At a sports business conference in San Francisco this week, Bay Area sports leaders outlined many visions for a bigger regional sports landscape and economy.
San Francisco Business Times and Silicon Valley Business Journal’s “Business of Sports” event at Chase Center brought representatives from the Bay Area Host Committee, the planning committee which helped coordinate the FIFA World Cup and Super Bowl in the region, as well as almost all of the region’s professional sports teams and partner companies to discuss the sports business landscape in the Bay Area.
Leaders celebrated the success of FIFA World Cup 2026 before discussing plans to host future events in the Bay Area, the Oakland Roots pro soccer team’s proposal for a long-term stadium project at Oakland’s Howard Terminal, the international expansions of the region’s biggest sports franchises, and how local sports can uplift the region’s economic activity.
Speaking at the Wednesday event, Zaileen Janmohamed, president and chief executive officer of the Bay Area Host Committee, spoke with confidence about the committee’s ability to bring more sporting events to the region in the future.
“The good news is that we have three mayors in Oakland, San Jose and San Francisco who are very pro sport and very much activated around these events,” said Janmohamed. “We have a lot of local public support already.”
BAHC has already submitted its bid to host games for the 2031 FIFA Women’s World Cup, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica and Jamaica.
Janmohamed also stated that the committee is looking into supporting what she called “untraditional” sporting events, specifically mentioning elevating cricket and golf events that already have a history in the region.
Stadium dreams
In another part of the event, representatives from many of the Bay Area’s biggest sports teams spoke about their franchises’ plans to expand their businesses.
While speaking on a panel, Lindsay Barenz, president of the Oakland Roots and Soul Sports Club, stated that the soccer teams have a “three to five years” goal of developing a stadium with a “minimum capacity of 15,000” at Howard Terminal, a waterfront site on the Oakland Estuary previously pursued by the Athletics pro baseball team.
The stadium, which was originally proposed by the club in 2024, would solve the club’s current problems finding a long-term venue that “satisfies all of the requirements for professional soccer,” with the Roots currently standing without a home for 2027 with its Oakland Coliseum contract set to expire this year.
Currently, the club is still in discussions with the Port of Oakland to secure an exclusive negotiating agreement for the property, with Barenz expressing hope that the recent sale of the Oakland Coliseum will allow Oakland to clarify its broader redevelopment landscape and accelerate the club’s Howard Terminal negotiations.
Meanwhile, the club continues to explore the possibility of temporary venues at the Coliseum’s parking lot and the Roots practice facility at 1220 Harbor Bay Parkway in Alameda, according to a press release from the Roots earlier this month.
The development of a soccer stadium at the Coliseum is also in consideration.
As the event wrapped up, representatives from some of the Bay Area’s biggest sports franchises — the San Francisco 49ers, San Jose Sharks and Golden State Warriors and Valkyries — emphasized that a major part of their current focus revolves around expanding their franchises internationally.
The 49ers will play two games overseas in the upcoming 2026-27 season, traveling to Australia and Mexico. Over the past decade, the Warriors have played games abroad in both China and Japan.
“For us, it’s really growing out the fanbase as much as we can,” said Brent Schoeb, chief operating officer of the San Francisco 49ers. “Bay Area is really home to us, but we’re alongside the NFL’s efforts here to grow the game globally.”
Bringing in more fans
These teams are making a conscious effort especially to connect with youth fans abroad, with Sharks star player Macklin Celebrini being unveiled as the face of EA Sports NHL 27, the 2027 edition of the National Hockey League’s official video game, last week.
“That brings the Sharks brand, not just Celebrini, but the Sharks brand all around the world,” said Bryce Townsend, senior vice president of business development for Sharks Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the San Jose Sharks, about Celebrini becoming an EA Sports cover athlete. “It also connects with a youth audience, because that’s how you can engage with the game first and foremost.”
Local sports leaders also emphasized their commitment to ensuring local sports events help activate the region’s economy, as the Bay Area’s sports landscape sees expansion.
According to Brandon Schneider, president and chief operating officer of the Golden State, the Warriors and Valkyries’ sports entertainment corporation, Golden State hopes to continue initiatives like the Golden State Warriors’ Franchise Fund, which provides financial support to nonprofits across the Bay Area.
Additionally, BAHC celebrated its Bridge to Work program, a collaborative effort with Tipping Point Community, an anti-poverty San Francisco nonprofit founded by San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, which connects under-resourced individuals in the region with the training and resources to work paid event jobs like guest services, hospitality and access control.
According to BAHC, the program was a landmark initiative for a major sporting event and was used to support roughly 500 workers for NBA All-Star 2025, the Super Bowl and the World Cup.
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