Sacramento Republic Owners, City Say Fight For MLS Isn't Over, Working On Better Pitch
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and Sacramento Republic FC owners say the fight isn't over to bring a Major League Soccer franchise to the city, despite reports Minneapolis is a strong favorite to land the next franchise.
MLS has planned to expand to 24 teams by 2020, and only two spots remained going into this year—one had already been promised to David Beckham's ownership group in Miami, despite their issues trying to land a stadium deal.
The other appears to be heading north to Minnesota. But city leaders believe Sacramento still has a fighting chance to score a professional team.
"Obviously we were a little disappointed by the news yesterday," Johnson said. "We felt that we had done everything necessary to put ourselves in the position to be the next MLS city."
The Republic's success in the central valley and across the country is well documented. The fans are frenetic, ticket sales last season set USL Pro records, and the team won the USL Pro championship in its inaugural year.
Now, Johnson says in the coming weeks, the city, along with Republic ownership and business leaders will develop a new strategy on what it will take to keep Sacramento on the MLS radar.
They say their Sacramento group is working on offering a better stadium proposal to MLS, called Operation Turnkey.
"We really want to show the country how strong Sacramento is from a soccer perspective," said Sacramento Republic president Warren Smith.
Former state senate president pro tem Darrell Steinberg says there's no reason to get discourage, as similar disappointments cropped up during the city's efforts to keep the Sacramento Kings in town.
"Any short term setback is just that. Its not even a setback," he said.
The mayor says all is not lost.
"In Sacramento we're used to being underestimated," he said. "While yesterday we didn't get the news we'd hoped for. MLS has told us it's not a matter of if but when we become an MLS city."
