by ANTHONY J. MERCED

Is Major League Soccer about to land in Northern California?

Sacramento City Council has approved a proposal for a development project that includes a new soccer stadium in the downtown rail-yard area. This signifies a major development in the city’s push for an MLS franchise — an ambition USL side Sacramento Republic have pursued for some time.

Currently the Sacramento Republic are the only team in town, playing in the USL, and garnering some of the largest crowds in lower division soccer. On top of that, the team has been very successful on the field, winning the USL Championship in 2014 and the USL regular season Western Conference this past season. The team plays their home games at Bonney Field; a nearly 11,500 seat stadium on the grounds of Cal Expo. The Republic averaged 11,322 fans per game.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber made a trip to Sacramento this past April where he announced plans for league expansion up to 28 teams. The next round of expansion is set to start in 2020 and could include the Republic, who have made their intentions known for MLS acceptance.

“We hope and really we expect that Sacramento will be one of the next four (teams),” said Garber to a crowd in Sacramento during his visit. “I’m very, very impressed by everything you guys have done.”