Cal Expo board approves partnership with Sacramento State to relocate Hornet football to Cal Expo.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento State football may soon have a new home — and it won’t be on campus.
The Cal Expo board approved a partnership Thursday with Sacramento State to bring Hornet football to Cal Expo, reshaping a site once dedicated to horse racing. Thoroughbred horse racing at Cal Expo ended after the closure of Golden Gate Fields in the Bay Area left no horses available in Northern California. Harness Racing ended a few months ago. Now, the site could be reshaped to host Hornet football.
Sacramento State President Luke Wood said the project represents a bigger vision for athletics.
“It was never that it was not going to work on campus; it was more that Cal Expo provides us an opportunity for us to go bigger,” Wood said. “It is a much larger vision with what we want to do with athletics.”
Initial plans call for a new field, modular facilities and upgrades to the grandstand, with construction targeted for completion by fall 2026.
For Sacramento State, the move also means more space than the team’s current on-campus stadium, with added benefits of parking and improved accessibility. Cal Expo CEO Tom Martinez said the location offers unique benefits.
“Look, there is not a venue in the region that has this many parking spaces,” Martinez said. “We are a public agency, and they are a public agency — we have a lot in common. What separates us is a short bike ride away from this trail that is connecting us.”
President Wood said the project would be funded through a California State University revenue bond, though the final cost has not been released.
Sacramento State Athletic Director Mark Orr said the new facility would help elevate the program.
“Having a stadium at this site and this magnitude will certainly help our efforts to elevate to an FBS status and that is something we have been committed to — we are confident we are going to get to,” Orr said.
Wood said the university views Cal Expo as a long-term home.
“Our goal is to be here for the next 50 years,” he said.
Officials said stadium renderings are expected soon, along with additional studies and paperwork needed to move the project forward.