Sacramento Republic FC

pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

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#2
#2
Was kind of surprised to see American football lines on the pitch. The only answer I got was because it was artificial turf - which is weird, because artificial turf still gets painted at every stadium I've ever been to, and because it is April and the only American football I'm aware of that's being played is arena football. The pictures I saw the lines were brighter than anything I normally see, as if there was to be a game this weekend. Anyone in Sac know the whole story?
 
Tetsujin

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
#3
#3
pdxKingsFan said:
Was kind of surprised to see American football lines on the pitch. The only answer I got was because it was artificial turf - which is weird, because artificial turf still gets painted at every stadium I've ever been to, and because it is April and the only American football I'm aware of that's being played is arena football. The pictures I saw the lines were brighter than anything I normally see, as if there was to be a game this weekend. Anyone in Sac know the whole story?
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Hughes Stadium is just a temporary thing until Bonney Stadium is completed. I'd have to think Warren Smith and the powers-that-be decided that it just wasn't cost effective to paint over Sac City's football field for a few weeks worth of use.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

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#4
#4
I sort of get that, except in the pics I saw it looked like Hughes was freshly painted - I see pro games that regularly have paint that looks more worn than what I saw in the photos. Who paints a field in April? And doesn't the yellow paint have to be washed off with the same process anyways?
 
Glenn

Glenn

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#5
#5
It probably costs too much money. I've seen several pitches that are just enlarged football fields and you can see the lines for football.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

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#6
#6
Sadly, it has been a major source of embarrassment for MLS in the playoffs. Last season in one weekend 3 of 4 playoff games in Seattle, Houston and New England were played with American Football lines and garnered a lot of bad press and made the league look like a joke to the international football community. Warren Smith seems like a big picture guy who gets it and this really was Sacramento's moment in the sun. So he shouldn't have spared the expense, if it was possible. Now I know because he is there only 3 games maybe that has something to do with it. Here in Portland we actually have the opposite problem, Portland State football uses Providence Park but the Timbers are the primary tenant and can basically refuse to paint the lines if they will show during a Timbers match and it has caused a bit of a tiff this year.

It's a shame the soccer specific stadium will only seat 8,000.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

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#8
#8
This team is killing it lately. Hoping to make the game on the 17th of July if I can get a ticket.
 
Gary

Gary

All-Star
#9
#9
Supposedly the Chivas USA team is going to be looking for a new home. There isn't enough support for a red head stepchild team in Los Angeles. Yes they are a large market but we would draw 4x the crowd if not more. We already draw about 4x the amount of fans as this MLS team. I have a feeling that we have sent a message to the MLS saying we're ready for the majors. They gave Orlando a team and we're a better market, and our team averages twice as many fans right now.

We could probably keep the name "Republic FC" because they were planning on re-branding the Chivas USA name after this year anyway. The league bought the team a while back so it's for sale. I have a feeling we will have that team and the current Republic FC might go to Modesto or Stockton.
 
rainmaker

rainmaker

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#10
#10
Gary said:
Supposedly the Chivas USA team is going to be looking for a new home. There isn't enough support for a red head stepchild team in Los Angeles. Yes they are a large market but we would draw 4x the crowd if not more. We already draw about 4x the amount of fans as this MLS team. I have a feeling that we have sent a message to the MLS saying we're ready for the majors. They gave Orlando a team and we're a better market, and our team averages twice as many fans right now.
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Not a better market than Orlando yet. Orlando has a better youth scene, facilities, already works with an EPL club(Stoke), is talking to big name players like Kaka and Robinho, has some of the highest local tv ratings for soccer nation wide and is in the process of building a soccer specific stadium. Republic will first need to get the downtown stadium built. Football lines most weekends is not acceptable in MLS.

Chivas btw was just bought by new ownership. They aren't selling and moving up here. Republic could be the next Portland or SKC, but needs to take a few more steps first.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

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#11
#11
There won't be football lines at the new field. Of course the new field sits 8000. Questionable move there but I guess that's what they could do. Build downtown and get a team. One of these new markets is going to fail (probably 2 or 3 of them - my money is on Atlanta and Miami but who knows maybe Becks can save an already failed market). And Sacramento can swoop up. Or if Chivas ultimately moves somewhere other than a new stadium in SoCal.

They'll also have to modify the name and badge slightly as MLS owns the franchise names and branding.
 
VF21

VF21

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SME
#12
#12
Wait...what? Sacramento has welcomed the guys who comprise the Sac Republic FC and now some want to kick those guys to the curb, keep the name and give it to another group of guys? Somehow that smacks a little too much like Chris Hansen for my liking. But remember, I don't really follow soccer so I'm just reacting to what I read...
 
Gary

Gary

All-Star
#13
#13
VF21 said:
Wait...what? Sacramento has welcomed the guys who comprise the Sac Republic FC and now some want to kick those guys to the curb, keep the name and give it to another group of guys? Somehow that smacks a little too much like Chris Hansen for my liking. But remember, I don't really follow soccer so I'm just reacting to what I read...
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The ultimate goal of Sacramento was to get a MLS team, right? The reports I have read so far is that Sacramento has surpassed (BY FAR) the attendance goals. Sacramento is the real deal when it comes to soccer. The MLS has taken notice. Orlando got a USL-PRO team, like we did, just last year and they also exceeded attendance goals and were awarded a MLS team next year. NYCFC will be the other expansion team.

That leaves Chivas USA. Chivas will be re-branded and will have a different name next year. They do not have a plan to build a stadium and now the league owns the team. So there are talks about relocation. It's all hearsay right now and basically just "what-ifs" but it makes total sense from a business POV to move the re-branded Chivas here to Sac.Most of the chatter has them looking for a new home in the Los Angeles area, but there is also talk of San Antonio or Sacramento (Sacramento making the most noise out of the two).

Of course then what would we do to the USL-pro team? Republic FC is a feeder team (basically one of the minor league teams) for Portland and San Jose. I would love to move Republic FC team down to Stockton and be the minor league team for Sac and San Jose. Not to mention Stockton has a LOT of support for soccer as well and has a high Mexican population. And it's in the middle of San Jose and Sacramento more or less which is convenient for players.

Nothing is concrete but there are rumblings in the media that basically a AA team (referencing the minor league baseball so you get an idea what the Republic FC is) is outdrawing not only the pro team that it feeds players to but also outdrawing half of the league (more than half if we had a bigger stadium).

As for our stadiums, they could probably expand the seating at Bonnie while a new MLS style stadium that seats 25000 or so is built. According to what I have read a soccer stadium can be built in a year. At least that's what the timetable was on other stadiums built for soccer.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

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#14
#14
No, MLS just operates kind of weird. It's a single entity structure where the league owns everything and holds all the trademarks and licenses to the team owners. The quality of play blows USL Pro out of the water, although it's still beneath Mexico and significantly below the top 5 or 6 Euro leagues. So it is well worth the upgrade if it becomes available. And if a "new" team is available no doubt the Sac Republic group would be front runners to get it.
 
Gary

Gary

All-Star
#15
#15
Check the attendance numbers here. http://www.kenn.com/the_blog/?p=5919

It has all of MLS, and NASL (Division 2) and USL-Pro (Division 3). We draw almost 4 times as much as the next highest team in the USL-Pro, and we draw more than all of the NASL teams who are in a higher division. We have drawn more people in one game than every other team has drawn the entire season. That should give you an idea who real Sac is when it comes to wanting to get a MLS team. We are a great market and deserve a MLS team.

Seems like they are keeping up with the correct numbers here even though the date is 5/19 : http://www.kenn.com/the_blog/?p=5919
http://dohertysoccer.com/2014-lower-division-american-soccer-attendances/2014-usl-pro-season-attendance-log/
 
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VF21

VF21

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SME
#16
#16
Gary said:
The ultimate goal of Sacramento was to get a MLS team, right? The reports I have read so far is that Sacramento has surpassed (BY FAR) the attendance goals. Sacramento is the real deal when it comes to soccer. The MLS has taken notice. Orlando got a USL-PRO team, like we did, just last year and they also exceeded attendance goals and were awarded a MLS team next year. NYCFC will be the other expansion team.

That leaves Chivas USA. Chivas will be re-branded and will have a different name next year. They do not have a plan to build a stadium and now the league owns the team. So there are talks about relocation. It's all hearsay right now and basically just "what-ifs" but it makes total sense from a business POV to move the re-branded Chivas here to Sac.Most of the chatter has them looking for a new home in the Los Angeles area, but there is also talk of San Antonio or Sacramento (Sacramento making the most noise out of the two).

Of course then what would we do to the USL-pro team? Republic FC is a feeder team (basically one of the minor league teams) for Portland and San Jose. I would love to move Republic FC team down to Stockton and be the minor league team for Sac and San Jose. Not to mention Stockton has a LOT of support for soccer as well and has a high Mexican population. And it's in the middle of San Jose and Sacramento more or less which is convenient for players.

Nothing is concrete but there are rumblings in the media that basically a AA team (referencing the minor league baseball so you get an idea what the Republic FC is) is outdrawing not only the pro team that it feeds players to but also outdrawing half of the league (more than half if we had a bigger stadium).

As for our stadiums, they could probably expand the seating at Bonnie while a new MLS style stadium that seats 25000 or so is built. According to what I have read a soccer stadium can be built in a year. At least that's what the timetable was on other stadiums built for soccer.
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Fair enough. It just seemed like you were in a hurry to kick the new guys to the curb for newer guys. Sorry if I misunderstood. Like I said, I don't follow soccer. I'll go away now. ;)
 
TyFreak Evans

TyFreak Evans

Bench
#17
#17
VF21 said:
Fair enough. It just seemed like you were in a hurry to kick the new guys to the curb for newer guys. Sorry if I misunderstood. Like I said, I don't follow soccer. I'll go away now. ;)
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For being a non-follower of the sport of soccer, I must say that you have done well so far in your discussions about the sport....You may stay. :)
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

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#18
#18
I truly believe Sac will prove to be a great market - and it is sustained numbers, not four game numbers that matter. Better than Miami and Atlanta and when the dust settles one of the two NY teams as well. But Sac is way late to the dance, they should have done this YEARS ago. Sac is not a sexy expansion market unfortunately. Just like the Kings get some of their best players through trades instead of free agency, I do fear that Sac is going to have to wait until someone fails and wants to move.

My personal vision of the future MLS (10-20 years) would be two leagues, East and West, each containing 14-16 teams that play a fully balanced schedule and then play a MLS Champions tournament at the end of the season (aka Playoffs). Throw in the US Open Cup and there will be enough cross over between the two sides. One of the biggest shocks to the European players that come over to MLS is the travel demands and regionalizing the league will fix that, but there needs to be enough teams to play a proper balanced schedule like the rest of the footballing world.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

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#19
#19
VF21 said:
Fair enough. It just seemed like you were in a hurry to kick the new guys to the curb for newer guys. Sorry if I misunderstood. Like I said, I don't follow soccer. I'll go away now. ;)
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Don't go away. Have you been to a game yet? :)
 
rainmaker

rainmaker

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#20
#20
Republic will get into MLS. Sac is a strong market. I seriously do think it'll rival what Portland and SKC have done. But they'll need that stadium first. 8K won't cut it. Every MLS team can sit at least 18K, most 20K+. MLS averages higher attendance than the NBA and the only outlier, SJ, gets its stadium next spring.

As for Chivas, MLS has shown zero willingness to identify a failure, sell them and relocate them.

The players on the roster will be replaced too. They aren't MLS quality. It would be like in one off season having the RiverCats jump from AAA to MLB. They'd need MLB level players. There's a bigger jump from USL to MLS than AAA to MLB as well.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

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#21
#21
USL I don't believe has a salary cap so if MLS decided to expand in Sac there would be a number of players that would sign in the final USL season hoping to make the MLS roster. I think Portland carried over 6 or more USL guys, we are down to one now in our fourth season (two if you count Jake Gleeson who was USL Premiere (under 23)). If they get a move, tough luck. But you know, even Chivas has some great talent. Torres and Kennedy come to mind, Rosales may not be an all league star assist guy anymore but as a limited minutes guy is still better than you can do in an expansion draft.

But yeah, just putting things into perspective, besides the loanees, there are quite a few guys that were cut from Portland (when they sucked) starring for the Republic (RoRo comes to mind). Tons of player movement is just part of US Soccer. MLS is a selling league of sorts, even though we've brought in guys like Dempsey and Bradley the past two seasons, a lot of the "names" are at the latter stage of their career and a lot of the young talent moves on to Europe after a few seasons. It's just a reality that even if Sacramento makes the jump to MLS, if they develop an all world talent that talent will probably move on to bigger and better things outside the country at some point.

On the other hand, if you like the "player movement" threads for the NBA, you will love the global soccer transfer market :) Portland has a guy on loan from Denmark - he was a 59 overall in FIFA (out of 100) just to say how "highly" regarded he was on the international stage - he's got 4 goals and 2 assists in 2 starts and a few subs. The ability to find unknown talent that lights up the stage actually exists at this level. And by the time Sac gets a team the salary cap should allow even more flexibility than teams have now - expansion teams don't necessarily start off at a huge disadvantage like they do in other leagues.
 
Gary

Gary

All-Star
#22
#22
rainmaker said:
Republic will get into MLS. Sac is a strong market. I seriously do think it'll rival what Portland and SKC have done. But they'll need that stadium first. 8K won't cut it. Every MLS team can sit at least 18K, most 20K+. MLS averages higher attendance than the NBA and the only outlier, SJ, gets its stadium next spring.

As for Chivas, MLS has shown zero willingness to identify a failure, sell them and relocate them.

The players on the roster will be replaced too. They aren't MLS quality. It would be like in one off season having the RiverCats jump from AAA to MLB. They'd need MLB level players. There's a bigger jump from USL to MLS than AAA to MLB as well.
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The league owns Chivas USA. They bought it from Vegara and Fuentes back in February. Since then the MLS has owned the team. They are looking to sell to a new owner this offseason. Now where that owner is going to take Chivas USA is anyone's guess. Most likely they will stay in Los Angeles but rumors are that Sacramento is being looked at as well as San Antonio. The name "Chivas USA" will also be changed.
 
rainmaker

rainmaker

Hall of Famer
#24
#24
Gary said:
The league owns Chivas USA. They bought it from Vegara and Fuentes back in February. Since then the MLS has owned the team. They are looking to sell to a new owner this offseason. Now where that owner is going to take Chivas USA is anyone's guess. Most likely they will stay in Los Angeles but rumors are that Sacramento is being looked at as well as San Antonio. The name "Chivas USA" will also be changed.
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Everything I've seen suggests the league's priority is to keep Chivas in LA due to the market potential and a rivalry with the Galaxy.

Do you have any links that show Sac/SA are possible options if Chivas were to be moved? Something that would play into this is expansion fees. Relocate the team and MLS is out 60-100M in an expansion fee from Sac down the road. That's not chump change for the league. Move Chivas, they're out of both the expansion fee and the potential of having two teams in the LA market. I do however think a second SoCal LA area team will have quite an uphill battle as Xolos is making quite a footprint in that area from just south of the border. Signing a bunch of our prospects too.

BTW, there are rumors Chivas has already been sold, just waiting for after the WC to announce it.

http://www.sancadilla.net/2014/04/columna-san-cadilla-mural-17-abril-2014.html
 
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pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

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#27
#27
Went to the match on Thursday. Was fun to see something building from the ground up. Hard to do some of the chants that we do in Portland very slightly differently. Definitely look forward to seeing how it grows in a year or two. It was also a trip having the Fair right behind me. I went with my son earlier in the day and had a ride bracelet so I actually got to enjoy some adult rides by myself after the match. Barely any lines.

People should go see the match vs. Rangers tonight if tickets are available.
 
pdxKingsFan

pdxKingsFan

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#28
#28
They beat Galaxy II last night with a goal in stoppage time to send them to the USL championship game next weekend against Harrisburg City Islanders.

Not counting chickens but SFRC has a damn good chance to win the league in their inaugural season.
 
VF21

VF21

Super Moderator Emeritus
SME
#30
#30
Congratulations to Sacramento Republic FC - 2014 USLPRO Champions!!!!

Let's see - TEAM USA GOLD! Sacramento Republic FC - Champions!

So this is what winning feels like. :)
 
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