If they are keeping the racehorsing grandstands, that would be lipstick on a horse's ass.
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Athletic Facilities
- Thread starter Phantom Hornet
- Start date
SochorField
Active member
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Kadeezy
Active member
100% agree with you. But you'd have to think certain infrastructure would remain, as there were major event spaces renovated about 10 years ago. There would have to be huge investments in a covered home side that has suites, media space, locker rooms, and more.
I spent the last couple days reaching out to State Fair, Department of General Services, SacBee, and Sac State contacts that I trust - nothing firm but most say the Hornets and a "new" stadium at Cal Expo is most likely outcome right now, wheels are in motion, pivot happened a couple months ago.
Tom Martinez, CEO of Cal Expo, has made statements expressing excitement about the future of Cal Expo, even amidst changes like the end of horse racing and Sacramento Republic FC's planned departure.
In July 2025, during the State Fair, Martinez said, "I think there's opportunities now to do even better... I'm not only optimistic, but I'm excited. I wish I could share more... We have some outstanding developments we're working on that I believe will be great for the next few generations that come to Cal Expo".
Sacramento State football stadium up for discussion on Cal Expo agenda
Cal Expo and Sacramento State to discuss building a new football stadium in a potential exploratory partnership.
www.abc10.com
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Green Laser
Active member
I don't see a potential stadium at Cal Expo as a deal breaker. If we are able to partner with another state agency to help build the stadium and it's mutually beneficial why not take advantage of the opportunity?
We are not talking about a stadium in some remote location, Cal Expo is only three miles north of campus a straight shot up Howe Ave. the American River Bike Trail also connects both locations. I get the convenience of walking across campus to attend games, I'm sure that setting up game day shuttles from campus wouldn't be hard to do.
Consider that Snapdragon Stadium is also three miles from the San Diego State Campus, Allegiant Stadium is three miles from the UNLV campus, Autzen Stadium is two miles from the Oregon campus and the Rose Bowl is twenty miles from the UCLA campus. Both Sac State and Cal Expo are centrally located and easily accessible to all the major population centers of our market. We need to take advantage of that and market the program to the broader Sacramento community.
Twenty five percent of the Cal Expo site is tied up with the horse race track, horse barns etc. For the first time since 1860 the State Fair was without horse racing this year. Golden Gate Fields was the last full time track in Northern California and that closed last year. The horses based there went to the few remaining tracks in Southern California leaving the County Fairs and State Fair without horses. There was a year round harness racing operation based at the track but Cal Expo canceled it, apparently not enough income to justify keeping the facility open. So horse racing will never return and the soon to be weed covered track and 22,000 seat grandstand are currently a liability to Cal Expo.
I don't see how a potential new stadium at Cal Expo could possibly be a negative for Sac State. Our teams would still use the existing athletic facilities at Sac State for conditioning and practice and have a state of the art stadium ready for game day.
We are not talking about a stadium in some remote location, Cal Expo is only three miles north of campus a straight shot up Howe Ave. the American River Bike Trail also connects both locations. I get the convenience of walking across campus to attend games, I'm sure that setting up game day shuttles from campus wouldn't be hard to do.
Consider that Snapdragon Stadium is also three miles from the San Diego State Campus, Allegiant Stadium is three miles from the UNLV campus, Autzen Stadium is two miles from the Oregon campus and the Rose Bowl is twenty miles from the UCLA campus. Both Sac State and Cal Expo are centrally located and easily accessible to all the major population centers of our market. We need to take advantage of that and market the program to the broader Sacramento community.
Twenty five percent of the Cal Expo site is tied up with the horse race track, horse barns etc. For the first time since 1860 the State Fair was without horse racing this year. Golden Gate Fields was the last full time track in Northern California and that closed last year. The horses based there went to the few remaining tracks in Southern California leaving the County Fairs and State Fair without horses. There was a year round harness racing operation based at the track but Cal Expo canceled it, apparently not enough income to justify keeping the facility open. So horse racing will never return and the soon to be weed covered track and 22,000 seat grandstand are currently a liability to Cal Expo.
I don't see how a potential new stadium at Cal Expo could possibly be a negative for Sac State. Our teams would still use the existing athletic facilities at Sac State for conditioning and practice and have a state of the art stadium ready for game day.
HornetFootballFan
Active member
YES AGREE. If Cal Expo has budget $$ to contribute like extra $100M and give SAC ST the property. We would have full control, ticket $, concessions $, advertising $, Concert Revenues that could be in conjunction with lease events to Cal Expo during offseason.
Build a pedestrian bridge at AR Walkway / Carlson Drive park. Walking distance to Stadium from campus. 1.5Mi.
SochorField
Active member
Would Cal Expo be a temporary stadium situation for Sac State, while an on-campus stadium is built? The land would have to be leased by CSUS, correct? How long would Sac State want to be in lease situation?
Is this the plan? What is the plan/goal?
Does 40,000 seat stadium sound a bit ambitious? There is nothing wrong with packing a 25,000 venue. I mean, Cal and Stanford are struggling to draw 35,000 (unless they are ranked every 10 years)....San Jose State doesn't get close to that. California is tough for college athletics these days.
Is this the plan? What is the plan/goal?
Does 40,000 seat stadium sound a bit ambitious? There is nothing wrong with packing a 25,000 venue. I mean, Cal and Stanford are struggling to draw 35,000 (unless they are ranked every 10 years)....San Jose State doesn't get close to that. California is tough for college athletics these days.
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