One doesn’t need to highlight how far women’s soccer has come, especially in the US. While international dominance is alone a different class, even the slightest of changes have significantly transformed the domestic landscape of the beautiful game in this country. A perfect testimony to this fact is the owners of NWSL side Bay FC, who following the $125 million breakthrough, are now looking to take the next step.

Sixth Street, for those unaware, is the one to back the San Francisco Bay side that competed for the very first time in the 2024 NWSL campaign. Apparently, a recent report from Bloomberg suggests that the owners are taking their interest in sports to the next level by launching a multi-club investment organization. Termed ‘Bay Collective,’ the group stated on Friday that they will be investing in “premier women’s football clubs across the globe.”

The source suggests that the whole group will be led by FA Women’s technical director Kay Cossington. She is said to leave her current post in the coming summer, precisely, in May after almost 20 years of service. Then again, Cossington’s next journey sees her take the role as the head of women’s football at the renowned investment firm as well as the chief executive of Bay Collective.

Notably, multi-club ownership groups are common in soccer, with Bay FC becoming the latest side to jump on the trend. Of course, there’s no need to underline the fact that women’s teams are continuously being targeted to maximize the growing interest in the sport. Yet, many argue about its significant drawbacks, mainly, a team becoming no less than a corporate franchise.

Not to mention that Alex Waxman-led Sixth Street which has $75 billion of assets under management, also has involvement with revered European clubs including FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. The biggest example to state regarding the multi-club ownership group is Mercury/13 which is “focused on acquiring controlling stakes in professional women’s football teams across Europe and Latin America.”

More recently, Mercury/13 acquired a major controlling stake in Italian side FC Como Women last year. Now, they are keeping tabs on English soccer as they continue to expand their portfolio of teams. Nevertheless, how it turns out for Sixth Street is something that remains to be seen. At least, one can hope it does, considering how their investment turned out to be!

Bay FC investors are on the right track to revolutionize the women’s sport

Sixth Street vocally states that Bay FC will also be the inaugural team supported by Bay Collective. Well, it shouldn’t come as a surprise; after all, when the leading investment firm funded $125 million in the NWSL side’s development, the Sports Business Journal proudly called it the first institutional investor to hold majority ownership of a professional team in a major U.S. sports league.

Notably, Bay endured a not-a-bad-season debut in the 2024 NWSL campaign, securing a seventh-place finish. Considering how their owners are looking to further elevate the status of the sport with their multi-club investment organization idea is something that makes us believe that they might just be able to pull this off.

Not to mention what Kay Cossington stated earlier, who is months away from leading the Bay Collective. “My conclusion is clear – there is a better way to develop players on and off the pitch, build championship clubs, and keep our athletes at the center of everything we do. We only need the resources and the will to do it,” she said.

Excited?