In another dunk for his administration on Tuesday, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie was a featured speaker at the announcement of another bigtime sports event coming to the city: the Women’s National Basketball Association All-Star game will be played at the Chase Center in July 2027.
At a press event at Chase, the mayor was seated onstage between WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and San Francisco Valkyries President Jess Smith, basked in Valkyrie violet light. (The team’s chairman and CEO Joe Lacob also joined the group.) The announcement was well-timed: the Valkyries beat the Dallas Wings Monday night to advance to the playoffs for the second time in the franchise’s first two seasons.
Tossed an easy pass by sports announcer Jordan Kent, Lurie gushed about his fandom. “I have to say first, I’m a fan first,” Lurie told the crowd. “I’m a sports nut, and when you walk into this building for a Valkyries game, it is unlike any experience.” Lurie touted the NBA All-Star Game last year, Super Bowl LX earlier this year, and six recent World Cup matches, each of which generated revenue for the city and raised his profile nationally. (No matter that the last two of those three events were played at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.) Last week, Major League Baseball announced that the San Francisco Giants will host that sport’s All-Star game in 2028.
That Tuesday’s announcement focused on the WNBA only added to its real and political cachet.
Lurie noted that Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi was in the crowd, as well as Supervisors Matt Dorsey, Chyanne Chen, and Alan Wong.
“We are going to go all out, and we are going to show the world again that San Francisco and the Bay Area knows how to pull off world-class events,” Lurie told the crowd.
After the announcement, I asked what specifically Lurie and his office are doing to attract the major sports events. Lurie told Gazetteer his office is in “constant communication” with the city’s team owners and the professional leagues.
“We’ve been in conversations with the WNBA, and with the Golden State organization, for months now, and when there’s an opportunity to go bid on a game, we have the Bay Area Host Committee now in place,” Lurie said, adding, “Something that I was part of, you know, for Super Bowl 50.”
As the mayor’s spokesperson ended the conversation, Warriors shooting guard Gary Payton II wanted in on the action. Dressed in a Valkyries sweatshirt, Payton stopped Lurie for a quick chat.
According to Lurie’s spokesperson, their conversation was about Outside Lands, where the two recently ran into each other.
