"Now that we get the World Cup here in the Bay Area, we definitely do see interests of tourists and soccer fans around the world just digging into what other teams are there," says Jorge Bejarano, the man who beats the drum — literally — for Oakland Roots. That's the pitch. And honestly, it's not a bad one.
Santa Clara's Levi's Stadium is set to host six World Cup games in 2026, and the Bay Area's soccer community isn't waiting around to be discovered. They've been building something real here for years, largely without the spotlight that comes with a top-flight league or a recognizable name on the back of a shirt.
A soccer scene that doesn't need saving
The Roots were born out of necessity. When the Raiders left for Las Vegas, the Warriors moved across the bay, and the A's eventually followed, Oakland was left with a stadium and no tenants. The Roots moved in. Within a few years they'd built a genuine supporter culture — a rarity in American soccer outside the traditional MLS markets.
San Jose's Earthquakes and the NWSL's Bay FC cover the top-tier side of things. Bay FC broke the NWSL single-game attendance record with over 40,000 fans at Oracle Park. Then there's San Francisco City FC, a semi-professional club running on a member-ownership model where supporters vote on the club's direction. It's closer to the German fan-owned model than anything you'd normally see in American soccer.
"It's not corporate and it feels like just the people in my neighborhood watching soccer together," says Josh Estelle, a three-year member of SF City. That's the kind of loyalty that doesn't show up in viewership stats but absolutely shows up on matchday.
What the World Cup actually changes
Around 36 percent of Americans plan to watch the World Cup, according to the latest Ipsos poll. That's not a dominant number, but it's a real one — and in a country where soccer still plays second fiddle to American football in the ratings war, six games landing in one metro area is a genuine accelerant.
The Roots are already moving: hosting Australia's national team at their training facility, partnering with local restaurants on Australian-themed menus, and organizing community watch parties. Roots head coach Ryan Martin is direct about the goal — convert World Cup tourists into regular attendees.
Whether that conversion actually happens is the real question. World Cups tend to spike interest and then recede. The Bay Area's advantage is that there's already an infrastructure in place to catch that interest when it lands. You don't have to build the scene from scratch — it's already there at Kezar Stadium on a sunny afternoon, with Sutro Tower in the background and a view that no corporate rebrand could manufacture.
As for the tickets to Levi's Stadium? "It's very expensive," says Shelley Estelle. "We can watch much more affordable soccer right here at Kezar." That says everything about where the heartbeat of this scene actually lives.
