For Native American tribe Wilton Rancheria, what seemed to be a slightly outrageous idea came together reasonably quickly in the end. In January 2024, Chris Franklin, chief operating officer of the Sacramento-area tribe, raised a concept to his cousin, Jesus Tarango, the tribe’s chairman.
The premise? Buy a soccer team.
“It just hit on everything,” Tarango told GOAL. “It’s outside the box. Nobody’s ever done it and even with that, Wilton wants to be known as the tribe that does a lot of firsts.”
And so it began. Tarango, Franklin and Wilton Rancheria entered discussions with Sacramento Republic FC majority owner Kevin Nagle. Within a year they had an official agreement, and the tribe became the first native American nation in sports history to obtain majority ownership of a men’s professional sports franchise.
But what seems on the surface to be a business venture actually goes much deeper. Wilton Rancheria’s people have lived in the area for thousands of years – in their words “time immemorial.” The stadium in which USL Championship club Sacramento Republic play sits on soil that once belonged to the tribe’s ancestors.
This hefty investment – the new stadium they have agreed to build will cost more than $200 million alone – reaches beyond the usual confines of sporting success. Instead, it’s a reclamation project, a way of unifying a native people and the settlers that have, for generations, made their land home.
“We’re building this stadium, bringing a community together to come and to celebrate. That’s what that place served for thousands of years,” Tarango said.
This whole thing was the perfect marriage of opportunity and heritage. Nagle was looking for an investor for the Republic, who have consistently been one of USL’s most successful franchises.
They were crowned USL Champions in their debut season, and have made the playoffs in 10 of their 11 seasons. In 2022, they became the first USL team in 15 years to make it to the final of the U.S. Open Cup. MLS awarded Sacramento a franchise in 2019 in a deal that would’ve seen Republic FC move up to the top-tier league, but the deal fell apart in 2021 when the lead investor backed out.
Still, they remain a USL power. And since 2019, the now managing partner had promised a brand new stadium downtown. After delays brought about by first the COVID-19 pandemic, and then ownership changes, an injection of cash was needed.
Enter Tarango, Franklin, and Wilton Rancheria. There was some groundwork already in place. Franklin had been attending Republic games for years. He knew the scene, understood the workings of USL – and latched onto the appeal of American soccer.
“The fans in Sacramento, we’re very loyal, very fierce and very supportive,” Franklin said. “I’ve watched this iteration for the last 10 years, and now being able to be a part of it is absolutely incredible.”
Tarango, meanwhile, had the backing of his voters, and saw an opportunity to do something truly unique.
“It made sense for us to do this, because nobody’s done it before, and we have an obligation to make sure that we not only take care of my people, but the bigger community in Sacramento,” Tarango added.
Discussions started with Nagle early last year, and were wrapped up reasonably quickly. The chemistry was immediate and effective, Franklin said. And the team’s consistency on the pitch simply sweetened the deal.
“If you look at the track record of this team, going back 10 years, it was kind of an easy decision for us to make in this investment,” Franklin said.
Within 12 months, the agreement was in place, complete with league approval, fan support, and an assurance that Railyards Stadium – a 12,000-seat soccer specific venue – would open downtown before the 2027 season.
Wilton Rancheria have kept some of the familiar faces in place. Nagle has stayed on as a Managing Partner. The former majority owner had been in the fold since 2017, and his input is still vital.
“Partnering with Wilton Rancheria was quite frankly a dream come true,” Nagle told GOAL via email. “What it does for the region, the message it sends, is perfect. Candidly, in a short time, I’ve come to look at them less as partners and more like new members of my family.”
Also remaining in the picture was club president Todd Dunivant. The former LA Galaxy defender, who has five MLS Cups to his name, was equally important as Wilton looked at the long-term success of the franchise.
“I’m very honored that they chose us, that they saw what they see in the club, and in me and Kevin Nagle,” Dunivant said. “It’s a lot of responsibility that I thrive on, and I love that.”
There are 109 recognized tribes in California. Wilton Rancheria, in their current form, are relatively new. Despite their people being scientifically traced back more than 1,200 years, according to Tarango, government acknowledgment was elusive. They were siphoned out for half a century, dissolved on a national level in 1958, and only re-recognized by the federal government in 2009.
Since then, they have embedded themselves in the Sacramento community. It started with the Sky River Casino, less than 20 miles from where the new stadium is set to be built. But Tarango, elected as tribal chairman in 2020, always wanted to think bigger.
“Our tribal economic engines are smoke shops, casinos and gas stations,” Tarango said. “But there’s really not been that many tribes that have thought outside the box as to really utilizing the sovereignty that we have, the abilities that we have, the benefits that we have.”
That benefit for Tarango is a mixture of people and land. The history of native Americans in Northern California is complex and often difficult to reckon with. The first governor of California paid out $1.2 million in bounties on Native Americans. According to historian Benjamin Madley, nearly 100,000 Natives in California died during the first two years of the Gold Rush alone; by 1873, only 30,000 Indigenous people remained.
And land recognition has been an uphill battle, to say the least. Tribes in the area have struggled as to how they can reconcile past discrimination and aggression with the reality of a multicultural society. It’s especially relevant in Sacramento itself, which was historically a place of unification.
“The rivers were our freeways,” Tarango said. “They naturally brought people from the North, from the South, from the East to this area that we came to gather. People have been meeting there for trade, for celebration. That’s the powerful part.”
Wilton Rancheria’s approach, first with a casino and now with soccer club ownership, has been one of bringing people together.
“We have to make sure that we’re very forward in saying that ‘This is our community now.’ So if you’re red, white, black, yellow, boy, girl, all those different things… you’re part of our people. You’re part of this village,” Tarango said.
For the chairman’s people, this opens up more opportunities. There has been tribal investment in sports before. The WNBA’s Connecticut Sun were bought by the Mohegan Tribe in 2003. The Syucan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation has invested in San Diego FC. And a Native American group recently purchased a $154 million stake in the Premier League’s Ipswich Town.
Having a takeover as majority owner, though, is new. And Tarango believes that it could send a powerful message to the people who elected him.
“You have an unlocked demographic of people who don’t even know the game of soccer,” he said. “And so to me, there’s so much unlocked potential in the future of those demographics. And that’s what I get excited about, to see what future players will come, because can the U.S. really say that we have given the youth the best opportunity in academies and exposed them to this game?”
Beyond the financials, the goal, immediately, is to win, Franklin insisted. This may be a landmark moment that speaks to more than sports, but on-field success is paramount. New faces have already been added, while key veterans Rodrigo Lopez and Sebastian Herrera signed new contracts. The club enjoys one of the highest average attendance levels in the league. The fans will always want a competitive team, Franklin said.
Still, there are broader opportunities at stake. New people are going to be introduced to the sport, with perhaps individuals of their race, from their background, getting involved, Tarango hopes.
“This is why you have to take risks. We’re taking a risk for hoping that it’s going to unlock something so much bigger, 10-15, years down the road,” Tarango said.
Long term, that risk might lead to something so much more than any contract extension, championship or arena. Land has been reclaimed, avenues have been opened. With a new stadium, a new ownership, and new eyes on the game, the Republic have achieved something truly special: they have brought people together.
“You’re playing for more than just that badge,” Tarango concluded. “You’re playing for those people, and our vision of saying, ‘This is our home, this is our territory. We want to take care of you.’ “