My NWSL Experience in the Bay
As a loyal Seattle Reign fan, I really shouldn’t have been as excited as I was to see PayPal Park overflowing with Bay Football Club (FC) fans for their National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) match. But as a supporter of women’s sports, it was an exciting moment–for me, the Bay and the league. (For Santa Clara, too–the team’s four co-founders, Brandi Chastain, Aly Wagner, Danielle Slaton and Leslie Osborne, are all alumni.)
There were significantly more fans in the stadium than when I watched Major League Soccer’s (MLS) San Jose Earthquakes play the Seattle Sounders a few years back, and this time it was almost exclusively home team supporters. When the Reign scored I was one of just a handful of people cheering and celebrating–passionate Bay FC fans were the ones who looked right over at me, wondering who was trying to rile up the lowly away contingent.
Not only did the sold-out crowd show up decked out in gear, but they were treated to a damn good game. While the final score was 3-2 in favor of Bay FC, the Reign created some excitement–immediately followed by frustration–with three goals nullified by offsides calls. The drama heightened with each referee’s decision becoming more crucial than the last, and the crowd roaring back to life when Bay FC scored the go-ahead goal–for real this time.
This season is an exciting time for the Bay, who is celebrating just their second home game as an expansion franchise and their first home win. However, it’s also exciting to all of us women’s sports fans.
When walking around the park, I almost teared up at the sight of a dad and his son decked out in Bay FC gear head to toe. Or a young girls' soccer team all taking a picture together with a mural of six Bay FC players behind them. Those are common occurrences at men’s games, but rarely in my life–if ever–have I seen this many people excited for a women’s team.
As a lifelong Reign fan and a one-time ball girl in 2015, I can tell you the Reign have rarely created an atmosphere this lively. They seldom filled up the abysmal Memorial Stadium, their Seattle venue from 2014-18, which also hosts high school football games. PayPal Park is a different story. The stadium was built exclusively for soccer, and Bay FC is fortunate to play in such a remarkable facility.
But things are looking up for the Reign. Since 2022 they have played their home matches at Lumen Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks. My family was lucky enough to be in attendance for Megan Rapinoe’s final game this past October, helping be a part of the 34,000 fans that broke the National Women’s Soccer League attendance record.
Bay FC’s expansion is carrying the torch for a league on the rise, one that developed from when I experienced the beginning of the NWSL from the sidelines of Memorial Stadium.
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Bay FC’s expansion is carrying the torch for a league on the rise, one that developed from when I experienced the beginning of the NWSL from the sidelines of Memorial Stadium.