A professional soccer team, Sacramento Republic FC competing in the Western Conference of the USL Championship, is poised for a new stadium. Before relocating to Heart Health Park in the middle of the 2014 season, the squad played at the 20,000-seat Hughes Stadium. Their current venue can hold slightly more than 11,000 spectators.

Sacramento was always a candidate for ‘promotion’ to MLS. For some time, Sacramento was the unofficial 30th team of the league. However, the Major League Soccer board ultimately settled on San Diego. Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour agreed to pay a $500 million expansion fee.

The Railyards provided new stadium potential for Sacramento Republic

Sacramento opted to go forward with plans to construct a new stadium despite its status in the USL Championship. The city’s planned new stadium at the Railyards had proposed seating for up to 21,000 fans. Construction would have finished ahead of the 2023 Major League Soccer season. However, with the delays and eventual lack of entry into MLS, construction went on standby.

Consequently, the land that would house the stadium sat vacant. Some plans demonstrated seating capacities north of 25,000. In that mockup, the second-division club would have had a bigger stadium than 18 stadiums in Major League Soccer. Several of the ones bigger are traditionally NFL stadiums, too.

Plan for new stadium in less than two months

The updated stadium proposal called for a 12,000-15,000 seat facility that may be enlarged in the future should demand to justify it. Regardless, it is not dependent on the MLS bid’s renewal.

Now, Mike Cherry of KCRA-TV reports that the Quails’ owner Kevin Nagle has promised an announcement on a new stadium in the city within the next 60 days. It remains a major proponent of the club’s ambition to get into Major League Soccer over the next several years.

PHOTO: IMAGO & ZUMA Wire