Major League Soccer?

[Laramie]

Upon reviewing the responses on the possibility of bringing other sports to the metropolitan area; there appeared to be an interest in Major League Soccer.

Wantland Stadium at the University of Central Oklahoma seats around 10,000; this stadium would have to be expanded to seat 18,000 - 22,000 to make MLS attractive.

Taft Stadium in Oklahoma City has a seating capacity of 14,000; this stadium would have to be expanded to seat 18,000 - 22,000 to make MLS attractive.

A new Riverfront Stadium for downtown would have to go on the ballot of MAPS IV, a stadium with a seating capacity of 18,000 to 25,000 would have to be constructed at a cost nearing the $100 million dollar range.

A new stadium at Fair Pair could be constructed for less than $100 million dollars; plently of parking and infrastructure is already in place.

The bringing of another sport like Major League Soccer (MLS) to the Oklahoma City area should be financed entirely by the ownership group.

[mcca7596]

So many in the area have negative stereotypes of the game; it would be difficult to support, but I do believe it is possible. On the flip side, OKC's growing Latino population is a positive to future support of MLS.

[dankrutka]

Tulsa would be a better fit right now IMHO.

[Just the facts]

I voted for Riverfront, but only because my prefered location wasn't listed. I hate to waste waterfront on a stadium (honestly I don't know why any city does that becasue it simply doesn't make sense). I would put it on the southside of I-40 between Robinson and Hudson where the north end of Prominade Park is going to be. Checkout some of the soccer stadiums in the UK - they are located directly adjacent to neighborhoods. Here in the US we try to put everything on an island surrounded by a sea of parking or green space. We need to stop doing that. How great would it be to live within walking distance of a stadium if you were a sports fan?

http://www.sportmapworld.com/map/soc...remier-league/

[Jake]

I agree with KilgoreTrout in saying that as of right now, Tulsa would probably be a better fit. However, in a few years I think Oklahoma City could definitely be a viable option.

Could OKC support a team now? I don't know, maybe. I would definitely go see a game or two. I'm not all too knowledgable about soccer other than when I played in elementary school and when I played FIFA on my friend's Playstation 3. But whereas people said the NBA wouldn't fit in Oklahoma because it's a football state, I think professional soccer takes it too a whole other level. A lot of folks may not have been too knowledgable about the NBA before the Thunder came to town, but they at least knew the basics of what basketball is. How it's played, what the majority of the rules are, etc.

I think it might be much tougher with a pro soccer team. I don't know how many people have been exposed to or have experienced as many soccers games in their lifetime. It might seem kind of alien at first. Of course, I could be wrong though. A lot of people my age and younger seem to be more knowledgable about soccer as time goes by. Also, like mcca said, OKC's Latino population could show solid support and benefit the team.

[Just the facts]

I am not sure why people think Tulsa would be a better fit. When MLS looked at OKC several years ago one of the things cited was the far greater number of kids enrolled in youth soccer in the OKC metro area.

Edmond is hosting the 2013 Youth Soccer Championships which is expected to draw 184 teams.

http://www.edmondsun.com/sports/x448...r-championship

[Midtowner]

Wantland at UCO has already made it into the final rounds as a potential permanent site for a team. The deal kind of died on the vine because MLS decided to expand their season into the Fall and UCO has already obligated their stadium to the three Edmond high schools and of course their own team for football. There was a pretty nice renovation planned which would have expanded the stadium to around 24,000 seats. Some of the improvements were actually made and it's still a pretty viable site.

[Just the facts]

Wantland at UCO has already made it into the final rounds as a potential permanent site for a team. The deal kind of died on the vine because MLS decided to expand their season into the Fall and UCO has already obligated their stadium to the three Edmond high schools and of course their own team for football. There was a pretty nice renovation planned which would have expanded the stadium to around 24,000 seats. Some of the improvements were actually made and it's still a pretty viable site.

MLS also requires a soccer specific stadium, probably for the very reason you mentioned.

[Midtowner]

MLS also requires a soccer specific stadium, probably for the very reason you mentioned.

Things have changed over the last 10 years.

[Just the facts]

Things have changed over the last 10 years.

Not sure what you mean - soccer specific stadiums are high on the MLS list of must-haves.

http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com...-soaring-15214

As we look at the 2012 season, most MLS teams are the primary tenants for their current venues. Last night, MLS received another boost in this realm, and it happened for a team whose tumultuous past was influenced directly by their inability to secure a modern venue. But the San Jose Planning Commission gave a sweeping six votes for to nil to allow the San Jose Earthquakes to break ground and build the next great stadium in the history of the sport in the United States.

[OSUPeterson]

If we do anything, I think the riverfront stadium would be ideal. Help develop the downtown area even more into a core of sports. No offense to UCO, but after teaching there, I will probably never be back. Its a great stadium for what is needed, but I do not think it would be a great representation for an OKC soccer team. Maybe some lower level expo games could be played there, but other than that I think a stadium downtown would be perfect.

It would be nice to design it so that it can fit both soccer and football, would the need ever arise.

This way OKC can start hosting college games and bowl games, and possible bring in a football team someday. If we just build a soccer specific stadium, I would thing that would be poor planning for the future.

[BDK]

We should shoot for women's soccer. I think they're trying to get a women's league rebooted. A U.S. men's league will always be inferior to European soccer, but I think the U.S. could support the premiere women's league. Women's soccer is way better anyway, there seems to be a lot less flopping.

[BoulderSooner]

MLS also requires a soccer specific stadium, probably for the very reason you mentioned.

not true at all ..

seattle
new england
dc united

[Midtowner]

Not sure what you mean - soccer specific stadiums are high on the MLS list of must-haves.

http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com...-soaring-15214

In 2002, UCO was a finalist for a team and it didn't matter that the field was going to be used for other sports. I doubt that the University was simply misinformed. They were very actively planning for an MLS team. There was even an exhibition at Wantland.

That said, I'd be in favor of scrapping the Native American Cultural Center and using that land for a stadium of some sort.

[Matt]

I'd be in favor of scrapping the Native American Cultural Center and using that land for a stadium of some sort.

[SoonerDave]

This way OKC can start hosting college games and bowl games, and possible bring in a football team someday. If we just build a soccer specific stadium, I would thing that would be poor planning for the future.

Football and soccer are not mutually interchangeable venues from a practicality standpoint. Soccer needs a stadium in the range of 20-25K seats to be feasible. You might be able to do that with a MAPS-style project. But a stadium to host college football needs to support a minimum of 70K, and I can't fathom who you'd get in there to use the thing even if it were built. A once-per-year bowl game wouldn't make much sense, and neither OU nor OSU is likely to surrender one or more of its lucrative home dates, especially considering OSU's recent multi-million-dollar rebuild of their facility or the fact that OU already effectively schedules away one home game every other year with the Texas game in Dallas. And a facility sufficient to attract an NFL team is going to be a $1 billion proposition - and I seriously doubt there would be broad public support for a "MAPS N+1" tax to finance it.

Not dismissing the idea of a soccer stadium; realize lots of folks enjoy it (although I'm just not among them). Just saying that while I might agree that a "unitasker" stadium might not be an ideal plan, the alternatives aren't particularly practical.

[jn1780]

It would be nice to design it so that it can fit both soccer and football, would the need ever arise.

This way OKC can start hosting college games and bowl games, and possible bring in a football team someday. If we just build a soccer specific stadium, I would thing that would be poor planning for the future.

College games maybe. It would cost a lot a lot of money to build it for an NFL team which is as of right now a distant pipe dream and would be outdated long before they even considered expanding here.

Edit: Dave is probably right about college football. So a multipurpose small to medium sized stadium that a soccer team can use and maybe highschool football or other events makes more sense.

[jn1780]

Very stupid question I am sure, but why can't you build one very large but flexible facility that works for all sports? Do those exist or make economic sense? Not to get all conspiratorial but are the myriad of stadiums in each city the result of the fact that there is simply more to gain financially and politically when building several structures?

All sports as in outdoor sports? They do have a few, but the size needed for baseball fields waste a lot of space.

More common are domed stadiums which can fit football and the indoor sports which costs more of course.

[Jake]

As far as both indoor and outdoor sports, I'm not sure.

I know the Alamodome can support basketball, football, and hockey.

[Just the facts]

In 2002, UCO was a finalist for a team and it didn't matter that the field was going to be used for other sports.

I don't know what to say other than, unless a City can bring a lot more to the table, MLS wants a soccer specific stadium. Anyhow, it doesn't matter because we don't even have an ownership group.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/st...362730&cc=5901

http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2...or-mls-growth/

De Rosario was talking to Brian Straus from the Sporting News. It’s a good piece that helps explain how Houston’s new $95 million facility happened – and why Dynamo officials got the most important stuff right.

I’ve long said that stadiums are absolutely, positively and unarguably the most important growth element for Major League Soccer and, by extension, professional soccer in the United States. Anybody paying attention has said the same.

http://aol.sportingnews.com/soccer/s...fect-franchise

Too much good stuff to quote. You'' have to read the whole article.

In short, OKC is never getting a team if the stadium isn't soccer specific, and the league has cooled to the idea of suburban locations.

[SoonerDave]

Very stupid question I am sure, but why can't you build one very large but flexible facility that works for all sports? Do those exist or make economic sense? Not to get all conspiratorial but are the myriad of stadiums in each city the result of the fact that there is simply more to gain financially and politically when building several structures?

Sid, that was the very philosophy that, while seeming perfectly logical on the surface, ended up not working out very well in reality. The Astrodome comes to mind as an example. While it did serve both baseball and football in its heyday, I don't think it was considered a particularly practical or "good" solution for either. That realization kept emerging in other cities with multi-use stadiums, and was in no small part a driver toward baseball's return to dedicated facilities. Candlestick Park in SF is another example - yes, it functionally served as host to baseball and football, but there were myriad logistical hassles and configuration issues that made it, over time, emerge as impractical.

Its one of those things you'd think would be a can't miss, but when they actually started doing them, reality stuck its head in the door and said, "hmmm....not so much.."

[LordGerald]

That makes good sense. Not something I know much about but was just wondering.

The movement to soccer specific parks has also expanded to multi-use as far as event hosting. Pizza Hut Park in Dallas hosts FC Dallas, but also has a lot of big-time concerts in the summer. Some of the parks, like Sporting Kansas City's LiveStrong Park was designed for soccer and concerts. The facilities are much smaller than American Football stadiums (25,000 capacity), but are large enough to replace "sheds" (outdoor amphitheaters). I also contend they would be perfect for high school playoff/championship games, which are rarely held in the metro (for 5A and 6A). How cool would it to see outdoor rodeo, too? Home Depot Park hosts L.A. Galaxy, but it also used for concerts and the X Games.

I think the market/demographics in OKC would support MLS. There's even a vacant spot in the Western Division. Ultimately, it's about a facility and that's not something we'll have for a while.

[OKCisOK4me]

I like using my tax money to improve the city but we can improve it on more stuff with our own tax dollars than a soccer stadium. Unless there was to be some kind of outdoor concert there, I would never go. MLS is not quite as popular as the NBA and that is still a small ticket compared to the college/pro football fans here in Oklahoma. Maps IV will not get my vote if a river stadium is on the ticket. If MLS is going to come here, they need to use a pre existing stadium and then depending on their ticket sales choose to invest in building their own stadium, preferably along the river, most notably the Co-op Mill site.

[Lord Helmet]

I think the market/demographics in OKC would support MLS. There's even a vacant spot in the Western Division. Ultimately, it's about a facility and that's not something we'll have for a while.

It would be nice to see OKC get a team, especially if they could build a place as nice as LiveStrong Sporting Park (which ended up costing around 200 million). That said, the league's commissioner has said on multiple occasions that a 2nd New York team is the preferred next franchise. One that plays in NY rather than New Jersey like the Red Bulls. There's a proposed stadium site as well.

[Laramie]

My understanding about the soccer-specific stadiums; they can be used for american football and concerts as well. MLS required that you have a grass field and not artifical turf; therefore, many domed stadiums were eliminated from the facilities process.