New MAPS 4 Soccer Stadium Could Land In Bricktown

The OKC Energy has a goal to return to play in their own stadium. Team owners have the land picked out in downtown Oklahoma City but need more money to build the new MAPS 4 multipurpose stadium.

“It was so fun to go to the games,” said Jennifer Ernst, the house team manager at Soccer City. “They were awesome, and the community just supported them.” 

Ernst says when team owners paused play in 2022, clubs like hers noticed. “They coached our youth teams,” Ernst said. “I have two daughters that play club. We still have a couple of coaches from the old Energy team or retired players that chose to stick around but a lot of them did leave, and it has really hurt our youth programs here.” 

Team owners paused play due to not having a regulation-sized field. The new $41 million MAPS4 Multipurpose Stadium would solve that problem, and owners want to put it downtown near Bricktown. “I think that it fits within what a whole lot of people have thought was the right place to put that,” said David Todd, OKC’s MAPS Program Manager.

In a statement, team owners said they “are under contract to purchase an area of undeveloped property south of Bricktown and east of the Oklahoma City Convention Center from the Producers Downtown Development, LLC, 7.2 acres of which will be donated to the City for the stadium.” “I think that the Multipurpose Stadium is certainly an important project just the name of it multipurpose, providing soccer and football games and concerts and those kinds of things, we might even see lacrosse,” Todd said.

Under Maps 4, $41 million is earmarked to build the new stadium. However, team owners said since the 2019 MAPS 4 resolution was adopted, projected construction costs for the planned 8,000-seat stadium have significantly increased. According to the city, the Downtown TIF Review Committee will consider using economic development funds to increase the budget for the stadium from $41 to $71 million. The city says the proposal is contingent on the multipurpose stadium being located downtown. In that case, an additional $30 million in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and other economic development funds could pay for a portion of the stadium’s construction costs. “Right now, we can afford a certain amount of stadium but with additional money we can provide more amenities and more seats, just trying to better the experience,” Todd said.

The OKC Energy FC ownership said in a statement that, “the MAPS 4 Multipurpose Stadium will serve to anchor a mixed-use development including residential, commercial, retail and dining options in a walkable district.”

According to the city, that’s the purpose of MAPS projects like this one. “The stadium is just a piece, so the stadium is a catalyst for this development which is what we always want MAPS to do is catalyze other developments,” Todd said.

The proposal will be considered by the Oklahoma City Economic Development Trust on January 5 and the City Council on January 16.

Meanwhile, while play is paused, the team has retained its USL Championship franchise agreement with the league and will return to play once the stadium is completed.