By Evan Ream

I want to preface this by saying that the reason I’m putting this up on Indomitable City Soccer and not for the Davis Enterprise is that I don’t feel as if the style, length, or tone of this story really fits the newspaper I work for.

I’m writing today about an issue that you may or may not be aware of: MLS territorial rights.

Territorial rights are standard for a multitude of professional sports teams and leagues. Bay Area sports fans are no doubt aware of the Oakland Athletics’ desire to relocate to San Jose, along with the San Francisco Giants’ continued legal right to block that move on the grounds of their South Bay territorial rights.

Territorial rights most notably came to the forefront in MLS during the prolonged saga of MLS trying to add a second team to the New York area.

While the original New York Metrostars owned the exclusive MLS territory rights to the New York market, the New York Times’ Jack Bell reported in 2012 that part of the Metrostars’ sale to Red Bull included the forfeiting of those exclusive territory rights, believed to be a 75-mile exclusive radius according to the article.

This is an issue that also affects the status of Sacramento Republic FC’s bid to join MLS.

Last night, the Galaxy Blues - a Sacramento-area based youth club that produced Tommy Thompson - released a statement communicating that they had ended an affiliation with the LA Galaxy after the San Jose Earthquakes objected to a relationship that the two clubs had with each other, citing a 100-mile radius of territory rights for youth development players.

For those wondering, LA Galaxy Confidential’s Sean Steffen is working on a piece for this from the Galaxy’s perspective. While I encourage those interested to check out his story when it’s up, this ICS piece is simply discussing the already-controversial relationship between the Republic and the Earthquakes.

This radius for youth development players should not be confused with territorial rights, as each MLS club has a different standard for where their club is allowed to draw from to determine homegrown signings.

Some clubs, such as Real Salt Lake, are allowed to draw from the entire state of Arizona, though it’s unlikely that RSL has the power to stop a prospective MLS expansion side attempting an expansion bid in Arizona.

The issue is the 75-mile radius that according to a May 2013 Nick Firchau MLS article, five MLS clubs adhered to: the LA Galaxy, Chivas USA, D.C. United, the Chicago Fire, and the San Jose Earthquakes.

Tim Froh’s August 2014 Soccer Wire article on the original dispute between the Galaxy, Galaxy Blues, and San Jose Earthquakes appears to corroborate this statement as MLS told Froh, “Five MLS teams stick to the league’s 75-mile radius rule to develop Homegrown players for their academies, including the LA Galaxy.”

While it’s possible that San Jose could have dropped off that list of five in the time between Firchau’s and Froh’s articles appeared, it seems unlikely as each of the other MLS teams has clear and defined stipulations for their youth academies as shown in this Eugene Rupinski article for Brotherly Game.

Editor’s Note: Rupinski and The Brotherly Game recently posted an updated version of the original article.

Notable from that story is the specific graph that shows San Jose’s 75-mile radius - an area that doesn’t include Sacramento.

If San Jose’s territorial area for youth players has in fact expanded to a 100-mile radius, or has always been a 100-mile radius rather than the 75 mile radius that MLS reported, it would have huge repercussions for Sacramento-area youth soccer, namely that the Earthquakes would be able to sign Sacramento Republic FC youth academy players as homegrown players, provided they leave the Republic program and spend a year in an Earthquakes-affiliated academy first.

Obviously the player in question in the Republic academy would have to agree to the contract, and may choose to sign with the Republic instead, but San Jose’s possible new-found Sacramento territory could have an impact for a possible future expansion team in California’s capital, which brings us back to the MLS territory rights.

Earlier this summer, Republic FC president Warren Smith confirmed to me that the San Jose Earthquakes currently own the MLS territory rights to the Sacramento market, something that he said has been public information since at least last September’s MLS visit to Sacramento.

A club spokesperson referred all marketing or territory questions to Major League Soccer - we don’t currently know how long San Jose owns the Sacramento rights, or if they ever expire.

MLS Executive Vice President of Communications Dan Courtemanche responded to my questions on the matter with a similar statement when I asked him last month if San Jose’s MLS territory rights to the Sacramento area included an expiration date.

After asking him to confirm if that expiration date to said territory rights did, in fact, exist, Courtemanche said: “Unfortunately the individuals who manage that area of business are out of the office on vacation. Without consulting them, I am unable to provide additional insight.”

Seemingly, the situation currently remains a battle for the Sacramento area with an existing USL club fighting for MLS rights - and possibly players - against its MLS affiliate.

None of this came as a surprise to the Republic officials with whom I spoke, the only surprise seems to have come that it didn’t happen earlier, at least according to Froh’s August 2014 article.

“It’s a feather in the Galaxy’s cap that they’ve been able to come into territories that really I would have thought would have come under the San Jose territory,” then-Republic Technical Director Graham Smith told Froh after the Galaxy attempted to form a partnership with the Placer County-based Galaxy Blues.

Quite simply, it appears as if San Jose is finally flexing its muscles in the battle for Northern California, which gives the Republic yet another obstacle for its MLS bid despite meeting every bit of criteria that MLS Commissioner Don Garber has publicly put forward.

Evan Ream covers Sacramento Republic FC for the Davis Enterprise. He is also working with Byline Press on a non-fiction book about the Republic. Contact him at evanream3@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanReam

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