Resident vote stalls Sacramento's Railyards soccer stadium, but Republic FC says it’s staying put
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| Sacramento Republic FC's Railyard stadium has hit another bump in the road. | |
Sacramento’s long-deferred dream of a downtown soccer stadium hit another speed bump on Monday when city officials confirmed that a protest by Railyards residents has effectively frozen the project’s key financing mechanism for at least a year. Under state law, a majority protest against expanding the Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD) forces the city’s Public Financing Authority to stand down for 12 months.
Although the pause affects only the repayment plan for roads, sewers, and other public works, city leaders acknowledged it injects fresh uncertainty into a $92 million infrastructure package that underpins the 12,000-seat venue and a planned 10,000-unit mixed-use district. Labor group Unite Here Local 49, which helped organize the protest, said the delay should be used to renegotiate a deal that now offers just 6 percent affordable housing.
Sacramento Republic FC struck an optimistic tone. “Our work on the stadium has never stopped, and we look forward to beginning construction very soon,” president and general manager Todd Dunivant told KCRA 3, adding that the club is “advancing our plans to build a transformational stadium and neighborhood that Sacramento needs and wants.”
The club’s confidence is buoyed by its new majority owner, Wilton Rancheria. The tribe, which took control of Republic FC last November, became the first Native American nation to hold a controlling stake in a U.S. men’s professional sports team and pledged significant capital to the Railyards build-out. Wilton Rancheria also owns the booming Sky River Casino in suburban Elk Grove.
That casino sits just north of a vacant 100-acre parcel the City of Elk Grove purchased years ago for the now-abandoned Sacramento Zoo relocation. Local politicians have reportedly quietly floated that land as a fallback site should the downtown stadium plan collapse, arguing it would sit “within walking distance” of Sky River’s front doors and create a tourism hub for both the tribe and the city.
City Hall, however, insists it isn’t trying to poach the project. Elk Grove city officials have stated that the city is not trying to lure the stadium away from Sacramento.
Even if Elk Grove were to make a serious bid, Major League Soccer’s track record suggests an uphill battle. Commissioner Don Garber has repeatedly said expansion hopefuls need “a soccer-specific stadium in the urban core,” praising projects that plug directly into transit and dense downtown neighborhoods - the very attributes Sacramento’s Railyards site boasts, and a greenfield tract 15 miles south of the Capitol does not.
For now, Sacramento officials say they are exploring “alternative pathways” to offset infrastructure costs without tapping the general fund, while developers are free to continue with grading and utility work on schedule. Republic FC, which competes in the USL Championship but still harbors ambitions to join MLS, states that the one-year financing delay will not hinder its goal of opening the stadium before the 2027 season.
Whether the resident revolt leads to a richer affordable-housing deal, a faster path to MLS, or fresh overtures from Elk Grove, the next year will test the patience of fans and investors alike. For now, Sacramento’s bid to cement its “indomitable city” brand in the heart of the Railyards remains alive, just once again, on hold.
#8647 #NoKings #ProDemocracy
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