Soccer: NASL and USL professional leagues fighting over OKC

[boy]

Both leagues presented at the OKC School Board meeting, and the NASL group was approved to develop a contract to play games in Taft stadium.

Ustream recording starts at about 45:00 into the meeting.

There is a summary on the Foundation for OKCPS Twitter feed.

Summary:

• $3M startup cost
• $2M-$3M annual operating cost
• They will invest $100K for a video board at Taft
• Will pay $3500 / game + % of concessions + $2/ticket to existing charity that helps underprivileged kids get free tickets (Wes Welker Foundation, I believe)
• Existing amateur (PDL / WPSL) teams will still exist and will also play at Taft.
• NASL team will start in 2015
• NASL is the 2nd tier league in the US, just below Major League Soccer
• Taft seats 7500. The amateur teams (OKC FC men/women) have been averaging 1200+ at OCU so far and the atmosphere is great.
• Will specifically target Latino population, perhaps even have some games at Capitol Hill stadium.
• NASL team will be named the ???? (fill in the blank)

NASL will now vote on July 15 to approve the expansion to OKC.

[Pete]

This is great news and I especially like they will be playing at and investing in Taft Stadium. Such a cool setting and the renovations will make it much nicer.

Great idea about playing some games at Capitol Hill. That stadium is being renovated as well.

[theparkman81]

This is very great news, good for my favorite city in the world OKC

[Kokopelli]

This is good news for not only OKC soccer fans but also fans of OKC growth! I tend to fall in the latter but who knows I could become a soccer fan.

Not being a soccer fan I decided to do a little research and once done it, I thought I might as well share.

The hierarchy of soccer in the US appears to be: MSL, NASL, USL Pro and then PDL.

OKC currently has a team in the PDL and according to boy’s post above the team will continue to exist. The OKC FC appear to be ranked number 8th in PDL attendance and in a four team tie for fifth place for the league. OKC FC is averaging 1,177 per game.

According to respective league web sites;

The MSL is made up of two conferences, splitting 23 teams. Average attendance is 17,435. The number one team attendance wise is Seattle averaging 41,502 per game.
Seattle did not have a team until after the Sonics moved to OKC.

The NASL, the league the new OKC team will be joining, currently list 12 teams in the league. Three of which are international teams Edmonton, Ottawa and Puerto Rico. OKC’s closest rival would be the San Antonio Scorpions, other teams are Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Raleigh, Tampa, Ft Lauderdale, New York and the Virginia Cavalry in a DC suburb. Average attendance is 4,584, the league leader is San Antonio with 7,122. In 2012 San Antonio averaged 9,176 but they moved into a smaller more intimate venue for 2013. Every team in the NASL except San Antonio is up year-over-year in terms of average announced attendance.

The USL Pro league has 13 teams. Average attendance is 2,716 and the attendance leader is Orlando averaging 7,466.

The PDL league has 64 teams. Average attendance is 645, attendance leader is Portland averaging 4,316. OKC plays in the Mid South division of the Southern conference along with teams from Austin, El Paso, Houston, Laredo and Midland

All attendance figures are for 2013. » PDL

[boitoirich]

With the lease beginning in 2015 for two years (and an option for a third), could this mean we are potentially looking at a push for a downtown stadium by 2020? Omaha built a downtown soccer stadium for $14 million (6,000 capacity, suitable for NASL's projections for OKC, which is 4,500/game), and San Antonio built their NASL stadium for $30 million (11,000 capacity).

If land costs weren't so high, the area south of Harkins and north of the Coop would seemingly make a perfect location.

[Kokopelli]

The San Antonio Scorpions stadium calls for two phases of construction. The first phase opened in April 2013 will have an initial capacity of 8,000 for soccer matches and 14,000 for concerts and festivals.
With MLS intentions, this stadium is expandable to 18,000 as demand increases. No timeline was given for phase two.

The name of the soccer stadium is Toyota Field. So now there is Toyota Field in San Antonio and the Toyota Arena in Houston. Ah to have a car manufacture in your backyard!

Link here: http://www.toyotafield.com/about-toyota-field.html

[Kokopelli]

So San Antonio has aspirations for the MSL, hopefully soccer will be as popular here and by 2020 OKC will have MSL aspirations as well. Based on how well the PDL team is doing in their inaugural year this very well could happen.

Speaking of San Antonio, the city seems to be good sports city and does a good job supporting their minor league teams. The Scorpions are number one in NASL attendance and the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL was number 6 in the AHL for 2013. To date averaging 7,067 per game for the 2013 season.

From my understanding NASL is right below MSL in level of play. Similar to what the AHL is to the NHL and AAA baseball is to MLB. While the higher level of play has its merits one would think that proximity of teams would be a concern for NASL teams. The close proximity to and a larger number of closer rivals is one area that the PDL would seem to have over NASL teams, similar to the old Central Hockey league.

Speaking of hockey and proximity of other league teams looks as though the Barons may be or have lost one of their closer rivals. The Houston team is no longer shown on the AHL league maps. They were ranked 7th in attendance last year. This isn't good for OKC to lose one of their closest opponents, especially when they only had three to start with.

Can’t help but think that the powers to be at Prodigal Sports, as well as the two remaining Texas teams, are in the ear of league officials about how that league is become upper Midwest and Northeast eccentric.

If one looks at the league map there are now only three teams in the southwest and none in the western USA. Perhaps this is part of the reason that the Barons were last in the league in attendance.
Can’t help but think that f the league could add teams in Albuquerque, Colorado Springs, Houston, Omaha, Tulsa and Wichita. not only would the Barons it would also help the two Texas teams. It would be better exposure for hockey in general.

Links:

Teams; TheAHL.com | The American Hockey League | Home Page

Attendance; TheAHL.com | The American Hockey League | Home Page

[boitoirich]

In general, as you go up in leagues the further your rivals are going to be. There are more places nearby that can support the 1,000+ crowds the tier-4 PDL currently draws. There are fewer that can support the 3,000+ crowds of USL Pro, even less able to draw 5,000+ for NASL, and even a couple current MLS teams struggle to bring out 10,000 night in and night out (the attendance for Chivas USA looks more appropriate for NASL). That being said, if you're going to be a big league city, you have to be able to do that whether your rivals are Tulsa, Wichita, and Fort Worth, or if they are San Antonio, Minneapolis, and New York.

As for the eventual (and hopefully downtown) stadium, I'm hopeful that we get something urban in design, cozy for the fans, but expandable in case they start bringing in 9,000 a night like the Blazers used to. Or even if the MLS eventually comes calling. What I fear we'll end up with is a suburban stadium surrounded by a sea of parking that charges $20 on Thunder game nights.

[dcsooner]

This is good news for not only OKC soccer fans but also fans of OKC growth! I tend to fall in the latter but who knows I could become a soccer fan.

Not being a soccer fan I decided to do a little research and once done it, I thought I might as well share.

The hierarchy of soccer in the US appears to be: MSL, NASL, USL Pro and then PDL.

OKC currently has a team in the PDL and according to boy’s post above the team will continue to exist. The OKC FC appear to be ranked number 8th in PDL attendance and in a four team tie for fifth place for the league. OKC FC is averaging 1,177 per game.

According to respective league web sites;

The MSL is made up of two conferences, splitting 23 teams. Average attendance is 17,435. The number one team attendance wise is Seattle averaging 41,502 per game.
Seattle did not have a team until after the Sonics moved to OKC.

The NASL, the league the new OKC team will be joining, currently list 12 teams in the league. Three of which are international teams Edmonton, Ottawa and Puerto Rico. OKC’s closest rival would be the San Antonio Scorpions, other teams are Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Atlanta, Raleigh, Tampa, Ft Lauderdale, New York and the Virginia Cavalry in a DC suburb. Average attendance is 4,584, the league leader is San Antonio with 7,122. In 2012 San Antonio averaged 9,176 but they moved into a smaller more intimate venue for 2013. Every team in the NASL except San Antonio is up year-over-year in terms of average announced attendance.

The USL Pro league has 13 teams. Average attendance is 2,716 and the attendance leader is Orlando averaging 7,466.

The PDL league has 64 teams. Average attendance is 645, attendance leader is Portland averaging 4,316. OKC plays in the Mid South division of the Southern conference along with teams from Austin, El Paso, Houston, Laredo and Midland

All attendance figures are for 2013. » PDL

Is OKC acceptance as an expansion team a foregone conclusion? Current attendance less that 2,000 per game is not very convincing

[Kokopelli]

From the first post on this thread it appears that the answer to your question is that it will be determined whether OKC is admitted to the NASL on July 15th.

Don’t know about the foregone conclusion part, but my guess would be that if a group is willing to pay the franchise fee and can absorb the $3m start-up cost (again from the first post) there is probably a strong probability that the league will accept the application.

As far as attendance it could also be debated that for a first year team, the attendance for the OKC FC is pretty strong for a team in that league. After all you got to start somewhere.

According to the first post even if the new NASL team does indeed come about the existing PDL will continue to exist. Based on the fact that there are two groups willing to support a soccer team in OKC it would appear that someone thinks soccer will work in OKC. Only time will tell but isn’t that true of any business endeavor?

[boy]

The newsok.com story is up and can be found here.

Interestingly, both ownership groups stated that their teams (USLPro and NASL) would be coming to OKC whether or not they got the Taft Stadium lease. So we will have to wait and see what happens with that. The NASL group already owns both the men's / women's amateur teams. They are very passionate "soccer people" and smart business people so I think they have a great shot at making it work.

>1000 average attendance for a 4th-division amateur team is pretty good. I think the 7500-seat stadium will be perfect for a 2nd-division soccer team and they will have a shot at selling out a few games.

[Laramie]

Brad Lund did one hell of a marketing job for Bob Funk Sr., when he was with the Blazers as GM (team averaged 9,000 per game). He eventually got exhausted.
NASL and the USL will both be targeting Oklahoma City's untapped limited soccer market. I would give the edge to Lund because of the fact that Taft will have undergone renovation and Lund has the skills and the marketing strategy advantage over Bob Funk Jr.

The Oklahoma City sports market is almost maxed-out. Most of the efforts for marketing by Lund will be toward OKC's 110,00 hispanic population.

Hispanic population increases in the Oklahoma City metro area | News OK

[Kokopelli]

Appears as though Prodigal LLC, who wants the city to have a USL Pro Team is not happy that Sold Out Strategies wants to bring a NASL Team to the city.

Additionally it would appear that there is another local that wants the NASL franchise for the city.

So that would make three groups wanting to bring pro soccer to OKC..

Link to Oklahoman story: Soccer: Pro soccer's future in OKC will go through courtroom | News OK

[BoulderSooner]

Brad Lund did one hell of a marketing job for Bob Funk Sr., when he was with the Blazers as GM (team averaged 9,000 per game). He eventually got exhausted.
NASL and the USL will both be targeting Oklahoma City's untapped limited soccer market. I would give the edge to Lund because of the fact that Taft will have undergone renovation and Lund has the skills and the marketing strategy advantage over Bob Funk Jr.

The Oklahoma City sports market is almost maxed-out. Most of the efforts for marketing by Lund will be toward OKC's 110,00 hispanic population.

Hispanic population increases in the Oklahoma City metro area | News OK

giving away thousands of free tickets a game .. doesn't = great marketing

[Praedura]

Oklahoma City to Join USL PRO in 2014:

United Soccer Leagues (USL)




NewsOK article:

United Soccer Leagues awards pro franchise to Oklahoma City | News OK

[Praedura]

And then there's this...

OKC's USL franchise holding contest to name the team | News OK

Hmm... what would be a good name?

[sgt. pepper]

The Oklahoma City Wranglers

[Kokopelli]

Anyone else getting the feeling that soccer is going to be immensely popular here in OKC?

[Bigrayok]

One of the guys involved with one of the groups is Tim McLaughlin. I know his family has money. How did they make it?

Bigray in Ok

[Praedura]

Quick link to vote for name: Prodigal // Soccer

Shame they are not showing submissions and allowing others to vote up or down other people's ideas. Such an easy thing to do and would really show where community support is for different names.

Exactly! I was thinking the same thing. That's how it should be conducted.

[Praedura]

Berry Tramel weighs in on the soccer league clash:

OKC's Soccer War needs one winner | News OK

Speaking of Tramel... that suddenly gives me an idea for a team name....

The Oklahoma City Boomers

[LuccaBrasi]

In the "for it's worth department", Lund had been working behind the scenes for over the last year on conceptual plans to build a multi-purpose type stadium in or near the Core to Shore area directly adjacent to the river. I believe the stadium was in the 15,000 seat range and would have been part of a larger complex that include other soccer fields such that OKC could host large regional tournaments. The believe the complex was planned to extend west into the Wheeler Park area. I said "had been" not knowing if those plans are still a distant hope or not. I do know for a fact that conceptual plans and renderings were drawn up and there had been several meetings with the City, including the Mayor, over the long range vision. Someone out there probably knows far more about than me, but I do know it was "out there". This topic may have already been posted about in some other forum and I missed it, but if not, I'm shocked it never leaked out even if it was pie in the sky.

[AP]

Does anyone know where I can get one of those awesome Red Dirt Brigade scarves?

[catch22]

In the "for it's worth department", Lund had been working behind the scenes for over the last year on conceptual plans to build a multi-purpose type stadium in or near the Core to Shore area directly adjacent to the river. I believe the stadium was in the 15,000 seat range and would have been part of a larger complex that include other soccer fields such that OKC could host large regional tournaments. The believe the complex was planned to extend west into the Wheeler Park area. I said "had been" not knowing if those plans are still a distant hope or not. I do know for a fact that conceptual plans and renderings were drawn up and there had been several meetings with the City, including the Mayor, over the long range vision. Someone out there probably knows far more about than me, but I do know it was "out there". This topic may have already been posted about in some other forum and I missed it, but if not, I'm shocked it never leaked out even if it was pie in the sky.

A slightly smaller version of Denver's (Commerce City Proper) Dick's Sporting Good's Park would be perfect.

Dick's Sporting Goods Park - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The stadium is surrounded by smaller soccer fields and pavillions.

[boy]

Here is what seems to be (to me, a non-lawyer) a pretty good description of the issues from the legal perspective.

Courthouse News Service

From what I have read, and heard directly from people on both sides of the issue, the USL deal seems pretty fishy. The NASL ownership group includes some pretty outstanding citizens who both love soccer and give to this city in many ways that people probably don't even know about (see Home | McLaughlin Family Foundation, for instance). I'd love to see them get a franchise and make it successful.