Sacramento Republic FC

In Google Earth I measured the soccer lines - 65 yards wide. Wow, I didnt know it was that narrow... Needless to say, not the best venue..

 

A stadium next to Raley Field would be a great location (Mayor Cabaldon, where are you at?) but it may be a right fit. The best choice may be at the Railyards. I heard something about CalExpo being considered, and boy, I hope there's nothing to that rumor.

 

I just pulled up Google Earth, and a soccer stadium would fit just fine if dropped in the south parking lots. They'd have to build a few parking garages, but parking (and schedule coordination with Raley Field) would be manageable.

FYI, looks like Elk Grove won't go away quietly :
http://elkgrove.patch.com/groups/sp...epublic-fc-help-bring-mls-soccer-to-elk-grove

 

Hahahahahaha. This guy is delusional.

At the commercial shoot, Warren Smith did make a comment that the team was interested in setting up a PDL team. Perhaps Elk Grove can be the host for that team.

 

Ugh. It's really sad how they keep propping up Elk Grove as being a "potential" and "successful" location to bring MLS. These guys are ridiculous. This effort needs to be nipped in the bud.

 

i dont live or know much about elk grove area so ill stay away from that, if i were the republic i would play usl for a few years, build up fan base and get ground work going for established players on the team. then i would move up to the NASL , seems to be more freedom with them to run the team and sign players you want , secure local tv deal and probably more corporate money. im guessing youll probably get more fans to come out for a D2 team rather then a D3.

plus lets face it, after NYC2 AND SOME TEAM IN FLORIDA i think it will be a quite awhile till mls will look for another team.

with all that time, it will give the republic time to build up potential fan base and team competitive

 

The thing about Elk Grove is, IF they do build a stadium (one that is large and nice enough), it will just serve as another counter-argument for Sacramento's efforts to build a stadium. Stadium opponents (and there will be - assuming a dime of public money goes into the project - whether it's a direct subsidy, the city paying for studies, or donation of land), will use an Elk Grove stadium in the argument not to build one in Sacramento. They will say, "Why are we building a new stadium in Sacramento? Elk Grove just built one, everyone can use that one! Nay, we say! Nay! Nay! Nay!!"

In the end, the idiots in Elk Grove can ruin it for everyone by building a stadium - they can kill Sacramento's plans while at the same time MLS will not want an expansion team out in a suburb. MLS needs to come out and say "We will not operate a franchise in Elk Grove, period" to settle the issue. If I were Warren Smith, I would try to get MLS to issue this exact statement, because it seems nothing is going to stop these foolish efforts.

 

IMO, Elk Grove will never build a stadium without a firm agreement from the MLS for an expansion club. It would be political suicide, and could greatly endanger the city budget. What could they do with it to justify the expense without an MLS team? It would be a giant $$$$ pit. Not like an indoor arena that can book concerts year round, ala Sprint Center in KC.

I don't think that firm agreement is coming anytime soon. MLS won't be looking at more expansion for a few years beyond what's already in the works. NYCFC needs to get up and running, Miami/Beckham have legs, and Orlando is pushing a stadium package with an already established team.

By the time MLS starts looking around, we will have a USL Pro team in the city core demonstrating fan support (ideally), following the successful blueprint of the last four expansion MLS clubs. Sac Republic FC will hopefully be well primed and ready for the jump. EG will still just be talking.

Personally, I think Elk Grove is a non-starter. If EG ponies up the money, and MLS jumps on it, I'd be shocked. I'll take it, but still be shocked. (Elk Grove.......Really??????)

 

W. Smith said he was looking at MLS in 3-5 years. With a team in the pipeline (NYC) and one or two more in the works (Miami & Orlando), I think he is spot on. At least that seems like a measured pace to me, and works out perfectly for Sac. I hope we are peaking at the three year mark.

I agree with Knave, MLS will continue to expand for a while; I predict 26-28 teams.

IMO, MLS will build a business model similar to the other major US sports leagues. They need a large distribution of teams to generate TV revenue. Once that money rolls in, they will dump serious money on overseas talent to really launch MLS. That's how I see it

 

That commercial actually aired during halftime of the All-Stars vs Earthquakes Academy game. I was at the concession stands getting food but my wife stayed in her seat and watched it. When I got back she told me about the commercial and the fact that it spoiled the name of the team before they officially announced it.

That video is way too cheesy. Hopefully future videos are more like "The Chant" and less like that one. I think this article on Sporting KC clearly shows the wrong way to market soccer and the right way to do it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/24/s...d-kansas-city-transformed.html?pagewanted=all

 

If Sacramento wants to learn how NOT to do things (commercials and marketing), check it out how the Quakes were doing it the first few season from 2008...truly sad and depressing

 

Here is what NOT to do...



After few year they got a little bit better

 

Welcome. You should check out the stadium layout ideas I posted here:

https://www.bigsoccer.com/community/threads/sacramento-is-in-usl-pro.1979114/page-9#post-27349984

These are the top 3 locations I think that should be looked at for a permanent stadium. There aren't really many other places around downtown to put a stadium, unless they bulldoze a large industrial area or some other spot. I hope they make something like this happen, and not be swayed by easier (and less attractive/less potential) locations further away.

 

what i would like to see is a 15-18k stadium with expansion to 20k ( thats just say after 3-5 yrs they can afford and have the fan base to squeeze more people in, then after that think about 25-30k) a fully inclosed stadium would be nice to see, not to many of those in the mls, personally i think its tacky and ugly when you have certain portions with a roof. please dear god no stages, maybe have a "end zone" section where the seats could fold in so that way you could put a temp stage in for any concerts and so on.

 

Here's an article on MLS expansion posted last week on SI.COM, and it features several comments from Warren Smith...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/soccer/news/20130719/sacramento-republic-mls-expansion/

Including, "Smith is relatively new to soccer and a new believer in MLS. He was part of the group that sold the Portland Timbers to Merritt Paulson back in 2007. He remembers thinking Paulson's MLS ambitions were 'crazy'."

I had no idea he was associated with the Timbers.

 

Sorry for jumping the gun there.

 

Hokey yes, but effective. I like what Sacramento Republic FC is doing. At least from the outside looking in. I've never even been to Sac-town but their videos are getting me excited for the team to come. I hope they do well. OKC is getting a NASL team in 2015 and I'd love to see videos like that one for the promotion of our new team.

 

I just found this on YouTube, put together by a very boisterous, high-fiving gentleman in the Tower Bridge Battalion:



They recorded the speeches by Warren Smith and Preki when they revealed the team and were talking to the crowd.

It's kind of long (they could have edited it a bit) but some cool "behind the scenes" stuff in there, and some entertaining Norwich fans as well. There's also a brief appearance by the drummer from the Deftones, I had no idea he was there playing drums when they revealed the team!

 

I want this scarf!

 

They seem to have some good designers on the job. That's a good looking scarf. Can't wait to see the final official jersey.