San Francisco Mayor London Breed has signed legislation that will allow the women’s professional soccer team Bay Football Club, or Bay FC, to make Treasure Island their future home with a permanent training center.

The 25-year lease on 8.5 acres is planned to include three fields designated for training use. The team will continue playing matches at PayPal Park in San Jose where the San Jose Earthquakes men’s Major League Soccer team also plays.

“They looked at over 70 sites around the Bay Area,” said Leigh Lutenski, the deputy director with the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Workforce Development. “We partnered with them very early on in their search, with the goal of bringing them to San Francisco … Treasure Island emerged as a great option early on because it has the available land.”

“It’s about bringing the community together,” said San Francisco Mayor London Breed before signing legislation to authorize the 25-year lease of 8.5 acres on Treasure Island to Bay Football Club, or Bay FC, at City Hall on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. Three training fields for the women’s soccer team will be constructed at the site. “There’s so much that is happening on Treasure Island that it’s rapidly becoming a destination in San Francisco to live, to work and play, just like our downtown will be,” Breed said. (Alise Maripuu/Bay City News)

Bay FC is part of the National Women’s Soccer League. The team’s first season kicked off in March 2024.

“Our goal is to build an iconic global sports franchise,” said Bay FC CEO Brady Stewart. “There is no better place for us to do it than in the iconic city of San Francisco that we all love.”

The city’s enthusiasm to welcome Bay FC at Treasure Island is part of Breed’s efforts to bring life to Treasure Island and build upon making San Francisco a sports destination.

“It’s not just about a training facility,” Breed said before signing the legislation Thursday. “It’s about bringing the community together. This team is the first Bay Area team that we have that celebrates and uplifts women’s soccer and we’re so grateful that they chose San Francisco … There’s so much that is happening on Treasure Island that it’s rapidly becoming a destination in San Francisco to live, to work and play, just like our downtown will be.”

Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay on July 29, 2011. This island was selected as a permanent training venue for the Bay FC women’s soccer team in part because of ample available space to construct a facility. (Dan McMenamin/Bay City News)

The facility is expected to break ground next June with a completion date in time for the team’s 2027 season. The construction is being financed privately.

Breed hinted at wanting to also establish a future soccer stadium in the city to host games. So far, San Francisco hosts games for the Golden State Warriors at the Chase Center arena and the San Francisco Giants at the Oracle Park ballpark. The Golden State Valkyries, the Bay Area’s first Women’s National Basketball Association team, will begin playing its inaugural season in 2025 at Chase Center.

“All right, first this signing ceremony of this training facility then next up a soccer arena somewhere in San Francisco!” Breed said.

Alise is a general assignment reporter with a focus on covering government, elections, housing, crime, courts and entertainment in San Francisco and on the Peninsula. Alise is a Bay Area native from San Carlos. She studied history at University of California, Santa Cruz and first started journalism at Skyline College’s school newspaper in San Bruno. She has interned for Bay City News and for Eesti Rahvusringhääling, or Estonian Public Broadcasting. She has covered everything from the removal of former San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus to the divisive battle over the Great Highway on San Francisco’s west side. Please send her any tips.