MLS to Sac?

[pdxKingsFan]

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/14/4121137/group-exploring-major-league-soccer.html

I was really excited to see this in my MLS newsfeed this morning until I saw that they want to put the team in Elk Grove. Seriously? WTF?

Apparently they've learned nothing from the Kings fiasco and they also aren't paying attention to which teams are thriving in MLS and which are dying on the vine. Suburban teams have been a failure while downtown teams are blowing up.

I would love to see Sacramento get a team, I'd come down for every Timbers game. I think MLS could definitely work well in Sac, but it might also be worthwhile to start with a Division 2 team and get the culture in place for a season or two.

 

[LoungeLizard]

Your post led me to look up attendance figures for the MLS. I was blown away that Seattle averages 35,000+ for each Sounder home game. That is unreal. Props to them. I'd love to see Sac with an MLS team. Although I don't currently reside in the area, I will be heading back that way once grad school is over and I'd love to have a team more local than San Jose. I went to quite a few Sacramento Knights games at Arco back in the day when we had that team as part of CISL. (I think that was the league) Those were a good time, but to have an MLS team would be amazing.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

Seattle is a bit of an outlier, they are the only recent addition to the league that plays in an NFL stadium. It's quite possible other new teams like Philly, Portland and Vancouver could get their numbers had they not opted to go with smaller Soccer Specific Stadiums, at least over the short term. I think a 20k stadium built in West Sac next to Raley Field could work perfect and sell out every single game.

My Timbers season tickets are roughly $350 a season, the most expensive seats in the stadium are maybe $1500 for the season and that is either club or field level. Consequently I opted to add 2 more tickets for next season. The waitlist is thousands deep.

I went to see the Timbers play the Quakes in San Jose and sadly they are doing everything wrong out there and are stuck in a 10k seat stadium. I think a team close to the heart of the city in Sac would do a lot better.

 

[RussoTuristo]

Interesting news!!! I am not happy about that location because I do not like South Sac very much and live pretty far from it. However, I think Sacramento has some MLS potential. We have only one major league franchise (hopefully we won't lose it) and there are a lot of soccer-loving Latino and Slavic people in the area. I think you can sell MLS to them and create a big fan base very soon.