Major League Soccer’s confirmation Monday that the league is in "advanced negotiations" to add an expansion club in Minneapolis has not discouraged Sacramento and their USL club from their own aspirations to one day join the league.
In a report in The Sacramento Bee on Tuesday, Mayor Kevin Johnson and Sacramento Republic FC officials said they are still pushing forward with their plans to lobby for an MLS franchise in the future.
“We felt that we had done everything necessary to put ourselves in a position to be the next MLS city,” Johnson said. “While we would have liked Sacramento to be the first pick, we’re still in the game and will continue to take as many shots on goal until the last whistle’s blown. We believe and we know that our bid is really strong.”
Monday’s announcement by the league confirmed that Minneapolis is in line to be the 24th market added to the league’s existing 20 teams, joining Atlanta and a second club in Los Angeles, both set to begin play in 2017, as well as Miami in the future.
MLS Commissioner Don Garber also revealed on Monday that the league plans "to evaluate potential expansion beyond 24 clubs," a potential shift from the league's previously announced intentions of having 24 clubs by 2020.
While Johnson acknowledged that the Minnesota news was a setback for Sacramento’s push, he did announce they would soon launch “Operation Turnkey,” an initiative to further develop plans for a soccer stadium in downtown Sacramento.
Last year, Republic FC released drawings of what a stadium would look like in the 240-acre plot of largely undeveloped land just north of downtown. A Republic FC representative told The Bee they have sold more than 9,000 season tickets for the upcoming USL season in their newly expanded Bonney Field 11,000-seat venue.
“I don’t think this was a slight on Sacramento by any means,” Johnson said. “We know we have a strong bid. I think MLS and others would arguably say we’re further along than those markets on a stadium, which is probably true. If those two markets deliver, great, we want to be the 25th.”
The league also recently confirmed other markets currently making MLS bids include St. Louis, San Antonio and Las Vegas.
