Sacramento Republic renew local broadcast agreement for 2020

Sacramento Republic announced they have renewed their local broadcast agreement for the 2020 season, teaming up with KQCA My58 and Estrella TV for the third year. The networks will broadcast 25 regular-season games this season.

The English-language announcing booth on My58 will once again be play-by-play announcer Rob McAllister and color commentator Kevin Goldthwaite, the duo’s seventh straight year calling Republic FC games. Armando Botello will return as the Spanish-language play-by-play announcer on Estrella TV, while Milton Moreno joins the booth as the color commentator.

Games will be broadcast in the greater Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto area on Estrella TV through Estrella TV Sacramento on digital channel 58.3, Xfinity 377, Charter 200, Consolidate Communications 16, Rancho Murieta 179 and Volcano Vision 447.

“As the spotlight continues to grow on our club and incredibly passionate fans, we’re excited to grow our relationship with KQCA My58 and Estrella TV,” said Republic FC President and Chief Operating Officer Ben Gumpert in a team statement. “Through our partnership, we will give more access to be part of the Republic FC family as we continue to build a bright future for soccer in the region.”

If you live outside the Sacramento TV area in other parts of the United States, you can watch Republic FC games on ESPN+.

The club also announced they will host public watch parties for select away games this season, featuring broadcasts of the My58 call. More info on those watch parties will come down in the future.

More news for this Friday:

• 538’s USL Championship odds: FiveThirtyEight have a preseason odds table out for the league, and where do Sacramento sit in their projections? They’re projected to finish 4th in the Western Conference with 54 points for the season. You can find the full predictions here.
• Pro/rel suit fails: The New York Times’ Tariq Panja reported that Riccardo Silva’s lawsuit to try and force promotion and relegation in Amercan soccer failed at the Court for Arbitration in Sport. That seemed quite likely, since Silva’s Miami FC recently joined the USL Championship after years of tilting at windmills in rival leagues, a sign his vision to use the force of law would not be successful.
• Look out for FC Tulsa? Sacramento Republic will get to see the retooled FC Tulsa very early this season, like on the opening night of the season, and over at the league’s website, Nicholas Murray argues that Tulsa may finally have their act together again and be a contender in 2020. We’ll see!

Today’s question: Open thread. Do you like the TV deal for 2020? What do you think of SRFC’s season odds? Let’s chat about that or whatever you like in the comments below!