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Last year, around this time, this paper of record made a bold declaration: The San Jose Sharks, of all teams, were winning the vibe wars of the Bay Area sports world.
Here we are, at the end of another year, and it’s time to take stock again.
If 2024 was defined by turmoil, with the losses of Willie Mays and the Oakland A’s, then consider 2025 a tablesetter for an even bigger turnaround in 2026. Sure, we hosted NBA All-Star weekend. How’d you like a Super Bowl and six World Cup matches? Sign us up.
In fact, the region’s sports scene reflects the trend of the Bay Area at large: On the rise again.
Look no further than the ole’ Coliseum, which found a second (third? fourth? fifth?) life as a destination for world-class cricket and soccer — and the East Bay’s biggest party of the year.
And who can miss the A’s when we’ve got the B’s? While one team toils up the I-80 corridor, the other drew big crowds and lots of fun to Raimondi Park, powering through the Pioneer League in its second season to deliver the region’s lone championship.
Of course, no lookback is complete without reflecting on who we lost. It would be difficult to find someone who touched more lives in the Bay Area sporting community than John Beam, who was tragically shot and killed on the campus of Laney College in November.
We’re going to continue to spin it forward, though, and rank the Bay Area’s pro teams based on one criteria: Who would you rather be heading into 2026? Looking at each team’s 2025, and the direction they are trending entering the new year, there’s a clear favorite.
1. GOLDEN STATE VALKYRIES
Trending: Up
Comment: Violet was the color of the year around the Bay Area in 2025, and the summer belonged to the WNBA expansion franchise’s sensational first season. The Valkyries are already an asset in Joe Lacob’s portfolio, boasting one of the league’s highest franchise valuations and its top attendance — selling out all 24 games at Chase Center. Head coach Natalie Nakase turned a rotating group of castaways into a surprise playoff team, and the franchise is well-positioned to add a star to its roster with Lacob’s deep pockets and desire to win. One complication: It’s not yet guaranteed that there will be games in 2026, with owners and the players union locked in a labor battle over the new collective bargaining agreement.
2. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
Trending: Down
Comment: A year ago, the Niners were still healing from a loss in Super Bowl LVIII, contract drama with Brandon Aiyuk and a litany of injuries. The IR is as long and star-studded as ever, the circumstances with their once-star receiver have only deteriorated and, yet, they are still plausible contenders to represent the NFC at the Big Game in their own backyard this February. Credit head coach Kyle Shanahan for navigating the Niners through the turbulence — and the football gods for sparing Christian McCaffrey.
3. SAN JOSE SHARKS
Trending: Up
Comment: At 19 years old, Macklin Celebrini has already established himself among the NHL’s upper echelon. The Sharks, with the help of an exciting, young core around him, have taken the good vibes Celebrini’s arrival brought last season and turned them into results on the ice. With lots of room still to grow, they are firmly in the race for their first playoff appearance since 2019.
4. GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
Trending: Down
Comment: Stephen Curry, at age 37, is playing as well as he ever has and the cost to go see him in person just once rivals that of any new tech gadget under your tree. So you could say things are still sublime in Warriorsland. Even the most casual observers can see that’s not the case. The splash acquisition of Jimmy Butler last spring looked like it could solve all the Warriors’ problems. Their wear and tear caught up to them in the postseason and they haven’t recovered since. The Jonathan Kuminga saga that has weighed down their season may be resolved once and for all when he is eligible to be traded Jan. 15. But where will that leave the Warriors? With the window closing rapidly on a fifth championship in the Curry era, if it isn’t already shut.
5. SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Trending: Neutral
Comment: What other direction to describe a club that has finished at or around .500 for the past four seasons? The Giants shook things up and hired their beloved former catcher, Buster Posey, to lead their baseball operations — and still finished 81-81, despite Posey swinging the season’s splashiest deal by acquiring Rafael Devers. Time will tell if Posey’s even more unconventional hire for the manager’s seat — Tony Vitello, plucked from the college ranks — will be what takes the club from the annals of mediocrity. Devers is part of a core of position players that should make up the middle of the Giants’ lineup for years to come, but all reports indicate that Vitello will be their biggest addition this winter.
6. CAL AND STANFORD FOOTBALL
Trending: Up
Comment: Welcome to the club, college football. With the amount of money pouring into the sport, consider these teams amateur in name only. Both our local institutions appeared to finally get the message, too, this year. The big-time hires of Andrew Luck and Ron Rivera to lead their respective alma maters signaled their intent to get serious about competing in the new era of college football.
7. BAY FC
Trending: Up?
Comment: Consider Bay FC a cautionary tale for the other expansion franchise at the top of these rankings. A surprise playoff appearance in its inaugural season in 2024, the NWSL club’s second season was marred by an investigation into its head coach, who resigned midway through the year as the team stumbled to a second-to-last place finish. However, construction is underway on the team’s new Treasure Island training facility, and almost entirely new leadership is in place for its third season, led by its new coach, British import Emma Coates.
8. SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES
Trending: Down
Comment: There are still some vestiges of the A’s former life at the Coliseum, such as the plush office chair in the old broadcast booth that still has Dallas Braden’s name taped on the back, and unfortunately, the Bay Area hasn’t entirely rid itself of the owner who upped and ran to Sacramento, either. As long as John Fisher owns the Earthquakes, it will be difficult to unseat our local MLS club from last place on this list. The Quakes brought in a name-brand manager in Bruce Arena, the former USMNT coach, and made some upgrades to their facilities, but still fell short of the MLS Cup playoffs. Arena was not so subtle when assessing what is holding the franchise back: “Improve the roster, (but) we’re not going to have the spend that a lot of other teams have in the league.” The heir to the Gap family fortune is reportedly seeking to get out of the soccer business. Maybe 2026 will be the year.
