Just in time for Major League Soccer officials paying a visit, Sacramento Republic owners have announced they have a deal in place to acquire the downtown land on which they hope to build the stadium that could be the final piece needed to secure an expansion franchise. At the same time, Republic FC unveiled renderings of that stadium, which shows a glistening 20,000-seat facility in the middle of a massive development in the city’s Railyards.
Check out the renderings of Sacramento Republic’s proposed MLS stadium
With the land secured and a well-capitalized ownership group -- that also just added developer Larry Kelley, who’s apparently buying the 240-acre rail yard site -- it’s hard to see how Sacramento isn’t the leading contender to become the 24th MLS team. In their first year in USL-Pro, Republic FC shattered the league’s attendance records while playing several games in front of 20,000-plus crowds before moving into their own 8,000-seat stadium. Assuming the group is true to its word to privately finance the stadium, everything seems to be in place.
The only thing that seems to be standing in their way is time, and MLS has given no indication a final decision is coming anytime soon and the situation could change quickly.
That said, none of the competing cities appear to have quite as much working for them at the moment. San Antonio has an owner, a fanbase and stadium plan, but is still looking for investors to help pay for it all. Las Vegas has glitz and glamour, but their stadium plans look close to falling apart. Minnesota still has two dueling bids, but the one with the existing fan base doesn’t have a stadium and the other wants to put the team in a NFL stadium.
The wild card in all of this is what happens in Miami. David Beckham’s and his group have reaffirmed their intentions to make something work, but they’ve made virtually no progress and without a stadium plan there is no team. At some point, MLS will be forced to walk away and that would presumably open up another expansion spot.
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