{"id":7164,"date":"2026-08-18T22:40:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T22:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7164"},"modified":"2026-08-18T22:40:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T22:40:33","slug":"wnba-brings-out-heavy-hitters-to-announce-san-francisco-as-all-star-game-host","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7164","title":{"rendered":"WNBA brings out heavy hitters to announce San Francisco as All-Star game host"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 Surrounded by politicians, WNBA staffers and Valkyries and Warriors players and staff, including coach Steve Kerr, Joe Lacob was ready to showcase Ballhalla to a national audience.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018She died by design\u2019: Grieving mothers condemn Meta as trial begins in Oakland<\/a><\/p>\n

The Golden State Valkyries and Warriors owner displayed typical exuberance while discussing the WNBA\u2019s decision, announced on Tuesday, to award the 2027 All-Star Game to San Francisco, a move that further consummates a union that has borne prolific fruit since the Valkyries started ahead of the 2025 season.<\/p>\n

The runaway success of sold-out home games at Chase Center had Women\u2019s National Basketball Players Association president Nneka Ogwumike, a Stanford alumnus, waxing poetic about bringing the All-Star Game to the Bay Area.<\/p>\n

The game will be played on July 31, 2027, with the Shooting Stars competition and 3-point contest being held the previous day.<\/p>\n

Lacob, Valkyries president Jess Smith, San Francisco mayor Daniel Lurie and WNBA commissioner Kathy Engelbert teamed up on the Chase Center court for the All-Star game announcement. Oakland mayor Barbara Lee, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Warriors guard Gary Payton II were among the onlookers in attendance.<\/p>\n

Lacob, who was introduced first to ascend the stage placed in lieu of a basket stanchion, joked that he felt like the squad\u2019s point guard while being announced to the assembled crowd. In many ways, it\u2019s his single-minded will that has landed the franchise at this point just two years into its existence.<\/p>\n

Now, the owner has his sights on an All-Star game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look forward to it, because I think we\u2019ve really had quite a great start to our on-court and off-court success with the team,\u201d Lacob said. \u201cAnd I think this will be a real example to open it up and show it to more people, even.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Engelbert said she had considered bringing the All-Star Game to the Bay Area even before the league awarded an expansion franchise to San Francisco two years ago. She added that she considered bringing the 2026 edition to the Bay.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight when the team was coming in, it was funny. I think I might have said, \u2018How about \u201826?\u2019 \u201d Engelbert recalled. \u201cBecause originally, we didn\u2019t have \u201826 locked in. And I think through Joe and Jess, they said, \u2018OK, give us one year at least, a full year, to see how we do here.\u2019 And obviously they killed it, so it made sense to bring \u201827 here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith has previously noted the franchise\u2019s ambitions are to be exceptional, both in fan support and on-court success. Hosting the All-Star Game provides a unique platform to break new ground in both regards.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the moment that this team and community started to come together, it was a dream of just when would we and how would we?\u201d Smith said. \u201cAnd if we did it, it had to be in an epic fashion to make sure we\u2019re serving our fans.<\/p>\n

Read more Michelin-starred chef on board for new restaurant in downtown San Jose<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cBut really, this last year, approaching the league and really making a go for it, we\u2019ve been talking about who this region is and who our fans are and what we could do. So it\u2019s been in the works for a while. We\u2019re really, really excited to announce it today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Engelbert seemed very much aligned with Ogwumike\u2019s support of San Francisco hosting, a rare issue that WNBA players and management can seamlessly agree upon these days.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always had my eye on this Bay Area when I came into the league seven years ago and said, \u2018How could we not have a team?\u2019\u201d Engelbert said. \u201cI think it\u2019s one of the most impressive markets around women\u2019s sports, and one of the biggest markets media-wise and technology, innovation, creativity. So that played a big role then in saying early in their tenure to bring an All-Star Game here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lacob\u2019s stated goal of winning a WNBA championship within five years is in play for this year\u2019s Valkyries team. Golden State has clinched a playoff spot with 10 games remaining and is firmly in second place in the league standings, three games back of the Minnesota Lynx, who will come to Chase on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Welcoming All-Star weekend is another notch in the belt of an arena that hosted the 2025 NBA All-Star Game and has quickly become the destination for top-tier indoor events in the Bay Area.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a lot of work actually for our staff and for everybody,\u201d Lacob said of hosting a year ago. \u201cBut in all seriousness, it went very, very well. You have to have high goals, and we all agree on all this. We\u2019re all together with these high goals for our organization and for everything with respect to the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo host the All-Star Game is a big deal, and we need to do a great job. We will, and it\u2019s great for the city. It\u2019s great for the fans. It\u2019s great for the WNBA, and it\u2019s an important milestone. We all want to be part of something that we\u2019re all growing.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the Bay Area, the WNBA All-Star game will be the latest in a string of sporting events the region has lured. Just this year alone, the Bay Area has hosted the Super Bowl in February, the men\u2019s NCAA Tournament West Regional in March and the World Cup this summer.<\/p>\n

As part of the WNBA\u2019s All-Star weekend, the sixth annual WNBA Live convention will be held at Moscone Center, and there will be community impact events and additional fan experiences, watch parties and programming throughout the region, according to a news release.<\/p>\n

Read more 49ers\u2019 rookie Black bursts past Chargers, McCaffrey stays out as precaution<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chase Center in San Francisco will be site for WNBA\u2019s All-Star weekend in late July 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nWNBA brings out heavy hitters to announce San Francisco as All-Star game host - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7164\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WNBA brings out heavy hitters to announce San Francisco as All-Star game host - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Chase Center in San Francisco will be site for WNBA\u2019s All-Star weekend in late July 2027.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7164\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-18T22:40:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7164#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7164\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"WNBA brings out heavy hitters to announce San Francisco as All-Star game host\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-18T22:40:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7164\"},\"wordCount\":984,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7164#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/81e7edbe3428c823db2cdaae05575de6-scaled.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7164#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7164\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7164\",\"name\":\"WNBA brings out heavy hitters to announce San Francisco as All-Star game host - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7164#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7164#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/81e7edbe3428c823db2cdaae05575de6-scaled.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-18T22:40:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7164#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7164\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7164#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/81e7edbe3428c823db2cdaae05575de6-scaled.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/81e7edbe3428c823db2cdaae05575de6-scaled.webp\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1708},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=7164#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"WNBA brings out heavy hitters to announce San Francisco as All-Star game host\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"WNBA brings out heavy hitters to announce San Francisco as All-Star game host - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7164","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"WNBA brings out heavy hitters to announce San Francisco as All-Star game host - Next City Digest","og_description":"Chase Center in San Francisco will be site for WNBA\u2019s All-Star weekend in late July 2027.","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7164","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-08-18T22:40:33+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7164#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7164"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"WNBA brings out heavy hitters to announce San Francisco as All-Star game host","datePublished":"2026-08-18T22:40:33+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7164"},"wordCount":984,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7164#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/81e7edbe3428c823db2cdaae05575de6-scaled.webp","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7164#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7164","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7164","name":"WNBA brings out heavy hitters to announce San Francisco as All-Star game host - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7164#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7164#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/81e7edbe3428c823db2cdaae05575de6-scaled.webp","datePublished":"2026-08-18T22:40:33+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7164#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7164"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7164#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/81e7edbe3428c823db2cdaae05575de6-scaled.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/81e7edbe3428c823db2cdaae05575de6-scaled.webp","width":2560,"height":1708},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=7164#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"WNBA brings out heavy hitters to announce San Francisco as All-Star game host"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}