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Sacramento officials set for presentation to MLS execs Tuesday

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By CAITLIN MURRAY

As the competition gets tougher, the push for a Major League Soccer franchise in Sacramento, California continues.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and a group of executives from Sacramento Republic FC head to New York City to visit MLS’ headquarters on Tuesday to make a formal presentation, the Republic announced late Monday.

The meeting will serve as a followup to one last month when Deputy Commissioner Mark Abbott and Charles Altchek, a special assistant to league Commissioner Don Garber, visited a potential stadium site for an MLS team in Sacramento.

The Republic will provide updates on ticket sales, stadium planning and likely its ownership group, which recently found more investors interested in an MLS franchise.

Garber is among the MLS executives expected to attend Tuesday’s meeting, with the Republic being represented by club president Warren Smith, top investors Kevin Nagle and Larry Kelley, and other advisers.

“Every meeting, frankly, is important,” Nagle said in a statement. “We’re doing all the right things to make them comfortable” with putting a team in Sacramento.

The Republic and the City of Sacramento have been part of a very public push to win one of the last remaining expansion slots under a tentative plan to cap the league at 24 teams.

Minnesota United FC seems to be gunning for the same spot and has bolstered its own investors group with owners of other major sports franchises. Garber, for his part, told reporters last week that putting an MLS team in Minneapolis was a priority for the league.

The Republic have tried to make the decision hard for MLS, though. They reached a preliminary agreement for property just outside the heart of downtown where an MLS stadium would be built and released renderings of the proposed project.

Monday night, the Republic called upon fans to step up activity on social media and support the club’s “Built for MLS” campaign as executives prepare for the meeting.

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What do you think of the Republic’s vocal push for an MLS franchise? Think the presentation in New York City is a good sign? Can Sacramento fend off competition from Minnesota?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Wouldn’t San Jose have a say in whether or not the league can expand to the bay area? I thought I read somewhere that the Earthquakes hold geographic rights and they’re opposed to competing with an MLS club in Sacramento…

    Reply

    • The Quakes should worry about putting a decent product on the field before they worry about what’s happening 110 miles away. If Sacramento is a part of the Bay Area, then Philly must be the sixth burrough of NY.

      Reply

    • I’m biased here in two ways, but I hope Sacramento gets it done.

      1) I’m about halfway between San Jose and Sacramento, however still in the Bay Area. San Jose hasn’t captured me and I have ties to Sac.

      2) I think MLS 3.0 is regional rivalries. Every team needs a cluster of rival teams. San Jose and Sacramento need each other and will also feed on LA and PNW. Sacramento @ San Jose games will instantly grow the attendance. Plus you have the Sounders make two south trips like the old Pac 10. Traveling fans easily hit both NorCal or both SoCal games. Then games against the other Conference are more exotic as well. For this reason, I think Indy, San Antonio are also in the mix to fill out those regions.

      We won’t get relegation, but possibly MLS can become almost like a college conference mentality, with almost regional leagues that come together at the end for the super league. With tv packages accordingly.

      Reply

    • Don’t mean to pile on here dude, but it’s not like you need to go to the library to find out how far Sacramento is from San Jose.

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      • No, but it’s worth it: the libraries are quite nice in West Coast like Seattle, LA, and Salt Lake City. There are some pretty nice ones in New England too: Philly has a good library system, and obviously the Library of Congress is great. Even if Franks Red Hot lives in the Midwest, any of those locations should be no trouble to get to.

    • And don’t forget the strong bid from Queens FC. If your team plays more than Fuve subway stops from your house, you’re underserved.

      Reply

      • And did you know there are actually people living in NYC who have to transfer to a PATH train to get to an MLS game? The horrors!

        Note that there are people who actually use this as a reason for why RBNY is too inconvenient. PATH is too confusing and not part of New Yorkers’ mindset. Even though it’s a mostly underground train that uses the exact same farecard as the subway.

        Fortunately, soon those poor souls will be able to schlep up to the Bronx and watch soccer in a baseball stadium.

      • Yep. However, when a European club side or a national team play at RBA, the place is packed. I guess those fans are being helicoptered/teleported to the stadium.

      • I doubt you’ll see many of those Euro fans at Yankee Stadium, unless Man City itself shows up. They will be sitting at home, or at their local bar, watching their favorite teams on TV.

  5. Why can’t garber just make and MLS 2 with different rules and around with 18 teams, then have a unique promotion and relegation system where no mls1 teams go down, making easy to begin with and UNIQUE .

    Also, MLS can easily have 26 to 28 teams. There is no need to stop at 24 when other cities have good plans and support. If MLS goes for 26 teams for now, then add Sacramento as number 22 along with Atlanta. Then #23 can be Vegas and #24 Minneapolis and if garber is a genius, bring Miami and Los Angeles 2 together as teams #25 and 26.

    And I actually think the race for expansion teams 27 and 28 is going to be crazy, what if st.louis gets serious, Indy is for real, what if cosmos have their stadium, a texas city will be in the running for sure, Detroit is tricky, a Carolina city would be good.

    Reply

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