NFL
By: Ashmere Prasad
On Tuesday morning, Cathy Englebert, Joe Lacob, and Jess Smith announced that Chase Center, better known as Ballhalla, is going to host the 2027 WNBA All-Star Game on July 30 and 31. The entire WNBA will get the opportunity to enjoy the excitement that is Ballhalla next year.
Lacob has expressed his goals for the Valkyries, which is a championship in the next five years. Now Lacob can check another goal off his list, hosting an All-Star weekend in the Bay Area, an event that hasn’t been in the Bay before.
The Bay Area’s hosting timeline is chaotic, but the cities and staff continue to hustle and create some of the most amazing memories. Let’s look at the list of major sporting events for the past two years:
2025: Valkyries’ inaugural season
2025: NBA All-Star
2025: NWSL Championship
2026: Super Bowl LX
2026: 6 World Cup Matches
2027: WNBA All-Star
2027: PGA Tour
2028: MLB All-Star
If you’re unfamiliar with how hosting cities are selected, each city must submit a bid on its behalf, and the selections are usually made three years in advance for the WNBA.
The Valkyries fanbase is a major reason why the WNBA selected the Bay Area to host the next All-Star event. Engelbert shared she’s been hoping to have an All-Star event in San Francisco – she was just waiting for the right opportunity.
“I’m so proud of what this franchise already represented; then to couple that with the business success they’ve had, not just the basketball success, is where the valuation comes into play. I’ve always had my eye on the Bay Area when I came into the league and said, ‘How can we not have a team in one of the most progressive markets in sports?’ The corporate partners have stepped up, the media partners locally stepped up, the fans, obviously, number one. The fans have stepped up.”
Ballhalla is known across the league as one of the most difficult atmospheres to play basketball in. The fans roar and chant every chance they get and create an energy in the Bay that is so magnetic.
Along with the Valkyries’ magic, fans will get to experience the Bay and the surrounding cities. Honestly, it must be hard to hate on the Bay Area right now when all the events above were so successful. For the World Cup, San Jose showed out and partied day in and day out. The Super Bowl had some of the best weather in February, just to show off for the visitors. The NWSL Championship game had activations in the South Bay, and fans filled PayPal Park to see Gotham FC raise the trophy.
The Bay Area has SO many things to offer – yes, it is one of the most expensive cities in the country, but once you visit, you’ll understand why. Also, we aren’t in charge of all that; we’re just trying to get by out here ourselves.
The Threads community has shown so much excitement for this announcement, and many fans have shared that hotels are quickly filling up. If SF is full, don’t be afraid to go in the suburbs like Milbrae, Oakland, or Sausalito over the Golden Gate Bridge. The summer doesn’t truly exist in SF around July, so you will want to get out and explore a little bit during the downtime.
Until then, the Valkyries have their eye on a long playoff run and holding on to the number two seed in the standings.
