The new professional women’s soccer team Bay FC announced Friday that it will play its inaugural season’s home matches at PayPal Park in San Jose.
The team, founded by former U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) players Brandi Chastain, Leslie Osborne, Danielle Slaton and Aly Wagner, announced in April it was joining the National Women’s Soccer League starting in 2024.
Friday’s announcement said the team will also be investing more than $3 million in a facility adjacent to PayPal Park, where the San Jose Earthquakes Major League Soccer men’s team has played since it opened in 2015.
“PayPal Park is a perfect place to start this journey for Bay FC — a team that has truly been a dream and many years in the making right here in the Bay Area,” Wagner said in a statement. “This has been one of the top U.S. Stadiums for our women’s national team to play in and will be a great atmosphere for our very first Bay FC footballers to step into and play before an energized, passionate and intelligent fan base ready to be entertained.”
The investor group behind Bay FC is also planning on a training venue at a location yet to be announced, and said the team plans to play exhibition matches and hold workouts around the Bay Area and elsewhere in Northern California.
PayPal Park is also hosting watch parties for USWNT matches in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the first of which was Friday when the U.S. played Vietnam. Other watch parties will be this coming Wednesday at 6 p.m. for U.S. vs. Netherlands and Aug. 1 at midnight for U.S. vs. Portugal. All of the watch parties are free to enter and will feature food, games, prizes and more, according to the team.