Sacramento’s MLS hopes are not dead as a powerful woman emerges as a potential owner | Opinion

Ever since supermarket magnate Ron Burkle backed out of a deal in 2021 that would have made him the majority owner of a Sacramento Major League Soccer franchise, city leaders have been searching for a wealthy person who could buy and run a team that would play its home games in a state-of-the-art stadium in the downtown railyards.

A long two years have passed since then, as Sacramento’s downtown lost a majority of its state workforce, who now largely work from home. Some signature downtown businesses couldn’t survive the new normal of the COVID era and city leaders have been swamped dealing with a homeless crisis while trying to re-start the economic momentum enjoyed before the pandemic.

Meanwhile, cities such as San Diego jumped ahead of Sacramento and joined MLS even as local leaders quietly worked to fill the void left by Burkle. It’s an important effort because Sacramento is trying to rally after several difficult years. Bringing investment to the state capital and creating more amenities for the region are critical pieces to our community recovery.

Enter Belinda Stronach, a Canadian investor. She has been in talks with city leaders for more than a year and could become a lead player in a revived Sacramento bid to join MLS.

Stronach made news last week when her company announced it would be closing Golden Gate Fields, a venerable Bay Area horse racing track that is part of an extensive investment portfolio held by the Stronach Group.

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Stronach’s company also owns well-known horse racing venues such as Santa Anita Park in Southern California and Pimlico in Baltimore. She is a former member of the House of Commons of Canada and was also formerly CEO of Magna International, an auto parts manufacturing company founded by her father, Frank Stronach.

Kevin Gilmore, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Stronach Group, has been in Sacramento this week for face-to-face talks with city officials. Along with Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Gilmore attended a Wednesday night game of Sacramento Republic FC – the lower division soccer franchise that city officials hope will one day be an MLS franchise.

Last week, Stronach was in Washington, D.C., as MLS hosted its annual All-Star game.

Even though she was invited to attend MLS activities last week by MLS owners, Stronach has not officially begun negotiating with the league.

“We were made aware of this opportunity some time ago and have been exploring this and have had good discussions with the various stakeholders, including city officials, Sacramento,” Gilmore said. “This is the type of investment that is of interest to us as we look to add to our existing sports and entertainment portfolio. However, the dynamics of exploring such an opportunity require that we refrain from discussing this broadly in the media.”

Stronach and her group have a reason to avoid saying too much now about their potential MLS bid.

MLS owners would have to vote to expand its league beyond 30 teams to make room for Sacramento. The league currently has 29 teams and a recently approved San Diego franchise will begin MLS play in 2025.

Sacramento had been ahead of San Diego, and MLS officials, led by MLS Commissioner Don Garber, traveled to Sacramento in September of 2019 to celebrate Sacramento’s admittance to the league. California Gov. Gavin Newsom was also in attendance that day.

But Burkle’s ultimate rejection of Sacramento’s MLS deal less than 18 months later caused local hopes to languish. So did plans for a new, state-of-the-art soccer stadium that had been ready for construction in Sacramento’s downtown railyards.

The emergence of Stronach could turn a dismal picture around.

“We have never given up. We have never stopped fighting for what our city deserves,” Steinberg said on Tuesday. “I am grateful to Belinda Stronach, Kevin Gilmore and the Stronach group for their strong interest to bring MLS to our great city.”

MLS officials declined to comment on Stronach’s interest because her group is not yet in negotiations with the league. But her presence in Washington, D.C., last week and Gilmore’s visit to Sacramento this week are signs that this is the most serious effort to bring an MLS team to Sacramento since Burkle walked away.

Steinberg worked with Fabian Nunez, the former Speaker of the Assembly, who connected Stronach with city officials and Kevin Nagle, the owner of Sacramento Republic FC.

“I have said from the beginning that Sacramento is a major league city,” Nagle said.

If Stronach began negotiating with MLS, a key date would be the league’s annual meetings of owners in December. Whether the Sacramento group could be considered that quickly is unknown at present.

From the city’s perspective, the land where a new stadium would be built is already entitled and ready for construction. But getting into MLS is more competitive than ever.

The new franchise in San Diego will be owned by Egyptian billionaire Mohamed Mansour. His partners are the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation. They are thought to be the first Native American tribe to be co-owners of a U.S. professional soccer team. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the franchise fee for the new San Diego team ”was in the $500 million territory.”

If Stronach were successful in bringing an MLS team to Sacramento, she would join Carolyn Kindle and Chrissy Taylor, who head the ownership group of St. Louis City FC, as the only women who are majority owners of teams in the league.

At this point, there are no guarantees but Sacramento would make a great MLS city. Having a stadium in the railyards would generate activity and interest in the downtown.

“While I am very hopeful,” Steinberg said, “There is still a long way to go.”