That's what the plaintiffs claim. We haven't heard USL and Funk Jr's side of the story yet... I'd like to hear why USL and Tim Holt would choose Funk Jr over Brad Lund in the first place. You'd think Lund would have had the inside track by owning the PDL team. Waiting for the other shoe to drop...
I have no dog in this fight but I find this whole thing surreal. I'm glad the good folks of Oklahoma City will be getting pro soccer of some kind and hope it works out where the best-organized, best-funded, most-committed ownership group gets to have an OKC team, regardless of league.
As it stands now...........OKC could have a PDL, USL1 and NASL team all playing concurrently. Both in the courts and on the field. Now that won't happen once this is all said and done, but thats a first, even for the bass-ackwards little world of US soccer. Unless if you include Bradenton in the Tampa metro area, which you shouldn't.
So will NASL go ahead and approve the OKC expansion? Or will they wait until after the lawsuit dust has settled?
BOG meeting for NASL is a formality, do you really think they would "invite" a group in to give a presentation if they weren't going to be approved? Also, it appears that the NASL is not afraid to compete head to head with the USL. I think that once the NASL approves OKC FC, the USL group will quietly go away. Also, they have no place to play. USL group is hoping that the NASL group (Lund et al), don't go forward with the NASL expansion due to the lawsuit, then they will swoop in and make a deal with the OKC School Board for use of the only real place to play in OKC. NASL is a done deal guys....
That's what I'm hoping happens, too. I want the USL group to go away as well. Go back to doing what they do best; run minor league hockey interest into the ground
I would hope it happens as well , but I think the USL Pro guys will still give it a go as their starting a year early and may think they can be successful and harm the NASL team starting 2015. I don't think they'll be successful though and will fold or move later on.
This certainly would be my consensus as well. The whole 'lets start a year early' line of bunk will often delude or fool people into thinking they are getting a head start on the others. In reality it generally means that the guys who are part of the 'lets start a year early' line of thinking will go into something without the prep, the groundwork or the foundation to make it as a business. They are so busy rushing into things, they don't realize what they are forgetting.
I agree. The ONLY way I see them even having a CHANCE of succeeding is they somehow get the right to play at Bricktown Ballpark. I'm not saying they're going to be able to, but that's the ONLY way I can see them having any advantage over the NASL team, which already has a fan base, a a year's head start, and a supporter's group in place. If they can't play there, then their only choices are other high school football stadiums, or Wantland Stadium on UCO's campus in Edmond. And Edmond would put them pretty much on the home turf of Oklahoma Football Club, which is the youth organization of OKC FC.
I guess they could also gain publicity by pulling a VSI Tampa and announce that plans to build a "temporary" stadium are imminent....
http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/...ence-in-oklahoma-city-as-usl-nasl-square-off/ Darkwing, take a look at this and see if it helps.
I can't imagine playing in a baseball park...will a full size field even fit? Also, with a AAA baseball team using the same park, it would seem that most of the prime weekend dates will be taken. To date, Prodigal (USL group) has done nothing but have a press conference in which they guaranteed that NASL was a dead issue, and put a "name the team" contest on their lame website. They have not approached the soccer community or started to advertise, sell tickets, etc. Seems to me that if they have only 7 months to get going, wouldn't they get started? That's why I think they are waiting for the NASL meeting to see if OKC FC gets the nod. It would be awfully difficult to start a pro team from scratch with no coach, no front office, no players, no venue, and no clue to soccer. There is not a "soccer person" in the entire Prodigal group. I would wager that not a single person in that group knows anything about soccer. Last issue, they will be working all winter on trying to keep their dying AAA hockey team afloat. It will be a disaster.
oh COME ON! I can't believe people in Pennsylvania aren't intimately acquainted with soccer in Oklahoma City!
Dude! I'm the choir, and you are PREACHIN! I wanted to give them a couple of possible names for the team: The Whiney Bitches The Daddy Bought Me a Soccer Teams The Lets Destroy Soccer Like We Did Hockeys
Two questions, one for Tim Holt and one for Brad Lund? 1. Why (Tim Holt) did you approve a PDL club for Brad Lund if you were going to change your mind and spurn Brad Lund by approving a USL PRO team for Bob Funk Jr? 2. Why (Brad Lund) was USL PRO your first choice over the NASL in the first place? ***It makes sense that Brad Lund and Oklahoma FC are the clear fan favorites so far for more than one reason, but Brad Lund is NOT the money guy here...
USRufnex I feel your pain. I grew up in OKC and my soccer coach would take us to Tulsa to watch the Rufnex....lot's of great memories. But, mark my words, Tulsa will have an NASL team and Brad Lund will be a big part of bringing it to Tulsa. When that happens...I hope you issue an apology for demonizing him. Also, $250K for USL pro...$1.5 million for NASL. I bet that's why USL PRo was first choice
http://www.rowdiessoccer.com/index.php?id=75 http://www.insidemnsoccer.com/2012/...o-rico-islanders-juan-ramon-loubriel-stadium/ http://www.nasl.com/index.php?id=3&newsid=4727 http://www.tampabay.com/news/localg...-lease-stadium-for-soccer-tournaments/2111535
Thanks for the links...looks like it will fit. So now there is just the issue of prime weekend nights during the season...
You mean, the way you guys have been demonizing Funk Jr? These are not unfair questions to ask... As for Tulsa, IMO, it was Lund's work that compromised Tulsa's MLS bid ten years ago. Tulsa political officials were in no position to be able to lobby the state for an "enterprise zone" to help finance a soccer specific stadium because of Lund's competing bid in OKC at the very same time... At this point, I think the folks in NASL offices would honestly want to know why Lund painted himself into a corner by securing a PDL club in the first place. He had to know that this would come up if he pursued the NASL. If I were in NASL offices, I'd want to make sure the folks fronting the money for Brad Lund's NASL deathbed conversion do not burden the league with another Jeff-Cooper situation... Hmmm.... "Member Since: Saturday" ?
Is this not one of the biggest obstacles soccer in this country has had to overcome since......forever?