Mayor Johnson, Republic FC President Meet With MLS Execs In New York

NEW YORK CITY (CBS13) - Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson and Republic FC officials are New York City where they met with Major League Soccer executives, hoping to convince them Sacramento is ready for a league expansion team.

MLS asked Sacramento leaders to come to their headquarters in NYC's Midtown at 9 a.m. ET to deliver an update on a presentation Sacramento put together to become an expansion franchise. Specifically, the league wanted an update on the rail yards, which was chosen as the location for an arena, new investors, which the team added earlier this month, and details on the entire financial package.

Johnson and Republic FC president, Warren Smith, reportedly want to find out from the league what the path would be to getting an MLS team.

CBS13 caught up with league commissioner Don Garber as he entered the building for the meeting and asked him how good Sacramento's chances were. He replied, "I'm not talking to you guys today."

After the meeting, Garber said in a statement to CBS13, ""We appreciate Mayor Johnson, Kevin Nagle, Warren Smith and their partners coming to New York to meet with us today. They have put a great deal of time and effort into their plans to bring an MLS team to Sacramento, and it is truly a community effort. We look forward to continuing our discussions with Sacramento and other markets regarding future Major League Soccer expansion."

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