Skip to content
Help us continue providing local, fact-based journalism
that keeps you informed and connected each day.
Support essential local journalism for your community.
General | News
Donate Now

View thank you gift options

CapRadio

CapRadio

signal status listen live donate
listen live donate signal status
listen live donate signal status
  • News
    • beats
    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
    • California Dream
    • Videos
    • Photos
  • Music
    • genres
    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Roots
    • Eclectic
    • Videos
    • Daily Playlist
  • Programs + Podcasts
    • news
    • Morning Edition
    • All Things Considered
    • Marketplace
    • Insight
    • California State of Mind
    • The View From Here
    • music
    • Acid Jazz
    • At the Opera
    • Classical Music
    • Connections
    • Excellence in Jazz
    • Hey, Listen!
    • Insight Music
    • K-ZAP on CapRadio
    • Mick Martin's Blues Party
    • Programs A-Z
    • Podcast Directory
  • Schedules
    • News
    • Music
    • ClassicalStream
    • JazzStream
    • Weekly Schedule
    • Daily Playlist
  • Community
    • Events Calendar
    • CapRadio Garden
    • CapRadio Reads
    • CapRadio Travels
    • Ticket Giveaways
  • Support
    • Evergreen Gift
    • One-Time Gift
    • Corporate Support / Underwriting
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Gift
    • Legacy Gift
    • Endowment Gift
    • Volunteering
    • Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • e‑Newsletter
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Close Menu
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 

Soccer Team's Goal: Show Sacramento Belongs In The Major Leagues

Friday, March 28, 2014 | Sacramento, CA
Listen
/
Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
Andrew Nixon / Capital Public Radio
 

Andrew Nixon / Capital Public Radio

People supporting the soccer team promise to reverse that outward trend and put Sacramento on the map as a "Major League" soccer city.

It's a Wednesday afternoon. Nine-year-old Brighton Stanley sits  cross-legged on the sidelines of one of the Cosumnes River College soccer pitches.  

"Did you see that, dad?" Stanley says.

The Stanleys are watching a Sacramento Republic FC scrimmage.  Even in the minor leagues, the ball and the players move a lot faster than at Britton's Pleasant Grove Soccer Club.  

"They're passing up in the air. They can pass with their knees, head, chest. So, we don't really have that," Stanley says.

Soccer 2_2740

Andrew Nixon / Capital Public Radio

Warren Smith is Republic FC Team President and the man who led the effort to bring soccer to Sacramento. He's excited about the club's first year in the USL Pro League.

"Where do we stand? Where do we stand? Big Day. Whoo." Every morning, Smith stops by each desk at team headquarters.

He likes what he hears. The team has passed the 5,000 season ticket mark. Smith likes other numbers he says prove Sacramento can support a USL Pro team now and a Major League Soccer franchise in five years.

"We have 122,000 people that play in the area, it's the number one sport in the country, number one sport in the world. It's gonna be the number one from a affinity standpoint in the near future, it's right behind the NFL in ages 12-24," Smith says.

Warren SmithWarren Smith pointing to where a hospitality tent will be near the soccer pitch at Cal Expo.  Bob Moffitt / Capital Public Radio. 

Those numbers and Nielsen TV ratings for Sacramento make Smith optimistic. During the last men's World Cup, Sacramento was consistently in the top ten markets nationally for TV viewers and was in the top five for the last two U.S. vs Mexico matches.

If there's a game to be watched, you'll find it on TV at Taqueria Santos Laguna. It's a Mexican restaurant near Sacramento State that's owned by immigrants. They named the business after their favorite Mexican League team.

Taco -Shop

Andrew Nixon / Capital Public Radio

Alejandro Barba runs the register while a Women's Under-17 World Cup match is on one of the televisions. His brother Jorge piles pulled pork on warm tortillas.

"I have to make a lot of tacos today." The green and white Santos Laguna logo is everywhere: on signs, windows, shirts, and soccer balls displayed around the restaurant.

Jorge says they love their team. But they're also excited to have a new team to root for.

"That's a fantastic idea cuz we need a really good team to all people, you know?," Jorge says. "We need a new team on Sacramento to because we got the Sacramento Kings and the basketball and we needed a soccer team over here."

Jorge says sometimes half the lunch crowd watch and talk soccer.

Warren Smith says offering entertainment that stirs interest and passion drives him to make professional soccer succeed in Sacramento.

"We have a sport that people can rally around, that all cultures, all socio-economic classes can participate in and enjoy. So, frankly, frankly I think that's awesome. "

Smith says he hopes to build on the success of a USL Pro franchise and move up to Major League Soccer.  To him, the highest level of sport is the important attainable goal, even though it might not be the sport most publicly discussed by city leaders in the past.

"I'd love the NFL to be here. I'd love Major League Baseball to be here. We've tried, but they're not coming. This is a league that's growing. We might as well capture a franchise when a league is growing. That's the easiest time to do it."

Right now, he's supervising construction of a temporary stadium at Cal Expo, but he's thinking about a $100 million, 18,000-seat stadium in the future.

BreakingGroundSoccer

Construction site where the Republic FC stadium is being built at Cal Expo. Andrew Nixon / Capital Public Radio

"We can create a venue that has an impact like Portland or Vancouver or Seattle has and that's focusing on a downtown urban core: downtown transportation around bars and restaurants, ultimately easy to get to, hopefully walkable."

The Portland Timbers and San Jose Earthquake of MLS are supplying Sacramento with four players this year, including starting goalie Jacob Gleeson. He was on the Timbers when the club made the jump from USL Pro to MLS in 2010.

"They were getting 15,000 people in USL and they brought the soccer-specific stadium and now it's almost famous around the world for the soccer and it's just a love of the game up there. So, what I've seen a glimpse of so far is Sacramento could be one of those teams as well."

It's more than a little ironic that Smith began his soccer education while trying to kill soccer in Portland in 2007. While Smith was with the Sacramento Rivercats AAA baseball team, Portland's minor league baseball team went bankrupt. When the Rivercats were asked to run the team and a soccer team that came with it called the Portland Timbers. Smith says folding the team would have eliminated 30-percent of the team's debt. But, people in Portland rallied behind the team and persuaded him otherwise.

"Mayor Paulson bought the team in 2007. He said he wanted to get to MLS. Three years later he got the franchise and look, they're the third-most valuable franchise in MLS today. So, he showed me how much we didn't know."

If Smith's Major League Soccer dreams are to become a reality, Sacramento will need more than his enthusiasm. It will need his experience.

Fifteen years ago, he helped land the Sacramento Rivercats and then orchestrated construction of Raley Field. Last year, Forbes ranked the team as Minor League Baseball's most valuable franchise.

Fans like Brighton Stanley and his dad Chris say they're ready to help Smith do the same for soccer.

"We watch it on TV a lot because we've never had anything but these little guys so, I think we can fill the stadium. If they build it I think we can fill it. I don't know why people wouldn't go."

Sac Republic FC will start its 2014 campaign tomorrow on the road. The first home game will be April 26 at Hughes Stadium.

Soccer32714

Republic FC practice at Cosumnes River College. Andrew Nixon / Capital Public Radio

 

 

Follow us for more stories like this

CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you.  As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.

Donate Today  

    Related Stories

  • Reno Aces / Courtesy

    New Reno Soccer Franchise Has Much To Do Before Opening Day

    Monday, January 18, 2016
    UPDATE: Jan. 18, 8:45 p.m., Fans have submitted 3,000 suggestions for the name of Reno's new professional soccer franchise. The six finalists were announced Monday.
  • Major League Soccer Executives Pay Sacramento A Visit

    Friday, September 19, 2014
    Top Major League Soccer executives have arrived in Sacramento Thursday are in Sacramento today for a two-day visit as they consider whether to bring a team to California’s capital city.
  • Sacramento Soccer Pitch Breaks Ground At Cal Expo

    Tuesday, March 18, 2014
    Heavy machinery began digging up a section of a Cal Expo parking lot this morning.
  • Sacramento Soccer Team Will Play At Cal Expo

    Friday, February 28, 2014
    Sacramento's soccer team, Sacramento Republic F-C announced today it has an agreement to play almost all of its games at a new 8,000-seat stadium at Cal Expo.
  • Bob Moffitt / Capital Public Radio

    Sacramento Soccer Team Strengthens MLS Ties

    Thursday, January 23, 2014
    Sacramento's new soccer team, Sacramento Republic FC, announced today it is now affiliated with two Major League Soccer franchises.
  • Sacramento Mentioned as Possible MLS Expansion City

    Thursday, August 1, 2013
    Another major league sports team could be on the way to Sacramento. Major League Soccer announced it plans to add four expansion teams by the 2020 season, and the owners of Sacramento’s new minor league team are hoping to attract one of them.

 sportscommunity

Coronavirus Newsletter

Get answers to your questions, the latest updates and easy access to the resources you need, delivered to your inbox.

 

Want to know what to expect? Here's a recent newsletter.

Thanks for subscribing!

We'll send you weekly emails so you can stay informed about the coronavirus in California.

Browse all newsletters

More Stories

Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Supreme Court Rules For Worshippers And Against California COVID Restrictions

April 10, 2021

Shae Hammond / CalMatters

California Oversight Of Nursing Homes Called ‘Befuddling,’ ‘Broken’

April 11, 2021

Scott Rodd / Capital Public Radio

Almost Two Months Later, Child Care Providers Still Waiting For Relief Checks

April 13, 2021

Most Viewed

California Coronavirus Updates: Health Officials Say Not To Worry If You Got Johnson & Johnson Vaccine

California Coronavirus Updates: COVID-19 Vaccination Pop-Up Clinic At Luther Burbank High School On April 13

When Can I Get A COVID-19 Vaccine? How Will I Find Out? Answers To Your California Vaccine Questions.

Signatures Are In. What You Need To Know About The Gavin Newsom Recall Effort.

'What Is That In The Sky?' Floridians Catch Meteor's Close Brush With Earth

We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter

Most Viewed

California Coronavirus Updates: Health Officials Say Not To Worry If You Got Johnson & Johnson Vaccine

California Coronavirus Updates: COVID-19 Vaccination Pop-Up Clinic At Luther Burbank High School On April 13

When Can I Get A COVID-19 Vaccine? How Will I Find Out? Answers To Your California Vaccine Questions.

Signatures Are In. What You Need To Know About The Gavin Newsom Recall Effort.

'What Is That In The Sky?' Floridians Catch Meteor's Close Brush With Earth

Back to Top

  • CapRadio

    7055 Folsom Boulevard
    Sacramento, CA 95826-2625

    • (916) 278-8900
    • Toll-free (877) 480-5900
    • Email Us
    • Submit a News Tip
  • Contact Us

  • About Us

    • Contact Us / Feedback
    • Coverage
    • Directions
    • Jobs & Internships
    • Mission / Vision / Core Values
    • Press
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
  • Listening Options

    • Mobile App
    • On Air Schedules
    • Smart Speakers
    • Playlist
    • Podcasts
    • RSS
  • Connect With Us

    •  Facebook
    •  Twitter
    •  Instagram
    •  YouTube
  • Donate

  • Listen

  • Newsletters

CapRadio stations are licensed to California State University, Sacramento. © 2021, Capital Public Radio. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Website Feedback FCC Public Files: KXJZ KKTO KUOP KQNC KXPR KXSR KXJS. For assistance accessing our public files, please call 916-278-8900 or email us.