Sacramento Republic FC was financially viable enough to be on the doorstep of joining MLS. Then the expansion deal fell through in February 2021 when billionaire Ron Burkle backed out shortly after he bought Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch.
In 2022, Sacramento Republic is proving it belongs in America’s top professional soccer league by what it’s doing on the field.
Republic FC on Tuesday advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Open Cup, the oldest professional soccer tournament in America, after beating two California MLS teams along the way. In doing so, manager Mark Briggs’ group has proven a promotion from the USL’s top Championship Division to MLS would be an imaginable step.
“I think it shows that we’re a football club that can compete with the elite clubs in this country,” Briggs said after beating the L.A. Galaxy, MLS’ most-winning franchise. “(In) regards to MLS, that’s for other people to discuss and figure out. All I can say I’m just proud of the group we have here and so proud of the group we have here, the result that we’ve achieved tonight.”
This year’s U.S. Open Cup has given Sacramento two of the biggest wins in franchise history. The other came last month, when the team beat the San Jose Earthquakes to advance to the quarterfinals in L.A. Some might argue the biggest win in franchise history was the victory to clinch to USL Championship in 2014. The other, of course, was beating the Galaxy on Tuesday 2-1 in Los Angeles, with a throng of visiting supporters in attendance. This year’s trip to the final four is the deepest Sacramento has ever advanced in the tournament. A USL team hasn’t won the tournament since 1999.
Off the field, Republic is in advanced planning stages on an expandable stadium in the downtown Railyards; Briggs is becoming a viable candidate for a bigger job elsewhere now that he’s beaten teams despite having a fraction of payroll to work with; and general manager Todd Dunivant appears to be pushing the right buttons when it comes to acquiring and developing talent.
Last week, the team’s 17-year-old super prospect Rafael “Rafa” Juaregui scored his first career goal a month after graduating high school and working through the club’s developmental academy.
The stadium project, while still steps away from putting shovels in the ground, would allow for a seamless transition to MLS if the league decides to expand beyond 30 teams, which is expected to happen in the coming years when expansion franchises in Las Vegas, St. Louis and Charlotte join by 2023. Sacramento should be considered a viable candidate if the MLS considered expanding to 32 teams.
Republic FC’s proposed stadium is expected to be expandable from roughly 15,000 seats to 30,000, which would be in line with new MLS stadiums being built throughout the country as soccer’s popularity continues to grow.
The stadium project is moving forward whether Republic FC stays in the USL or makes the jump to MLS.
“We’re not going to have to wait around for MLS,” Dunivant told The Bee in the spring. “MLS may or may not happen. It would be great? Yes. Is it going to happen? That’s not guaranteed. It’s out of a lot of our control, so how do we move the club forward? How do we move the city forward? How do we kick start things in the rail yard? This is a way to do that, and it’s build in a way that you can build on top of it.”
Stadium aside, a significant hurdle for the club remains capital investment. Billionaire Burkle reportedly backed out of the MLS agreement in 2019 because the expansion fee jumped from $150 million to $200 million, on top of $300-plus million to finance a new stadium.
With Burkle out of the picture, the team’s current owner, Kevin Nagle, and his group of investors would need other avenues to come up with an expansion fee, even though the club has faith the USL could eventually compete with the MLS on an even playing field.
In the meantime, it’s fair to look at the last few months for Sacramento Republic and conclude the team is positioning itself for bigger things on the horizon.
