On Monday, USL Championship released the 2024 regular season schedule. The full schedule can be found at SacRepublicFC.com/schedule. With some time until March 9 – Republic FC’s campaign kickoff, take a deeper look at the 2024 season slate, by the numbers.
2 New Foes, 2 Come West
The 2024 schedule features two contests against teams Sacramento has never faced before, as well as new clubs in the Western Conference. In May, Mark Briggs’ Men will visit expansion side Rhode Island FC in its inaugural season. In July, North Carolina FC returns to USL Championship play and heads west during the California State Fair for the first contest between the two clubs all-time.
Alongside the two league newcomers, Memphis 901 FC and FC Tulsa join the Western Conference, to split the league with 12 teams in each conference. Sacramento will play 901 FC on March 30 (home) and October 12 (away), and FC Tulsa on April 13 (home) and June 22 (away).
4 Derbies on the Docket
Sacramento will face off with its Northern California neighbors four times throughout the season. In June, the club will line up opposite Monterey Bay FC and Oakland Roots SC in back-to-back matches, visiting Seaside on June 6 and hosting Oakland on June 15. Four weeks later , Sacramento heads to Hayward to face Roots in the East Bay on July 20. Monterey Bay visits Heart Health Park midweek on October 9 to close out the season slate with the Seaside club. All-time, Sacramento has only been defeated three times in 15 games against their regional rivals.
17 Home, 17 Away
A balanced schedule for the second consecutive year means that Republic FC will line up on home turf 17 times this coming season. In the past two campaigns, Sacramento has recorded 24 victories at Heart Health Park – tied for the most in the league in that span with Tampa Bay Rowdies.
34 Games, 34 Weeks
Each team in the league will play 34 regular season contests. New for 2024, however, is that the season will be played across 34 weeks instead of 32, allowing clubs to be more competitive in additional competitions like the U.S. Open Cup and better serve fans and players alike. As a result, Saturday night becomes the stage for nearly every USL Championship contest throughout the season.
44,908 Miles
Republic FC’s 17 away games will see the club travel 44,908 miles. The season’s longest road trips will come in March and May to face Miami FC in South Florida and league newcomer Rhode Island FC – each over 5,000-mile round-trip journeys. The club will face off against Detroit City FC and Charleston Battery on opposition turf as well with both trips clocking in at well over 4,000 miles round-trip. Only 100 miles separate Sacramento from Pioneer stadium in Hayward, CA, where the club faces Oakland Roots SC – the shortest trip of the year.
