It appears the soccer stadium-village concept has been revived.
The Sacramento City Council will consider a plan to build a stadium in the city’s downtown railyards area. If the council says we like the term sheet and we proceed, that could be the beginning of the end of the long saga to build a soccer stadium on the property. At one time, there was a deal to build a facility for a Major League Soccer franchise but nothing materialized. Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg has a deal in place with the new owners of the United Soccer League’s Sacramento Republic FC to build the soccer stadium and an entertainment center. The building will seat 12,000 people but can be expanded. The United Soccer League is a Tier II grouping in the United States one step below Major League Soccer.
Wilton Rancheria is now the majority owner of the Sacramento Republic FC franchise and will invest in the plan. Wilton Rancheria is the only federally recognized tribe in Sacramento County and is the owner of Sky River Casino in Elk Grove, California. The plan is to build a stadium-village but there are only sketchy details that have been revealed about this particular project. Steinberg said the new stadium would be the anchor of a 31-acre development featuring housing, a new music venue and retail space. “We finally found the right investor,” Steinberg explained. Once upon a time, Major League Soccer awarded an expansion franchise to the Republic FC owners and a stadium was part of the agreement. But Sacramento became a major problem when Ron Burkle, who would have provided a significant chunk of the expansion fee to the MSL and stadium construction, decided he didn’t want to be part of the Sacramento franchise. City officials claim the project cost will be around $321 million. Who will pay for the stadium-village? That question does not seem to have clear answers.
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Republic FC Managing Partner Kevin Nagle (left) and Wilton Rancheria Chairman Jesus Tarango, Jr.
