Professional soccer is officially coming to San Francisco.
The San Francisco Deltas announced on Tuesday that the club will begin play in the NASL in 2017. The club is backed by 15 investors from Silicon Valley and Brazil, including former North American CEO of Virgin Jonathan Peachey, Yahoo’s Bobby Jaros, and Josh McFarland, senior director of product at Twitter.
Joining the league’s front office staff is former LA Galaxy defender Todd Dunivant, who assumes the role of Director of Business Devevlopment and Soccer Operations.
An official announcement from the NASL is set to come on Thursday.
“Today is a great day for Bay Area soccer and sports fans alike,” Deltas CEO Brian Andrés Helmick said in a statement. “This game — soccer, fútbol, football — is one that unites us all, crossing all boundaries whether geographical, religious or socio-economic. Now fans of the world’s largest sport will have an opportunity to experience it played at the highest level right here in the heart of the City.”
The investment group, which was put together by Helmick, beat out several other groups looking to bring an NASL club to San Francisco.
As the team heads into its debut season in 2017, the Deltas will begin play at Kezar Stadium after the city’s Recreation and Parks committee unanimously approved a plan for the team to call the stadium home.
“What’s wonderful about Kezar is that there is so much history there,” Helmich told the San Francisco Gate. “It was the original home of the 49ers when they were just like us, a startup just getting going and trying to establish a fan base.
“We’re in the technology capital of the world,” said Helmick. “The things that we can do here, especially starting with a clean slate, in a city of early adopters — now we can do things differently. We can think about changing, not the purity of the game, but elevating the fan experience.”
The Deltas also announced on the club’s website that fans can start reserving season tickets.
What do you think of the announcement? What do you expect from the Deltas?
Share your thoughts below.
Good news. Now the regular working folks on the Peninsula, in the East Bay and the South Bay can continue what they’ve always done and cheer for the Quakes while the hipster douchebags of SF who’d never deign to take a Caltrain, can sit in windy, old Kezar, drink their PBR, scratch their beards, compare poorly translated sanskrit tattoos and remind anyone who cares that they were into ‘Futbol’ looooooong before any of their ‘mates’ were (like, as long ago as 2010, brah!).
Another one-year blowout like the California Victory. Jesus, NASL is a joke.
A rose in a rose. The name is a symbol standing for an exciting phase of infancy quite ready to learn, grow, and flourish. We live in what is probably the most innovative if not the most experimental city on the planet. A diverse population with unlimited interests. What a fine social outlet in a vibrant neighborhood. I look forward to the blooming of this carefully tended plant. The mischievous ghosts of ancient niners will be satisfied spectators. Go Deltas!
Hopefully a good football market with a solid ownership.
Good news is that the stadium, Kezar, has real grass, which bucks the recent very unpleasant trend of plastic pitches everywhere…
I do think that Chicago with a stadium at a proper place can also work. I mean, no organization can be as bad as the Fire, and Chicago is a massive football-crazy market.
Still disappointed that the SA Scorpions are no longer part of the league.
This league is weird.
Just looked on Google Maps and this looks like a fantastic location, in Golden Gate park between UC-San Fran and USF. Not sure what that facility is like, but 10k seating is about what you want in NASL.
I dont understand the name. If it is referencing the San Francisco Delta Watershed, why is the name plural? In fairness I don’t understand the “Red Bulls” either, like its a team of multiple singular brands, but even with that there is 2 bulls, which are red, on the logo so there is some sense.
Im sure their is a simple answer of what a Delta is, and how they are multiples of whatever that is, but im just dense.
hard to fathom how they spent that much $ on starting up a franchise and couldn’t get a better logo design than that. these guys are coming off as totally clueless…
Otter, D-Day, and Bluto will create the backbone of the team, per reports.