The day Bay FC took over Oracle Park and shattered a soccer record: ‘Let’s think big’

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For the first time ever, Oracle Park was a sea of poppy red Saturday afternoon as the second-year club Bay FC hosted the most-attended women’s professional sports game in NWSL history. 

The stands weren’t just full. They were a living mosaic. 

Families wore matching scarves, kids rocked replica kits, and longtime soccer fans gawked at the spectacle. Children filled the crowd of 40,091 — which topped the previous NWSL high of 35,038 last summer at Wrigley Field in Chicago — watching every tackle, save, and goal wide-eyed. 

Bay FC is in its infancy, but the energetic atmosphere, successfully transported from PayPal Park in San Jose up to the ballpark at China Basin, brought together fans from the nine Bay Area counties.

“For us, it’s about building a multi-generational fandom,” Bay FC CEO Brady Stewart said. “We have an incredibly diverse set of fans who really reflect the Bay Area itself. And you see that at our games, whether it is a kid who plays soccer and is attending a soccer match with their parents who might not have ever been to a professional soccer game, or it’s a family that loves soccer already and now they are creating a relationship with Bay FC.”

San Francisco resident Beth Binegar has been an avid fan of the NWSL since its inception in 2013. She was overjoyed when the Bay Area landed a women’s professional soccer team. Then even more so for the club to take over the Giants’ storied ballpark. 

“For me, it’s long overdue — I was a Title IX baby, and I would have loved to play soccer, but I just played what was available growing up, so anything women’s sports I will support,” she said before the match. “I’ve decided that I’ve given all my money to the men’s teams, and now it’s time for the women.” 

For Bay FC coach Albertín Montoya, who has spent more than 25 years coaching women’s soccer in Northern California, the turnout represented more than a number. It was a powerful symbol of how the sport has evolved. 

“It’s how far we’ve come,” he said postgame. “Fifteen years ago, I coached in the finals here and there were less than 3,000 fans for a game in the finals. Now we played a league game with over 40,000, so it just means so much that the game has grown to where it’s at right now."

Down on the pitch, surrounded by a stadium filled with families, Montoya thought of his own. His daughter Allie Montoya, a forward on the Stanford women’s team, is part of the next wave of talent shaped by the sport’s growth.

“She grew up watching players in [Women’s Professional Soccer], and that inspired her. And now, can you imagine how many young players are going to be inspired by what they just saw?” he said. 

As for the on-pitch action, it was one-way traffic for most of the first half, in favor of Washington. The league’s second-place team, which returned USWNT star Trinity Rodman to the starting 11 for the first time since April, was quick to get on the board. Defender Kate Wiesner punched in a goal for the Spirit in the seventh minute, before the team scored twice more in the first half. 

In the final minutes of the half, Bay FC’s Racheal Kundananji finally found the back of the net for the home team — jolting the crowd to its feet in celebration of the long-awaited push. 

In the 54th minute, defender Kelli Hubly buried a header into the net, redeeming herself after an earlier own goal. The comeback nearly reached a crescendo in stoppage time, when Bay FC came inches from an equalizer in the 96th minute, but fell just short. 

Montoya was still encouraged by the resilience his team showed in the face of the three-goal deficit. 

“I think every single person that watched that game can leave and say ‘Hey, I’d do this again,’ because it was entertaining. It was good-quality football all around.”

To the fans, the scoreboard and standings may matter less than the moment itself. Yes, Bay FC now sits in the bottom three and has gone without victory for more than two months. But that didn’t dull the pulsing energy of the stadium — or the significance of what the day represented.

The club knows the work on the field must continue, but so will the mission off of it. 

“We are a startup only in our second year, but we don’t show up like a startup,” Stewart said. “We show up like a club that is pushing the boundaries, a club that is world-class, a club that is a disruptor in the sports landscape.” 

“Let’s do this more often,” Montoya said. “Why not 60,000 next time around? Let’s think big.”