Source: Sacramento Republic in ongoing conversations to land NWSL team

A new report dropped on Wednesday claiming that Sacramento, and specifically Sacramento Republic FC, are on their way to landing an NWSL team.

A source with direct knowledge of the situation told Indomitable City Soccer on Wednesday that Sacramento Republic are in conversations with the NWSL about launching an expansion team and those talks are progressing forward, after The Athletic’s report Wednesday that Sacramento will become the latest NWSL market.

The report from Meg Linehan and Paul Tenorio at The Athletic indicated the team could begin play either in 2021 or 2022, but ICS understands the final timeline is not yet set on that front.

The news revives NWSL to Northern California, with Sacramento mooted as a likely destination for a 2020 expansion team as late as last fall, before reports at that time of a deal being imminent did not come together. In the meantime, NWSL has approved another expansion team in California, for the team currently known as Angel City FC tabbed to begin play in Los Angeles in 2023.

Again, while the exact timeline of an NWSL team launch is not set, if Sacramento gets an NWSL team and they launch before 2023, that means there would be top-flight women’s soccer in the market ahead of Sacramento Republic’s entry into MLS in 2023, after the club pushed back their entry date into the men’s top flight earlier this summer.

Needless to say, this is exciting news, albeit not yet over the line. Linehan and Tenorio are well-connected and their reporting is reputable, and our own source indicates the chances of NWSL coming to Sacramento are getting better and better. We’ll keep you posted on updates to this story as we learn them.

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