Republic FC owner: We need you for Wednesday’s Sacramento showcase game with San Jose

On Wednesday, we have a massive opportunity to show why Sacramento belongs on the biggest stages.

You may not know about the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup – the nation’s oldest soccer tournament. But you know what it means for Sacramento to rise to the occasion, to punch above our weight class, and remind people how magnificent our community is. And we need you to be there when Sacramento Republic hosts San Jose of MLS on Wednesday night.

The annual Open Cup tournament is full of magical moments like March Madness – instant classics, Cinderella showdowns, where David triumphs over Goliath. But before we take the field and hear the first whistle, we can write Sacramento into the Open Cup history books with a capacity crowd ready to push the Boys in Old Glory Red into the quarterfinals of the tournament. We know what we’re capable of with the city behind us. There isn’t another environment in the sports world quite like a stadium full of Sacramento fans.

For the first time ever, we have the privilege of hosting this historic tournament as one of the last 16 teams to survive and advance. On Wednesday, the soccer community across the country will tune into our match against San Jose — the pundits, the potential investors, the tastemakers across the soccer community and beyond. This is our moment to once again show them why Sacramento is special and belongs.

I’ll be blunt. We need you. Every single one of you. Every last fan and friend. Pound every drum. Wave every flag. Sing every song. Stomp every bleacher. It is going to take a massive effort to push our club forward – but with this community behind us, we know we’ll reach great heights.

If you were with us at the first match, the 2014 championship match, or any given Saturday game through this season, we need you.

If you love this city, and want to see it rise and grow, we need you.

The atmosphere that our community can create gives our team an unmatched advantage. The future of soccer in our city is truly in your hands – from every youth club player, weekend adult league footballer, to world football watcher.

Be at Wednesday’s game to have your voice heard. If you want to see a new downtown stadium to help invigorate our community, join us for this historic moment. If you want to kick off a summer run toward a championship for Sacramento, cheer and push your club to the next level.

Let’s take destiny into our own hands and write our next chapter. The excitement and atmosphere Wednesday will be part of the story that defines our next decade and helps shape the city. Join us and let’s make history together.

Kevin Nagle is the majority owner and CEO of Sacramento Republic FC.

This story was originally published May 22, 2022 at 5:00 AM.