Sacramento Will Have A Team In The Top Women's Soccer League In 2022

The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) announced that Sacramento will soon have a professional women's soccer team in the top league in the world in the next year.

The NWSL's commissioner Lisa Baird told reporters during her state-of-the-league address on Tuesday, January 12, that Sacramento will field a team in 2022.

The Sacramento Bee reports that the deal was finalized back in August but negotiations were still ongoing.

The upcoming Sacramento team will be joining the league along with the Los Angeles' NWSL expansion franchise Angel City. The group is led by high-profile women including Natalie Portman, Serena Williams, Eva Longoria, Jennifer Garner, and more.

In July, Major League Soccer announced Sac Republic FC would have their entry into the MLS pushed back due to COVID-19. Sacramento will join the league in 2023.

The delay is also due to uncertainty about designing a stadium for post-COVID-19 life, according to the Bee. Construction on the $300 million stadium in downtown Sacramento was scheduled to start this fall but was delayed.

Because of this, it's unclear where the Sacramento NWSL team will play in 2022. The Bee lists possible venues as Papa Murphy's Park at the Cal Expo which holds about 11,500 fans, and the new Railyards stadium in downtown Sacramento which holds about 21,000.

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