Sacramento Soccer Day is Here: Will Elk Grove and Sacramento Face Off Over an MLS Team?

Thousands are expected to fill Raley Stadium in West Sacramento Thursday night to watch an exhibition soccer game between an English Premier League team and a Mexican league team. 

Sacramento Bee columnist Marcos Breton called it "a coming-out party for soccer in Sacramento," and Sacramento's new United Soccer League professional soccer team will also be showcased during the event.

Breton extols the virtues of Sacramento as a future host city for a Major League Soccer team, and said a former River Cats executive is hoping to draw one to the City of Trees.

"In many ways, MLS is the perfect sports league for Sacramento," Breton writes. "MLS could complement the Kings and River Cats without detracting from either because MLS economies of scale work for a smaller market."

But wait–what about Elk Grove?

For at least a year, Elk Grove leaders have been seriously discussing the possibility of attracting a Major League Soccer team; a city delegation visited a pro soccer stadium in Texas and Elk Grove Mayor Gary Davis has met with the league's chairman. 

Breton writes that Sacramento's "not-so-secret weapon" for attracting a pro team over Elk Grove is Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, fresh off the victory of keeping the Sacramento Kings.

But don't count Elk Grove out just yet, Davis says.

"I am optimistic that our two efforts will combine at some point in the near future," Davis said in an email to Patch. "Sacramento's third-division USL team could be a great feeder to an Elk Grove-based MLS team. Elk Grove is much better positioned to attract a team, but we do need to work together."

He called Elk Grove a "better location" for a pro team, pointing to its closer proximity to a central valley fanbase and "the East Bay once the connector is built."

Meanwhile, the city is looking for land in Elk Grove where a soccer stadium could be built.

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What do you think? Which city would be better-suited to host a Major League Soccer team? Tell us in the comments section below.

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