California Storm NWSL

So excited to meet with @SacRepublicFC leadership to discuss the future of @CalStormSoccer and @NWSL in Sac. While no decisions have been made, we look forward to ensuring that the Republic leadership is educated on the huge impact the Storm has had on Sacramento and w. soccer.

— California Storm (@CalStormSoccer) November 15, 2019

Interesting wording on this one...

 

Hgmm...
The Storm usually make social media posts multiple times per week, and yet they've had a grand total of one post over the past fourteen days... Busy with stuff going on in the background, I hope? Make of it what you will.

Am I getting antsy and frustrated for news of any sort? Yes. Yes I am.

 

From the #NWSL expansion/relocation announcement to first game 📆

Houston Dash: 121 days
Orlando Pride: 180 days
Utah Royals FC: 127 days
North Carolina Courage: 96 Days
Proof Louisville FC: 500+ days

Sacramento: ❓❓❓https://t.co/VRAQTXwPJm

— Meg Linehan (@itsmeglinehan) December 3, 2019

Based on the date Meg estimates the league will kick off next year, today would be 137 days out - which in theory gives Sac about 2.5wks to beat out the short run-up that Houston had.

Unfortunately I don't have a subscription to The Athletic, so if anyone does, I would love to hear a TL;DR of the article.

 

Yeah, I'm even inclined to think it's already quashed for 2020. The hold-up was the USSF thing, and that kinda needed to get resolved last week if we were to expect anything about Sac for next season.

 

Lots of reports in the last 24hrs that a Sacramento team is not just likely but official in terms of franchise rights, with the only details left being timing and such. Still many mentions of 2021, which seems odd to me - figuratively and literally, since that would put 2021 at 11 teams. Would make so much more sense for Sac to wait for 2022 and add both Cali teams at the same time.

Anyway, this thread might also need a change of name, as it seems like the involvement of the existing California Storm has been lessened to the point of rendering the WPSL team as mere observers:

We’re very excited to see the world of professional women’s soccer expanding into a market that has a long history of passionate fans and elite talent! @SacRepublicFC, we at Cal Storm can’t wait to see what wonderful things you’re about to do with this team 👏❤️ https://t.co/2dKNmCA92F

— California Storm (@CalStormSoccer) August 19, 2020

Granted, the final "this team" in that Tweet is somewhat ambiguous, as it could be referring to themselves, but I think it's more likely to mean the Republic's expansion effort.

 

Both articles I've read today suggest that the NWSL team will be in the new SSS once that's completed, along with the men's team.

 

I posted in the Louisville thread earlier about the expansion draft, but just to follow it up with related issues here:

All signs to Sacramento not opting for 2021, but also that’s not officially announced yet either. But my expectation is that this draft ends up being solely for Racing Louisville FC. #NWSL https://t.co/IQvpg4Au3t

— Meg Linehan (@itsmeglinehan) September 8, 2020

1303468544710107136 is not a valid tweet id

I do think it'd be kinda odd for Sac to wait until 2023 for their new stadium to be ready to begin play since they've been in the picture for so long already, and it's not like the don't have a stadium to use now anyway.

 

I'd like to see this team be a sister franchise to Sacramento Republic. So ... Sacramento Democracy?

 

Still not much has been heard about Sac recently, but last week the Republic at least officially, on record, confirmed they were still working toward NWSL:
https://www.indomitablecitysoccer.c...n-gumpert-talks-expansion-nwsl-remain-ongoing

 

A chance? Sure, they're always a chance. But it's highly unlikely, IMO. Most of the chatter at the time of DLH's ousting was treating the entire RSL umbrella as a whole package. Besides, NWSL would be rather dumb to abandon the good thing they have in Utah, with amazing facilities and five-figure attendance numbers. I think the possibility of Sac buying the Royals is only a last-ditch safety net on the slim chance that negotiations concerning the entire Utah Soccer Holdings umbrella get thorny.

 

My worry is that whoever buys the Utah MLS team decides they don't want a women's team. Then What?

Hansen may have been an Archie Bunker neanderthal but he did put his money where his mouth is when it came to saving FC Kansas City and keeping many players employed.

 

I mean, that's exactly what I meant when talking about the Utah Soccer Holdings negotiations getting thorny.

The thing is, a "new owner" won't immediately turn around and sell the team. Why? That's because the NWSL is probably worth less as a separate entity than it is as part of the RSL umbrella. A buyer won't take the whole package and then sell a piece of it at a loss. Also, I'm sure NWSL doesn't want to go through a sale of the team twice. As such, I'm pretty sure that if a buyer doesn't want the women's team, NWSL will make sure it's split off beforehand. I doubt a sale goes through for the entire umbrella unless the buyer intends on keeping everything together. It just seems like a lose-lose proposition for everyone involved if someone buys the entire umbrella than immediately siphons off the Royals.

But now we're getting into a Royals discussion and not a Sacramento discussion, so maybe we should return this topic to the Utah thread.

 

Complete side thought:
It took many years for MLS to judge the Sacramento group as ready to promote from USL to MLS. And even though the Sacramento group obviously already has a USL team and a brand associated with it, they are the only one of the four future MLS expansions that do not have their MLS branding ready yet. Which I guess could make sense - why publicize a new brand when you still have another year or two of USL play to go? But still, it makes me wonder exactly how good the organization is at dotting their i's and crossing their t's...