Sacramento mayor remains optimistic about new soccer stadium despite ‘crazy ups and downs’
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg is expecting news regarding a new soccer stadium in the city’s downtown Railyards district before the conclusion of his term at the end of the year.
“Through all the crazy ups and downs, we have never given up. And the next nine months matter,” Steinberg said Tuesday in his annual State of Downtown address. “I hope, I believe, I’m confident that before the end of the year we will have a major investor to build a beautiful professional soccer stadium in the Railyards, expandable for MLS or any other league that sees Sacramento the way we all do.”
Steinberg’s sentiment has been longstanding since Sacramento Republic FC shared stadium plans with The Sacramento Bee in April 2022. The mayor, whose term ends in December, alluded to the stadium’s biggest obstacles: capital investment and waiting on possible expansion into Major League Soccer.
The Bee reported in July investment for a stadium could be coming from Canadian investor Belinda Stronach, joining Republic FC’s chairman Kevin Nagle, who in 2023 divested his stake in the Sacramento Kings and purchased a controlling interest in British football club Huddersfield Town.
“Kevin Nagle, DRV (Downtown Railyard Venture, LLC) and the city have done everything right,” Steinberg said. “For now, the MLS has decided to slow down its expansion plans. If they’re smart, they’ll come back to us. We have the Republic. If they are not formally considered an MLS team that’s just a matter of semantics. They beat MLS teams. And no one needs to designate us as a major league city. We are a major league city.”
Republic FC has been in a holding pattern in finalizing the deal since making the stadium plans public nearly two years ago. The team did not provide comment when contacted for this story.
Team officials have maintained a stadium will be built whether Republic FC stays in its current league, the second-tier United Soccer League, or makes the jump to Major League Soccer, which would require a larger seating capacity and overhang to cover the grandstands.
The initial plan for the stadium includes making it expandable should MLS expansion come down the road. The league recently expanded to 30 teams, with a San Diego ownership group paying a $500 million expansion fee to begin play in 2025. That fee was $175 million more than when Charlotte joined in 2022. It’s unclear if the league intends to expand beyond 30 teams in the foreseeable future.
Sacramento would remain under consideration, as it was when it received an MLS expansion bid in 2021 before Los Angeles billionaire Ron Burkle backed out of a deal to build a new stadium and elevate Republic FC’s to the country’s top soccer league.
The initial cost of Republic FC’s proposed stadium was $100 million to $150 million, depending on the design. It is expected to provide a substantial upgrade over the team’s current venue, Heart Health Park in Cal Expo, which has temporary bleachers, bathrooms in trailers and opened in 2014 with a price tag of $3 million.
This story was originally published March 26, 2024 at 3:41 PM with the headline "Sacramento mayor remains optimistic about new soccer stadium despite ‘crazy ups and downs’."
