An arena will be built for minor league soccer teams.
Rancho Cordova, California politicians have decided to get into the arena business. Rancho Cordova, which is about a dozen miles from Sacramento, will be getting an arena-village. The arena will seat around 7,500 people and will be the home of two indoor soccer franchises, a men’s team that will play in the Major Arena Soccer League and a women’s team that will play in the Major Arena Soccer League’s women’s circuit. Both will start when the building opens in 2027. The Major Arena Soccer League has 12 teams while the women’s league has 24 teams.
Rancho Cordova politicians have made sure local taxpayers will be heavily involved in the project through various tax breaks and tax incentives. Rancho Cordova has a population of around 79,000. There is plenty of competition for entertainment dollars in the region with the National Basketball Association’s Sacramento Kings franchise grabbing the lion’s share of entertainment and marketing dollars. Major League Baseball’s Athletics franchise will be in the market through 2027. Minor League Baseball has a presence in town and a new venue is being built with Sacramento taxpayers kicking in funding for the United Soccer League’s local franchise. Meanwhile Rancho Cordova is giving the real estate and sports entertainment group KozPure Development a big handout over a 35-year period. The developer is going to build an arena with a hotel and residential and retail spaces. Rancho Cordova politicians are giving the developers a part of city land which is worth around $6.8 million along with revenue from a local hotel tax and other taxes. But it is all worth it. The city claims the project will produce nearly 23,000 jobs and will bring in billions of dollars. It is the same line other politicians have used but for the most part the project never lives up to its promise.
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