Ever since Bay FC launched its name, brand and logo last summer, fans of the new pro women’s soccer team have been flooding the club’s Instagram comments, asking one question: When can I get that 🔥 letterman jacket?
With the iconic “B” logo inspired by the Golden Gate Bridge, the team’s name on the back, and the Bay Area’s various regions (North Bay, East Bay, South Bay) repped on the sleeve, the dark navy blue jacket screams Bay pride.
“I want that damn jacket,” said Erika Whitemore, an inaugural season ticket holder. “Everything about it—it's just a cool jacket and then representing a women's team that we have here now is just so freaky cool.”
The Bay FC letterman jacket made its debut on the shoulders of the team’s “founding four”—former U.S. women’s national team stars turned minority team owners Brandi Chastain, Leslie Osborne, Danielle Slaton and Aly Wagner—at a kickoff celebration in the Presidio in June. Since then, the jacket has been all over Bay FC’s social media channels.
In videos teasing new player signings, other Bay Area athletes like Klay Thompson and George Kittle sported the letterman, telling viewers to tune in to see who would get it next. Former Giant Hunter Pence and his wife, Alexis, wore the jackets as they took followers behind the scenes on media day. Every time the club signed a player, they were welcomed with—and pictured in—the jacket. The roster page on Bay FC’s website features illustrations of the players wearing, you guessed it: the jacket.
And this week, as the team geared up for its home opener on Saturday, the players were dressed in their letterman jackets as they visited San Francisco City Hall—and gave Mayor London Breed one of her own.
But the jacket is not available for sale—at least, not yet. In an interview Wednesday, Bay FC CEO Brady Stewart wouldn’t say if fans will ever be able to purchase the letterman jacket, but acknowledged the “overwhelming fan response” to the iconic merch.
“We’ve been so surprised and delighted and happy with the excitement that our fans have for the letterman jacket,” Stewart said. “It is causing us to think through our letterman jacket strategy.”
Stewart, who spent over a decade at Levi Strauss & Co., and most recently led the denim brand’s direct-to-consumer business, said she can see why the jacket has resonated with people.
“It's such a visible, tangible expression of the team,” she said. “It's a beautiful item, it's unique, it's distinctive, it's gorgeous. I understand why people have been so attracted to it.”
Designed in partnership with San Francisco-based advertising agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners, the letterman jacket was envisioned as “the pinnacle expression” of Bay FC’s spirit of inclusion, Stewart said.
“It's a representation of the whole Bay Area,” said Estevan Casas, who, despite living 80 miles east of San Francisco in Woodland, has been a big fan of the Raiders and the Oakland A’s. Other professional sports teams have divided fans by geography, he said, but with Bay FC, “it kind of feels like everybody can come together and cheer on this team.”
San Jose native Kathi Tran compared the Bay FC letterman to the vintage gold 49ers starter jackets that have become collector's items for fans. “It’s sleek,” Tran said. “It’s such a classic look that you know in 10 to 20 years you know that is the team—that’s the jacket.”
Tran, 38, said even if the team can’t sell the same high-quality jackets worn by the players, they should at least offer a replica. Some fans have mentioned in Bay FC’s Instagram comments that the letterman was briefly listed on the club’s website for a whopping $700. (Stewart confirmed that the jacket was posted in the online shop by mistake for a short period of time.)
“They need to release something, whether it's the top of the line or not,” Tran said. “I think it would sell and they would have a missed opportunity if they don’t do some sort of version of it.”
For now though, the fact that the jackets are still unavailable to the general public has only made them more desirable to Whitemore, a longtime Giants fan. She recalled saving up to buy a Tim Lincecum jersey to wear to games.
“It's like putting on your armor when you’re going to a game,” she said. “I want to do that again for a women’s team.”