Winning ways. A 14-year-old pro. Why Sacramento Republic FC will be fun for fans in 2024

Soggy weather and a dramatic Tahoe-area blizzard aside, it’s nearly spring, which means it’s time for soccer on the pitch for Sacramento’s professional team. Republic FC is kicking off its season this weekend at home, beginning its United Soccer League slate against Orange County.

Republic FC officially enters the 2024 campaign 7 p.m. Saturday at Heart Health Park, where the team will look to continue strengthening its foothold within a Sacramento sports scene that’s dominated locally by the Kings.

The Kings are the only team in town that’s part of the three most popular U.S. sports leagues — NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball — which has created an opportunity for Republic FC to compete with Minor League Baseball’s River Cats to become the No. 2 sports ticket in the area. The River Cats averaged 5,177 fans over their 75 games last season at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento.

Republic FC has consistently drawn 10,000 fans per game, has an enthusiastic supporters group called the “Tower Bridge Battalion” and has often been one of the best teams in its league. Its home field advantage is considered one of the best around, which is no surprise given Sacramento’s fervor for sports.

Here’s a quick primer on what to know about Republic FC and why the club is interesting heading into the new season.

Republic FC: Consistently good

Being in the second-tier USL — considered a notch below Major League Soccer in terms of soccer popularity, spending and general market share — means a team needs to be good in order to draw the crowds Republic FC has enjoyed in recent seasons. Republic led the 27-team league in attendance last year at 10,627 fans per game, one of only seven teams that averaged more than 7,000.

Republic FC is coming off a disappointing finish. The team entered the playoffs last fall as the top seed in the Western Conference table but lost in the conference final to rival Phoenix Rising FC, the No. 6 seed, which went on to win the league championship.

It was a successful season overall for manager Mark Briggs’ club, but it left him wanting more. The team was upset by Phoenix despite leading by a goal for most of the match, only to have the visitors score in the 80th and 90th minutes. The game-tying goal was an own goal. Sacramento would have hosted the USL Championship final had it held on to win.

“I think we have to take in those experiences and learn from those experiences — understand that we’re right there,” Briggs said Thursday. “But in order to lift silverware, you have to remained focused for 95, 100 minutes. And I feel like we’ve lost our focus in critical moments. So we have to learn from that.”

Sacramento is returning 17 players this year, including Russell Cicerone, their leading goal scorer and league player of the year finalist. Also back are stalwart Rodrigo Lopez, fan favorite Jack Gurr, top-shelf keeper Danny Vitiello, midfielders Luis Filipe Fernandes and Arnold Lopez, and core defenders Lee Desmond and Connor Donovan.

Republic FC is heading into the season with the same expectations as the last two: success will be defined largely by winning a championship, which means it should be a fun team for fans to follow.

The youngest player in sports

Republic FC made national headlines last summer by making 13-year-old phenom Da’Vian Kimbrough the youngest known professional athlete in American sports history.

Kimbrough, a Vacaville native whose parents live in Woodland, has immense promise given his physical gifts and already-impressive resume. Now 14, the scoring forward will have a chance to earn minutes with the A-side team in his first full season as a professional. And he’s already impressed observers of Republic FC’s preseason training by scoring an array of goals against his adult teammates, some of whom are twice his age.

“Da’Vian’s a special talent,” Briggs said. “Da’Vian’s 14 years old, which, as you repeat that, and consistently say that, it’s kind of scary. But we also have to understand that he is 14 and we also have to understand that yes, there will be times where he’ll be on the field. There will be times that he’ll make an impact.

“But we’ve also got to manage him. We’ve got to manage his (work load). We’ve got to manage how many games he plays, we have to manage whenever we put him in front of (reporters). There’s a lot of things that we have to make sure we’ve got a grasp of in order for this kid to reach his potential.”

Republic FC has pushed back against the idea that adding Kimbrough is a gimmick to gain attention. They believe he has the chance to contribute at a high level at some point soon, and to prove playing through a local team’s USL academy can be a successful pipeline for elite youngsters, which is more common in Europe, rather than playing in college.

The future: A new stadium? MLS expansion?

The elephant in the room for Republic FC for the last few years has been the stadium situation and the team’s wanting to build a state-of-the-art venue in the Railyards just north of downtown Sacramento. But there have been snags, such as the MLS bid that fell apart during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Team officials are resolute a new stadium is a priority while some fans have wondered if it’s anything more than a pipe dream. Plans for a new, multi-use 15,000-seat outdoor venue, which could be expanded to 25,000 and host non-soccer events, are in place and have local support from government officials. It’s a matter of finalizing the project, funding it and getting shovels into the ground.

The team’s current venue, Heart Health Park, cost $3 million when it was built in 2014. The stadium is operated by Cal Expo, which prevents Republic FC from having autonomy with the space. It features temporary grand stands and bathrooms with trailers. Most of the food options at games from from food trucks.

A key part of the process has been capital investment. The Sacramento Bee reported last summer that Belinda Stronach has joined Republic FC owner and chairman Kevin Nagle to help make a new stadium happen, along with reviving the bid to make the jump to MLS.

But that bid will be costly. San Diego recently became the newest MLS expansion franchise set to begin play in 2025. The $500 million expansion fee was $175 million more than the previous expansion team, Charlotte. Which is to say: It’s likely MLS would continue to seek a larger expansion fee to move beyond its current 30-team format.

Stronach’s appetite to foot that kind of bill is largely unknown. But team officials have said the plan to build a new stadium is not contingent on making the jump to MLS. This means there’s a chance 2024 is the year the stadium plan finally gets put into motion now that Stronach is on board, regardless of what could come down the road regarding MLS expansion.