SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Anyone who's been around Sacramento for a while knows that the Railyards in the downtown area has been sitting empty for years.
However, a new expansion project for the Railyards, bringing housing and even a hospital to the area, is supposed to double the size of downtown.
One of the Railyards’ anchor developments is a stadium that Sacramento hoped a Major League Soccer team would play in. But, the next MLS expansion team is officially going to San Diego.
With or without an MLS team, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg says the stadium at the Railyards is still being built.
"We are moving forward with a first-class stadium in the Railyards," said Steinberg. "Hopefully, it will be in partnership with Major League Soccer, but either way, we are going to work in partnership with the Sac Republic team, the community and the fan base to bring years of great soccer to Sacramento."
At last check, the stadium in the Railyards is expected to generate over 2,600 jobs, host up to 15,000 fans and be home to soccer games, concerts and festivals.
Soccer is definitely still something that Sacramento residents ABC10 spoke to would love to see happen.
"As someone who just got done playing college soccer, having a professional team here would be everything," said Elisha Burbridge, a Sacramento resident. "You see how big it is around the world, the World Cup, and how it's really the world's game. And I think having that here in Sacramento would be a huge privilege, and something that the city would do very well with."
"We definitely deserve one," said Ali Saeed, another Sacramento resident. "I mean, we got a basketball team. I mean, that's doing great, and... adding a soccer team or any other team after that, that'd be awesome."
Time will tell if Sacramento’s soccer dreams come true.
