Sacramento Seeks $1B Stadium-Centered Community

Sacramento Republic FC is the latest sports team to propose an idea for a sports community around a stadium.

The USL team’s owner and chairman Kevin Nagle announced a plan for a Railyards Stadium to help Sacramento recover from pandemic losses and “provide a new downtown home for sports and entertainment.” 

Railyards Stadium will lead a nearly $1 billion investment in The Railyards — a 242-acre district that will include mixed-used, housing, and retail development projects, doubling the size of downtown.

Goals for the “world-class facility” include:

• A downtown facility with 12,000-15,000 seats
• Expanding Sacramento’s sports and entertainment calendar
• A “future-proof” plan to expand to or exceed 20,000 seats

The team has met with MANICA Architecture and Machete Group to work on the concept — the firms’ previous projects include the Allegiant Stadium, Chase Center, and TQL Stadium.

MLS Move

Republic FC was working toward joining Major League Soccer and was once set to debut this year until it lost Ron Burkle’s backing in early 2021. His group planned a $300 million soccer-specific stadium with 21,000 seats but reportedly ran into cost issues.

“We continue to identify and work with potential Major League Soccer investors, and at the same time we’re ready to work together on an adaptable stadium in the Railyards,” Sacramento mayor Darrell Steinberg said on Friday. “It’s not one or the other.”