preseason game. The house may not have been full that night, but the energy was palpable — I could tell the fans were hungry for a new women’s sports team.
Representation Matters
As an Asian-American, sports-obsessed kid who grew up in the Bay, I loved seeing my community represented on the biggest stages. In 2014, after Travis Ishikawa’s walk-off home run sent the Giants to the World Series, ABC 7 News interviewed me about what Ishikawa’s home run meant to me.
“It makes me proud,” little 12-year-old me said. “It makes me inspired."
Representation like that still inspires me, as it does many young Asian-American women around the Bay. Twelve years after Ishikawa's heroics, that pride bubbled up again watching Valkyries rookie guard Kaitlyn Chen and first-year head coach Natalie Nakase thrive on the national stage.
Chen became the first Taiwanese-American player to score a basket in the WNBA and evolved into an important role player as the season went on, while Nakase won Coach of the Year in her first year leading the Valkyries.
The two loudest Chase Center games I attended in 2025 were the Warriors Game 5 win against the Houston Rockets and the Valkyries' playoff-clinching win against Paige Bueckers and the Dallas Wings.
But the Valks game was something different. Fans donned purple costumes, Norse-inspired attire, and "Everybody Watches Women’s Sports” t-shirts. The energy — palpable in the preseason — was now raucous.
Valks games are also more affordable than Dubs games. The Warriors ticket costs upwards of $200 for an upper-level seat, while the Valkyries ticket costs less than $100 to sit in the lower bowl.
Neither my friend nor I had ever sat in the lower bowl for a Dubs game, but we had an incredible time cheering on the Valkyries from up close, and without breaking the bank.
Franchises That Endure
Women’s sports are not new to the Bay Area, but teams and leagues built to last have been scarce.
Before Bay FC was founded in 2023, FC Gold Pride played in the now-defunct Women’s Professional Soccer league, the top-level women's league in the U.S. before the National Women’s Soccer League.
In Bay FC, San José got its women’s football side to complement the Earthquakes, who also play at PayPal Park. Former Stanford stars Maya Doms and Kiki Pickett — the latter scoring the game-winning penalty kick in Stanford’s 2019 College Cup win over the University of North Carolina — both played for Bay FC in its inaugural season. There is a strong pipeline from Stanford and other Bay Area universities to the local professional team.
Last year, Bay FC broke the NWSL’s attendance record when they played the Washington Spirit in August at Oracle Park. More than 40,000 fans attended the record-breaking event, including myself and four friends. We had an incredible view of the game from the midfield line-up in the top level of the ballpark.
There is something thrilling about cheering on brand new teams just starting to define their identities, especially when contrasted with a Warriors team on the tail end of a dynastic run.
Perhaps the thriving Valkyries and Bay FC will lead to increased awareness of other women’s sports options in the Bay. The Golden Gate Women’s Soccer League and Women’s Premier Soccer League — the longest-running league of its kind in North America — boast strong competition and host free games for fans.
The San Francisco Nighthawks, founded in 1995, are one of the WPSL’s founding teams. Curious fans can catch home games at the historic Kezar Stadium, where the Hawks once hosted the Chinese women’s national team in a scrimmage — for free!
The Hawks aim to provide an anti-pay-to-play experience in order to provide all players with an opportunity to compete regardless of socioeconomic status. This helps build a more diverse, joyful team – one of the Nighthawks’ mottos is “Joy not job!”
Bay Area sports fans have long been blessed with great franchises. For too long, the primary options were men’s sports. Now, women’s teams are drawing new fans and people from all walks of life. So go catch a game – you’ll be glad you did.
