USL, Sacramento Republic FC Restarting Season

Source: Sacramento Business Journal, Ben van der Meer
Photo: Sacramento Republic FC fan club Tower Bridge Battalion, attending last fall’s announcement of Sacramento joining Major League Soccer. The team’s current league, USL Championship, announced Thursday a provisional return to play on July 11. (DENNIS MCCOY | SACRAMENTO BUSINESS JOURNAL)

At least one of the Sacramento region’s pro sports teams appears poised to return, with soccer league USL Championship announcing Thursday a provisional July 11 return to play.

That also means the resumption of matches for Sacramento Republic FC, one of the league’s most well attended and popular clubs since it began play in 2014.

On the league’s website, the announcement stated more information on format, scheduling, broadcast and other details would be announced in upcoming weeks. Sac Republic FC released a statement Thursday with similar language.

“With the framework for a return to play set by USL Board of Governors meeting, Republic FC will continue to work with local health officials, players and staff to safely resume the 2020 season, and implement proper precautions to safeguard community health,” the team said.

The announcement still leaves unanswered critical questions for how play will resume, and what it will mean for the team’s operations. At least for now, California’s shelter-in-place orders in response to the Covid-19 pandemic bar large-scale gatherings such as sporting events, which would mean teams would play in front of largely empty stadiums.

For the Republic, game ticket sales and concessions are a major part of team revenue, and strong attendance was a major factor in Major League Soccer choosing to award Sacramento an expansion franchise to begin play in 2022.

Team officials said before Thursday’s announcement they would adjust to how the league decided to restart play, even if that included an empty-stadium scenario.

Sac Republic FC matches are shown on local television, so there would still be an outlet for fans to follow matches if that continued but live attendance is barred.

It’s also not clear if the return of USL Championship play will also mean more details from Sac Republic FC about the pending move to MLS. Though groundbreaking was expected to happen this spring on the team’s future MLS stadium in Sacramento’s Railyards, team officials have also said the timeline for doing so is contingent on a number of factors, including progress on infrastructure for the infill site north of downtown and the need for adjustments to construction sites in consideration of Covid-19.

https://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2020/06/04/usl-sacramento-republic-fc-restarting-season