Sacramento MLS team to positively affect Sac State, Republic FC announcer says

Vince Castellana

Sacramento Republic FC President and Chief Operating Officer, Ben Gumpert, speaks in front of a crowd during the Indomitable Block Party Mon. Oct. 21. Sacramento Republic FC held the party to celebrate joining Major League Soccer.

Vince Castellana
October 23, 2019

Major League Soccer announced Monday that the Sacramento Republic FC will be the 29th team to join their league, effective 2022.

Sacramento celebrated the announcement Monday night with the Indomitable Block Party held at Capitol Mall and 5th Street.

Sac Republic FC play-by-play announcer Rob McAllister believes that what MLS is bringing to Sacramento will have a positive effect on Sacramento State’s campus.

“I think what’s great about MLS and the new stadium and everything that it brings, and it brings more people to think about Sacramento,” said McAllister. “It also means that more people are likely to apply to schools in Sacramento, like Sacramento State.”

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Ben Gumpert, Sac Republic FC president and COO, said the Republic will make a concerted effort to both help and utilize Sac State students, especially those in the Athletic Department.

Confeti falling during the Sacramento Republic FC Block Party Mon. Oct 21. The club held the party to celebrate joining Major League Soccer

“We work with our academy at Sac State,” Gumpert said. “There are job opportunities that we work with students from Sac State. There are a hundred different things that we do with Sac State faculty, staff and students and their facilities, and to have an institution like that in Sacramento is something that we should cherish. We’re going to partner and make everyone better.”

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Sac Republic FC’s influence on the Sac State men’s soccer can be seen with players like freshman defender Genaro Alfaro, who played the previous four years with the Republic’s Academy Team. Alfaro is a perennial starter for the Hornets.

According to MLS, the Republic FC will construct a $300 million 20,100-seat stadium in Sacramento’s Railyards District. The area around the new stadium will also be filled with restaurants, stores, a Kaiser Permanente center, houses and office buildings, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Comedian and Sacramento sports fan Lance Woods made a bold prediction about the new team at the Block Party.

“It’s going to bring another dominant franchise to the city of Sacramento,” Woods said. “So in a couple of years, we are going to have two professional sports championships in the city of Sacramento.”