On April 26, 2014, Sacramento Republic FC played its first-ever game at Hughes Stadium in the Land Park neighborhood.
A decade later, the “Indomitable Club” has become a powerhouse in the USL Championship league, and is currently undefeated in the 2024 season.
Sacramento has also taken to the team, frequently selling out games and even forming dedicated fan clubs. One such club — called the Tower Bridge Battalion — sits together at each match and has over 15 dedicated chants they try to sing during all 90 minutes of gameplay.
“Our fans are incredible, we're so blessed with that and we know it's a big privilege,” said Todd Dunivant, president and general manager of Sacramento Republic FC. “We're so excited to play in front of them every single week, our players look forward to it.”
Dunivant joined CapRadio’s Vicki Gonzalez on Insight to discuss the club’s success on and off the field along with its MLS ambitions.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview highlights
Why do you think Sac Republic FC has such a strong loyal committed fan base?
I think the club, since its inception, has done a great job of connecting back with the community, back with Sacramento. It is a core pillar of who we are, we call it “unified community.” It’s really just [about] looking out for your neighbors.
We were honored last year as the corporate champion [of the year by the Sacramento Business Journal] and it was really special for us as a club to receive that recognition. It is a lot of hard work that goes into that, but we get it tenfold back from the community with that fan support and with that game crowd that we have every week.
You have kicked off your 11th season. What have been some of your most memorable moments being part of Sac Republic FC now for seven years?
There's been a lot of them, you know, it's hard to beat. We got the Open Cup coming up here, and that run that we made and in 2022 was just so special. Beating three MLS teams in a row, doing something that hasn't been done in a couple of decades, really was awesome. I mean it put Sacramento back firmly on the map, I think in the soccer world and [beyond, it] transcended sports in a way. We made international news at that point because this is something you don't see too often — not only in America but across the world. And that underdog story I think fits Sacramento really well and we embraced it fully.
We've also had some heartbreaks as well. When an MLS bid fell through in 2021, how did that make you feel? How do you reflect on that time?
Yeah, we dug deep. It was definitely a difficult period, and we had to look at ourselves and say hey, how are we going to react? And fortunately we live in the indomitable city, we're in the indomitable club, and that's all about resilience. That's about coming back being stronger from adversity and that was our biggest test yet.
And the next year was that Open Cup run, and the fans showed up. The fans didn't leave us, didn't desert us, it was the opposite, they came in bigger numbers. We had record attendance following that and it just shows what Sacramento is all about.
Do you have any update on the proposed Railyards stadium and maybe another bid down the pipeline sometime soon?
Well, we've never stopped working on it. I mean, this is something we do constantly. We aren't talking a lot about it for obvious reasons but it's something we're going to continue to work on. We want to build our new stadium downtown and it's something that we're working on and we feel very confident we're going to get over the line.
Earlier this year, Mayor Darrell Steinberg said he believes that before the end of 2024 we may have a major investor to build the stadium. I know you can't reveal too many details, but would you agree with the mayor?
We work with the mayor, you know, almost daily on this project and trying to get this done. So it'll be a great thing for the city, obviously a great thing for the club and a great thing for the region.
This is something that has been talked about for a long time. And I think you know when you talk about downtown having a brand new stadium in the Railyards [neighborhood] really will accelerate the growth there. Not only just the stadium but you know, [it will] almost be a community asset where you're talking about a housing and entertainment district. More than just, you know, 20 games a year, you're talking about sort of 24/7 activity and life, and a lot of economic development that's going to come from it.
It is competitive when it comes to these bids. Why do you think Sacramento has been overlooked despite such a strong fan base and also a successful club?
So much of it is out of our control, and I think ultimately when Major League Soccer decides to expand again, Sacramento will no doubt be at the top of the list — and it should be.
We aren't going to wait for that. That's why we want to build our stadium now and start moving forward because the proof of concept is already there and I think once we have it downtown and we see the the excitement and the passion that it's going to bring I think there's going to be a lot of people knocking on our door, not the other way around.
And you're already undefeated this season?
It’s been a great start to the year. We've got a really strong team. The team that we talked about, that core from 2020 to is now, this is sort of the third year of that group and we're seeing the dividends of it. Mark Briggs, our coach, has done a fantastic job. We have a great coaching staff and it's been a good start to the season where A Game's end actually nine games in and we feel really good about where we're at.
(Editor’s note: After this story aired on Monday, the Republic defeated Monterey Bay FC 2-0 and advanced to the next round of the U.S. Open Cup against the San Jose Earthquakes. The team remains undefeated this season. Their next game is scheduled for May 11 against Rhode Island FC.)
