City Editor Jordan here — Every year, as I prep for my annual pilgrimage to the Bay Area to attend one game for my beloved San Francisco 49ers, I think to myself: why doesn’t Sacramento have a professional football team?
Sure, there have been attempts before. We’ve told you about both the Sacramento Surge and the Sacramento Mountain Lions , and the Arena Football League even operated in the City of Trees ~30 years ago. Most recently, a team has been announced as part of Major League Football — though their inaugural season has been delayed from this fall to June 2024 — but why doesn’t the city have an NFL team?
Today, I’m making the case for why Sacramento deserves an NFL team.
🏈 Market size
Market size is a term used to describe the number of TV viewers in a specific region. Sacramento ranks as the 20th largest media market in the country — coming in ahead of 12 of the NFL’s 32 already-established markets.
🏈 Fan base
Sacramento fans are some of the most loyal fans you’ll find anywhere in the country. What other city not only has 20,000+ people show up for its soccer team’s first ever game, but also successfully campaigns to keep its NBA team in town through seven years of threats to leave?
🏈 Stadium
Remember that fancy pants new stadium being built at The Railyards for Republic FC? Turns out soccer pitches are larger than standard football fields , which would allow for (fairly) easy conversion between the two. We don’t want to tell anyone how to manage their money — but perhaps the city could recoup a bit more revenue by hosting football games at the site along with soccer matches.