RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Echo Sports, the investment group that owns the soccer team that will anchor Oklahoma City’s future multi-purpose stadium, is offering to contribute up to $9 million toward the project’s construction budget with the agreement the city will match the amount if needed.
Site work started in June on nine acres donated by Echo, though actual building construction won’t begin until this winter. The 10,000-seat stadium, a MAPS 4 project, is set to open in 2028.
MAPS Program Manager David Todd said the proposed funding agreement, to be reviewed Thursday, Sept. 3, by the MAPS 4 citizens oversight board, calls for Echo to contribute up to $9 million to cover any increase in the current budget of $121 million while the city will reserve $6 million for cost increases.
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The city’s increased funding would increase to $9 million only after the full $9 million from Echo is spent first.
“All along, almost a year ago, whenever we were working out the budget, the operator said they would participate up to a certain level,” Todd said. “We've come to a discovery of what our costs are going to be. And this is what we’ve agreed on.”
The budget for the stadium has consisted of a patchwork of funding sources since it was approved by voters in 2019.
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The MAPS 4 funding initially totaled $41 million. The Oklahoma City Council then approved an additional $30 million from tax increment financing funds to increase the budget to $71 million. Another $50 million in bond funding was approved by voters in 2025.
If the funding agreement is approved by the Oklahoma City Council, the city would need to set aside $9 million in advance of collecting the money from Echo Sport. In total, the agreement, if approved, will increase the total potential budget for the stadium to $137 million.
Echo, led by investor Chrisitan Kanady, purchased majority interest in what was the FC Energy in 2024 from club founders Bob Funk Jr., Tim McLaughlin and Donna Clark. As part of the purchase, Kanady and partner Mark Beffort acquired much of the land surrounding the stadium for a planned mixed-use development.
Kanady could not be reached for comment on Monday, Aug. 31.
The stadium is set to be home to the recently renamed OKC United soccer team and a planned women’s soccer team, with other uses to include concerts and high school athletic events.
The stadium will have a prominent view from Interstate 40 and is designed so that the north side of the stadium will open to the downtown skyline. A lightweight canopy roof and fabric façade will provide shade for the majority of seating, will frame the city skyline and will be lit up by programmable LED lighting.
The venue also will include a club, supporters' section, locker rooms and suites.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC United owners offer $9M for stadium construction. What to know
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