According to Nielsen, Sacramento-Stockton-Modesto at No. 20 is the largest media market in the nation without an NFL and/or FBS team. The folks in Sacramento would like to change that.
A group of Sacramento business leaders -- they call themselves SAC-12 -- claimed they raised $35 million in one day for a Sacramento State collective, which feels ludicrously high. While that may be true in only of the loosest of terms, the Sac State athletics department will undoubtedly hit SAC-12 and others up after releasing renderings for the school's planned new football stadium.
The as-yet-unnamed stadium would replace Hornet Stadium, the program's current 21,000 seat, 55-year-old home. It's unclear where the Hornets would play while the new stadium is under construction.
At 25,000, the new venue would be the smallest in the new Pac-12, though Utah State's Maverik Stadium is only slightly larger at 25,513. The smallest permanent stadium in the Mountain West is Nevada's Mackay Stadium at 27,000.
Funding for the stadium would come from student fees, donations, sponsorships, and bonds from the Cal State system, set to be voted on next month.
Sacramento State also announced plans to construct a new basketball arena. The Hornets' own website calls The Nest "one of the oldest facilities among all NCAA Div. I member institutions," and its listed capacity of 1,012 is among the five smallest in Division I.
The Pac-12, by the way, just added Gonzaga. The NBA's Kings said Sacramento State can use their Golden1 Center if the Hornets are chosen for Pac-12 membership.
The conference also said this week it is pausing further expansion efforts until it gets a TV deal locked down. The Pac-12 needs one more full member to meet the NCAA minimum required to remain an FBS conference.
"Who knows if the Pac-12 will choose us, but I know this—it's a mistake if they don't," Barry Broome of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council told CBS 13 in Sacramento.