SAN FRANCISCO — 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.
The Golden State Valkyries and Warriors owner displayed typical exuberance while discussing the WNBA’s 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.
The runaway success of sold-out home games at Chase Center had Women’s National Basketball Players Association president Nneka Ogwumike, a Stanford alumnus, waxing poetic about bringing the All-Star Game to the Bay Area.
The game will be played on July 31, 2027, with the Shooting Stars competition and 3-point contest being held the previous day.
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.
Lacob, who was introduced first to ascend the stage placed in lieu of a basket stanchion, joked that he felt like the squad’s point guard while being announced to the assembled crowd. In many ways, it’s his single-minded will that has landed the franchise at this point just two years into its existence.
Golden State Valkyries owner Joe Lacob, left, and Valkyries President Jess Smith speak during a press conference after announcing the SF Bay Area will be hosting the WNBA All-Star Game at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Now, the owner has his sights on an All-Star game.
“I look forward to it, because I think we’ve really had quite a great start to our on-court and off-court success with the team,” Lacob said. “And I think this will be a real example to open it up and show it to more people, even.”
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.
“Right when the team was coming in, it was funny. I think I might have said, ‘How about ‘26?’ ” Engelbert recalled. “Because originally, we didn’t have ‘26 locked in. And I think through Joe and Jess, they said, ‘OK, give us one year at least, a full year, to see how we do here.’ And obviously they killed it, so it made sense to bring ‘27 here.”
Smith has previously noted the franchise’s 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.
“From the moment that this team and community started to come together, it was a dream of just when would we and how would we?” Smith said. “And if we did it, it had to be in an epic fashion to make sure we’re serving our fans.
“But really, this last year, approaching the league and really making a go for it, we’ve been talking about who this region is and who our fans are and what we could do. So it’s been in the works for a while. We’re really, really excited to announce it today.”
(Left to right) Valkyries President Jess Smith, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert, and Golden State Valkyries owner Joe Lacob, announce the SF Bay Area will be hosting the WNBA All-Star Game at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)
Engelbert seemed very much aligned with Ogwumike’s support of San Francisco hosting, a rare issue that WNBA players and management can seamlessly agree upon these days.
“I’ve always had my eye on this Bay Area when I came into the league seven years ago and said, ‘How could we not have a team?’” Engelbert said. “I think it’s one of the most impressive markets around women’s 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.”
Lacob’s stated goal of winning a WNBA championship within five years is in play for this year’s 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.
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.
“It is a lot of work actually for our staff and for everybody,” Lacob said of hosting a year ago. “But in all seriousness, it went very, very well. You have to have high goals, and we all agree on all this. We’re all together with these high goals for our organization and for everything with respect to the team.
“To host the All-Star Game is a big deal, and we need to do a great job. We will, and it’s great for the city. It’s great for the fans. It’s great for the WNBA, and it’s an important milestone. We all want to be part of something that we’re all growing.”
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’s NCAA Tournament West Regional in March and the World Cup this summer.
As part of the WNBA’s 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.
Golden State Valkyries General Manager Ohemaa Nyanin speaks to Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi it is announced the SF Bay Area will be hosting the WNBA All-Star Game at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. (Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group)