The city is investing more than a billion dollars on sports venues.
Oklahoma City is getting a United Soccer League franchise in 2028. The city is building a 10,000-seat stadium that will cost taxpayers around $121 million on land donated by the team owner. Oklahoma City officials first thought about building a small soccer stadium in 2019 and thought it might cost around $40 million. There will be an economical gadget whereby all the sales tax collected in a stadium district will be kicked back to the stadium developer. The venue will be the centerpiece of a stadium-village development. Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt thinks it is going to be a project that will create jobs and be a destination for people.
“Time and again, we have realized a major economic and community benefit from our investments in sports facilities. From whitewater to softball, basketball to baseball, these investments in sports have changed our city. Soccer is the world’s most popular sport and we knew in 2019 when we developed MAPS 4 that we had to make a commitment to stay in the game. The original stadium budget was further supported by TIF funds, and then recently received a much-needed boost from the voters through October’s bond issue. Now, we finally have a budget that can help us realize our near-term soccer aspirations. This new design illustrates how far this improved budget will take us, and as a soccer fan and a cheerleader for our city, I am thrilled at this new vision. This stadium will be something we can be proud of and it’s a foundation we can build upon in the years to come. I look forward to working with Echo and the OKC for Soccer movement to ensure our multipurpose stadium realizes its full potential.” Oklahoma City is also building a basketball arena that will cost taxpayers around one billion dollars.
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