3 teams in a metropolitan statistical area of nearly 20 million people hardly constitutes saturation
Especially with a large immigrant population where soccer is their primary sport.

On the flip side look at LA, where two teams there has definitely NOT worked

Los Angeles like OKC is spread out and it takes time for fanchises to build a base. Look how long it took the NHL's Los Angeles Kings to finally make their imprint...

The population base for soccer in LA is there probably five times over.

Well, we can also blame the lack of success of Chivas USA on their management and attitude.

Why is there such bad blood between Funk Jr. and Lund?

hopefully the stadium will be built close to downtown .. maybe somewhere close to the river

Right now Fair Park has the parking and utilities (in place ) necessary to lower the costs of building a stadium. The site of the old Grand Stands would be ideal.

Fair Park encompasses 400 acres; Knoxville's World Fair was on a track of land less than 70 acres. We have plenty of room for growth and the skyline is within view.

Why is there such bad blood between Funk Jr. and Lund?

I'm not sure? There is a saying that centers around 'the worst enemy is one who was once your friend.'

NASL has approved the expansion sides for both OKC and Jacksonville:

NASL Board of Governors Unanimously Approves Expansion To Jacksonville And Oklahoma City | North American Soccer League (http://www.nasl.com/index.php?id=3&newsid=5055)

On a side note to this - does anyone else hate the Major League Soccer label given to our highest level league? I would prefer North American Premiere League or NASL to be what out first tier was called. USL, etc is great for the lower division leagues but I think MLS tried a bit too hard to appeal to the "traditional" American sports fan.

And don't start me on relegation, the playoff format, or some of the NFL'esque team names. Call me a purist, but that is my $.02. But I enjoy going to an occasional FC Dallas (see how much better than 'Dallas Burn' that is) match and am glad the league has survived some lean times and seems to be growing and stable.

CaptDave, you purist.

Actually those names and the structure probably hurts MLS more than it helps. By divorcing itself everything unique about soccer (names, table, pro/rel) to appeal to the masses invites comparison to the Big 4. The MLS should stand apart. This is one reason I like Oklahoma City FC -- it's not the most creative name, but it's better than the alternative.

Houston tried to have a cool purist sounding name, Houston 1836 (still have the shirt in my closet), but Latino groups in Houston threw a **** fit and thus you got the Houston Dynamo.

If you're complaining about the name MLS, I think you're just looking for something to complain about. Not saying this is you guys, but I can not stand American soccer fans who feel they are too good to watch MLS. IMO, they are part of the problem, not embracing our national professional league and helping it grow. If you look at where it is today compared to a decade ago, you can not argue that it's headed in the right direction.

There are definitely those who behave in that manner. People who really enjoy the game can look past some of the kind of silly things I mentioned. When the league was started those things were probably necessary to capture enough interest and following to get MLS past its infancy. Several teams have dumped the silly nicknames and adopted more traditional/purist names. But my favorite team still has the nickname and it doesn't stop me from enjoying watching them play. There were some lean times when it seemed every year a franchise or two folded but then Beckham happened and the quality of American players began to show on the international stage. While not top tier like La Liga or EPL, it is pretty good for its age relative to the older established leagues around the world. Overall MLS has succeeded beyond many people's expectations and some smart payroll and franchise structuring has prevented the irrational exuberance that eventually killed the original NASL. But it is great OKC is finally joining the ranks of cities with professional soccer and I am looking forward to going to some games in our team's stadium in the next few years.

Agreed. I for one enjoy watching MLS soccer, and there are some great rivalries. We are right in between one of them, as Houston & KC are two of the top teams and it's a good competitive rivalry based on close matches and hard play (not some manufactured rivalry or regional rivalry).

There are definitely those who behave in that manner. People who really enjoy the game can look past some of the kind of silly things I mentioned. When the league was started those things were probably necessary to capture enough interest and following to get MLS past its infancy. Several teams have dumped the silly nicknames and adopted more traditional/purist names. But my favorite team still has the nickname and it doesn't stop me from enjoying watching them play. There were some lean times when it seemed every year a franchise or two folded but then Beckham happened and the quality of American players began to show on the international stage. While not top tier like La Liga or EPL, it is pretty good for its age relative to the older established leagues around the world. Overall MLS has succeeded beyond many people's expectations and some smart payroll and franchise structuring has prevented the irrational exuberance that eventually killed the original NASL. But it is great OKC is finally joining the ranks of cities with professional soccer and I am looking forward to going to some games in our team's stadium in the next few years.

so traditional ... do we have the Chase NFL ... or the Target NBA ..

Arsenal? crystal palace? queens park rangers ?

Chivas USA attendance has nothing to do with the city they play in and everything to do with a horribly run front office built upon racist principals that has alienated all but 6,000 of it's most hardcore fans. They came in trying to bring "Mexican-style futbol" to the gringos and it failed miserably (see last weeks episode of Real Sports on HBO if you want to follow the rabbit hole). They alienated the white fans looking to get away from the Beckham show. They alienated MOST of the Mexican fans by naming the team Chivas (would you root for the London Cowboys if you were an expat living in England? Probably not because there are fans of 33 other NFL teams).

Basically Chivas USA was brought in to the league shortly after MLS had folded to clubs in Florida and were willing to take the money no matter where it was coming from. The league now is in a very stable place and is kicking themselves every single day for committing to what was essentially a cash-grab.

On a different topic the level of NASL and USLPro really vary from team to team. Orlando City Lions just beat two MLS teams in the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup and play withing the USL. NASL is sanctioned higher than USL only because the USSF deemed it so a few years back. Both were fighting for the second division spot and neither were worthy of it. It's a really long story, but NASL won out.

/soapbox

On a side note to this - does anyone else hate the Major League Soccer label given to our highest level league? I would prefer North American Premiere League or NASL to be what out first tier was called. USL, etc is great for the lower division leagues but I think MLS tried a bit too hard to appeal to the "traditional" American sports fan.

And don't start me on relegation, the playoff format, or some of the NFL'esque team names. Call me a purist, but that is my $.02. But I enjoy going to an occasional FC Dallas (see how much better than 'Dallas Burn' that is) match and am glad the league has survived some lean times and seems to be growing and stable.

When the league was in it's anfancy I think it needed to appeal to the traditional American fan. Now not so much but the league name, and some of the team names are aresult of that. The only real NFL type names left are New England Revolution, and Columbus Crew, Chicago Fire (which I actually don't mind), LA Galaxy, and Colorado Rapids. I have a feeling that NE will rebrand if they ever move to Boston and have their own stadium.

Some of the other names that might be considered NFL-ish are actually pretty tradition rich and will never be changed San Jose Earthquakes, Portland Timbers, and Seattle Sounders FC both date back to the old NASL days, and Vancouver Whitecaps FC has been around since the 80's playing in the American 2nd division, Montreal Impact have been around since `92.

Is for promotion and relegation...I'm not convinced that it would work here. I'd be willing to get rid of the playoffs, but only if we could have balanced fixtures, which isn't happening with expansion etc.

Agreed. I for one enjoy watching MLS soccer, and there are some great rivalries. We are right in between one of them, as Houston & KC are two of the top teams and it's a good competitive rivalry based on close matches and hard play (not some manufactured rivalry or regional rivalry).

I would encourage anyone that enjoys soccer to go see a match in KC at Sporting Park. It's a magnificent venue (and the team is pretty good as well right now). Much better than going down to sit in 'the oven' down at FC Dallas.

I would encourage anyone that enjoys soccer to go see a match in KC at Sporting Park. It's a magnificent venue (and the team is pretty good as well right now). Much better than going down to sit in 'the oven' down at FC Dallas.

I plan to do that - Sporting KC Park has pretty much unanimous rave reviews. I made the mistake (a few times) of getting east side seats at PHP and it was an oven until the sun finally dropped behind the "good" stands! But we got to watch Beckham drop 50 yard passes to Donovan in stride and some other great soccer.

so traditional ... do we have the Chase NFL ... or the Target NBA ..

Arsenal? crystal palace? queens park rangers ?

Buick Broncos? ;)

http://blacksportsonline.com/home/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/wes-welker-I-can-be-myself.jpg

When the league was in it's anfancy I think it needed to appeal to the traditional American fan. Now not so much but the league name, and some of the team names are aresult of that. The only real NFL type names left are New England Revolution, and Columbus Crew, Chicago Fire (which I actually don't mind), LA Galaxy, and Colorado Rapids. I have a feeling that NE will rebrand if they ever move to Boston and have their own stadium.
I doubt New England moves away from Foxboro, since Kraft owns the team, the Patriots, Gillette Stadium and the Patriot Place complex next to the stadium. Building a soccer stadium may be in their future but more than likely it will be next to Gillette.

Relegation would never work. As soon as a big market team was relegated, people would stop caring in that city. Sad but true.

The NASL recently awarded Oklahoma City an NASL franchise for 2015. We will be the smallest market (population) in the North American Soccer League. A citiy's market consists of population & tv households.

One interesting stat about our market is that we continue to move up in the TV households according to Neilsen. We have moved from the 45th largest TV in 2008 (Supersonics relocated to OKC) to the 41st largest TV market in just five years; surpassing the NBA's Memphis (49) & New Orleans (51) and the NFL's Jacksonville (50) & Buffalo (52).


U.S. TV Household by Neilsen link: http://www.tvb.org/media/file/TVB_Market_Profiles_Nielsen_Household_DMA_Ranks2.p df

Let us hope that the NASL will get some type of TV coverage before 2015.

New 25 (9:00 p.m. news) reported that a ceremony to begin renovations on Taft Stadium started today.

saw the green and white balloons in front this afternoon, and we started shipping water & sewer materials to the civil contractor this week

Updates about the NASL Franchise can be found on its Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/OKC-NASL/193509307484853

Stadium renovations underway, team plans to reveal logo and website soon and host a watch party for Team USA vs. Mexico on Sept. 10.

I'm very excited about the NASL team. I just wish Bob Funk and his ilk would go away

We are fortunate to have two financially strong groups in competition for Oklahoma City's expansion into the professional soccer environment. Let's wish both of these groups the best. They (both) are going to be making a hefty investment and let's wish them the best.

Prodigal Soccer submits possible team names, logos for USL franchise | News OK (http://newsok.com/prodigal-soccer-submits-possible-team-names-logos-for-usl-franchise/article/3902074)

Prodigal Soccer submits possible team names, logos for USL franchise | News OK (http://newsok.com/prodigal-soccer-submits-possible-team-names-logos-for-usl-franchise/article/3902074)

I was just about to post that, lol. You visit the bigsoccer forums? I like the Flyers logo, but could be I'm just partial to the claret and blue.

I was just about to post that, lol. You visit the bigsoccer forums?

Occasionally.

I could go for the 46ers, Energy or the Spirit. Not sure how I feel about the Wind or the Flyers.

I think I'm a fan of 46ers and Flyers. Not so much the others. I do like the Energy color scheme though.

I honestly don't care what the nickname is I guess. I'd rather just be referred to as OKC FC. To me, doesn't get much better than that. Big fan of informal nicknames.

Wind, Spirit, Energy...no thanks

Forgive my ignorance, but what does 46 represent?

Wind, Spirit, Energy...no thanks

Forgive my ignorance, but what does 46 represent?

Couldn't tell ya. I'm more a fan of the crest than the name.

Wind, Spirit, Energy...no thanks

Forgive my ignorance, but what does 46 represent?

I'm guessing it's a reference to our being the 46th state. Which is ridiculous because such nicknames are usually references to pivotal years in a city's history.

Well... 89ers is kinda sorta taken...

I like the 46ers colors but the Flyers name best, that is of what they submitted.

I'm guessing it's a reference to our being the 46th state. Which is ridiculous because such nicknames are usually references to pivotal years in a city's history.

Yep, that's gotta be it.

Houston tried that, but then all the hispanics got up in arms because Houston 1836 was a reference to Texas independence from Mexico. Such a crock. I still have my Houston 1836 shirt in my closet.

I wish we could just be OKC FC and have an organic nickname that the fans come up with over time.

Like the Flyers name and colors. Don't mind any of the color schemes except maybe the 46ers. Plain blue and red is boring.

Energy and Wind? No thanks. Reminds me of when the NBA team had Marshals, Energy, Wind, and Thunder in the running for their name.

I wish we could just be OKC FC and have an organic nickname that the fans come up with over time.

If they select 'Wind' (wouldn't surprise me) and they are really bad, can we say someone has broken Wind? :D

http://www.tendthefarm.com/wp-content/uploads/okc-energy-fc-200x200.jpghttp://www.tendthefarm.com/wp-content/uploads/okc-spirit-fc-200x200.jpghttp://www.tendthefarm.com/wp-content/uploads/okc-wind-fc-200x200.jpghttp://www.tendthefarm.com/wp-content/uploads/okc-flyers-fc-200x200.pnghttp://www.tendthefarm.com/wp-content/uploads/okc-46ers-fc-200x200.jpg

These are the logos which were posted from this source:

New Possibilities For USL OKC Soccer Team Names, Crests Included (http://www.tendthefarm.com/new-possibilities-usl-okc-soccer-team-names-crests-included/)

There are not a lot of good names out there which are going to be an instant hit with Oklahoma City (?). Marketing and branding will take time as the franchise makes its print in our market. Look on the good side of this, we'll have two groups with competing brands making its niche in our market.

This is going to be interesting watching this unique situation as it occurs in the Oklahoma City soccer market.

Love the shield for the Wind, just absolutely hate the name.

I do too. The font is wrong on that one as well. I think you could even use the 'wind shield' and call them Energy and put that on their. But please use a different font.

The play on words is obvious, Oklahoma's wind, generating energy. Or more simply, wind energy.

What, no love for oil & natural gas if we use Energy as the name? ;)

If a team is going to represent Oklahoma City we want them shine cosmestically as well as being competitive on the field.

When the dust clears, one team enters and one team leaves:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHU6K47qgc8



http://www.okcnasl2015.com/images/okc-hero-logo.png OR http://usl2.uslsoccer.com/imgs/usl_pro.jpg


Who's it going to be?

I do too. The font is wrong on that one as well. I think you could even use the 'wind shield' and call them Energy and put that on their. But please use a different font.

The play on words is obvious, Oklahoma's wind, generating energy. Or more simply, wind energy.

I just have a really big issues with MOST sports teams nicknames that don't end in "S."

Flyers or 46ers in a landslide. They bring together all the elements (local reference, style, color scheme).
Does the 46er shield seem undersized?

Looks like it is Energy FC

https://twitter.com/EnergyFC

=/

Games to be played at Bishop Mcguinness High School.

Meh. Take out the star in the logo and I'll be fine with it.

The logo isn't the problem, the name is terrible. Sounds like a WNBA team.

Energy is better than most of the MLS names out there. Fire, Timbers, revolution, Earthquakes, Impact, Crew, and Dynamo just to name a few.

Dynamo

Wasn't our first choice

Got a somewhat blurry pic of the Kit on kfor...

Major league soccer coming to Oklahoma City in Spring 2014 | KFOR.com (http://kfor.com/2013/11/14/major-league-soccer-coming-to-oklahoma-city-in-spring-2014/)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BZDsry7CYAAcDyH.jpg:large

The "LABOR OMNIA VINCIT" is a nice touch. Other than that, not my fave. Excited to see a crest, nonetheless.

I like the colors and the name... Crest is okay.


Energy FC (http://energyfc.com/en/templates/page/home.html)

http://energyfc.com/en/img/content/wear-home.png

http://energyfc.com/en/img/content/wear-away.png

http://energyfc.com/en/img/wallpapers/desktop/soccer-ball/SoccerBall800x600.jpg



OKLAHOMA CITY ENERGY FC
NOVEMBER 14, 2013

There is a new professional sport in Oklahoma City: Soccer. In 2014 Prodigal’s Oklahoma City Energy FC will begin its inaugural season, marking the first time the city has had a legitimate professional outdoor soccer team.

After great deliberation, Prodigal landed on the name “Energy.” Inspired by the industry that has become synonymous with Oklahoma, “Energy” also makes a bold statement about the city the team represents and the people who are proud to live and work here. Oklahoma City Energy FC is a metaphor for the great momentum present in Oklahoma City.

The Oklahoma state flag and the state color, green, make up the foundation of the team logo. The logo features an exploding star, symbolizing the spark that initiates energy. The star also forms an abstract soccer ball with upward moving lines to create a sense of positive movement.

“At every step of the process, whether deciding on a name or choosing a logo, our top priority was to accurately and positively represent Oklahoma on a national stage. We are proud of the uniquely Oklahoma brand we have built for the club,” said Darren Ransley, a representative of the team.

Even though it looks like a Sounders kit, I'm really digging that darker one.

Has a very Sounders/Seattle Seahawks look.

There's an OKC v. Seattle joke somewhere, but I'm not funny enough to make it.

I'm digging the uni's. I like the color scheme a lot. I would've preferred the Flyers myself but the Energy isn't terrible either.

Just got off the phone with them to ask about tickets, ended up getting asked if I would want to head up a supporters group.