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Sacramento still hopeful of landing MLS franchise

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MLS officially chose Cincinnati for expansion on Tuesday, which left fellow finalists Sacramento and Detroit to wait and wonder what will happen to their bid.

Detroit’s efforts were derailed by a sudden switch in stadium plan towards the end of the bidding process, but what happened to Sacramento?

The California capital was once considered a favorite for one of the expansion slots given to Nashville and Cincinnati. They had a shovel-ready stadium plan that only needed official word from the league to get started. Their seemingly strong, dedicated ownership group, however, hit a few snags and ultimately cost them their spot.

The current investors,  led by pharmaceutical executive Kevin Nagle, are still looking for additional money to come into their group. They claim being passed over this time around has no bearing on their efforts to secure a new investor or two and they remain in the running for one of two other planned expansion slots.

“This announcement does not impact Sacramento’s ability to join MLS,” Republic FC said in a written statement. “We remain in regular communication with the league and Commissioner Garber and are working around the clock to secure a new lead investor to finalize our bid.

“We thank our amazing fans for their unmatched passion and continued support as we work to bring this process to the finish line and give our city the MLS team it deserves. Onward Republic!”

MLS still plans to expand to 28 teams in the near future. While no timetable has been determined for selecting the next two teams, the league wants them to begin play in the 2022 season. No word has been given on how the bidding process will work for those two sides, or how much the expansion fee will grow.

Comments

  1. If I was the Precourts, I’d scrap the whole Columbus-to-Austin idea – which is looking seriously GRIM in terms of infrastructure and funding – and head on over to Sacremento instead. As many others suggested, I’d leave the Crew name behind and get on board with the Republic.

    Not entirely sure what the fixation is with the Precourts continuing to pound that square peg into various odd-shaped holes in Austin when there’s obvious solid markets screaming for a team elsewhere. You’re not going to go wrong putting another team down the I-5…heck, MLS could literally put an entire LEAGUE down the I-5 if they cared to, fan support is that good in that neck of the woods. I’d bet any kind of sum you cared to own that you could put successful MLS teams in Sacremento, San Diego, probably even smaller cities like Anaheim, Eugene, etc, etc…

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  2. I get crap every time I say it, but there is something to be said for selling 20k tickets per USL game to sell the idea you can do the same in MLS. You notice which one got in first.

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  3. Jonathan Gonzalez is not going to play in Germany,there are many better than him,he did not convinced, the coach,he played well just one year.
    But Ramón Ponce who is in the bench whit Chivas is from Sacramento,never play,and
    he loves Sacramento and can come and play whit this team,if they make it

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