.@NASLBPeterson introduces the #NASL‘s newest club, @RayoOKC! pic.twitter.com/x1KetLQgFq
— NASL (@naslofficial) November 10, 2015
The North American Soccer League has another expansion franchise, and it isn’t one of the many secondary cities so often kicked around on the league Twitterverse and message boards. Oklahoma City, which saw a NASL expansion bid flame out and a USL franchise – OKC Energy FC – step into the market in its place, will now have a second pro soccer team. The truly shocking part of today’s announcement came with the naming of the team and the unveiling of its co-owners, Rayo Vallecano of Spain’s top flight.
Allow me to preface this by saying two things. First, I adore the NASL for its independent nature, unrepentant expansion into questionable markets, and long list of internationals from second- and third-rate CONCACAF countries. On top of that, I love Rayo Vallecano for beating the drop comfortably in four consecutive seasons against all odds, with a small budget and comparatively tiny fan base, since winning promotion to La Liga in 2010-11.
On paper, this move looks good on the league; partnering with an established pro club from a respected league in global soccer could in theory boost the expansion club’s reputation. However, depending on Rayo’s financial support in a market that seems iffy at best on soccer, is a massive gamble.
Here are five reasons why OKC Rayo represents the riskiest of the NASL’s three expansion teams slated for 2016 (the other two being Miami FC and Puerto Rico FC):
- Rayo Vallecano is not a surefire bet to avoid relegation.
In the Spanish top flight, anybody in the bottom half of the league table at Christmas can be relegated. Los Franjirrojos currently sit 12th, four points clear of safety, have conceded the fourth-most goals in the league, and are relying on 33 year-old Javi Guerra for 60 per cent of their goals. That’s not a recipe for success in any league. If Vallecano find themselves relegated, and lose the relative financial windfall Spanish clubs gain from being in Liga BBVA, they will pull out of North America faster than they sell off their first team.
- The location has minimal soccer interest.
OKC Energy FC, the USL club which just wrapped up its second campaign, averages roughly 4,400 in attendance at Taft Stadium, on the western outskirts of downtown OKC. Rayo OKC will be playing at a 6,000-seat high school football field roughly thirty minutes west of Taft Stadium, which tells you two things; it is far from OKC‘s team, and the area in which the club has chosen to put down roots is the type that builds a 6,000-seat high school football stadium. Oh, there’s also virtually no Hispanics in the county (not that I’m a proponent of the whole ‘latinos-equal-fans’ theory).
For those curious, OKC population 17% hispanic. Canadian County 4%. #RayoOKC#NASL
— Dave Martinez (@EmpireOfSoccer) November 10, 2015
- Rayo Vallecano brand means nothing outside of its Madrid suburb.
As much as I love the Vallecan minnows, nobody cares about the club beyond its Madrid suburb. Even in Vallecas, the club often plays second fiddle to Real or Atleti. Like most teams in Spain outside of the ‘Big 3’, Rayo struggles to fill its own stadium – the second-smallest in the league by a fair margin (14,708). If people throughout the rest of Spain barely recognize the club brand, what good will it do in middle America?
Rayo OKC! I don’t know about you, but when I hear Oklahoma City I immediately think of a militant left wing neighborhood like Vallecas.
— Charlie Nobile (@CharlieNobile) November 10, 2015
Well, I guess there’s that.
- This team is not loaded like Miami FC and Puerto Rico FC.
I call Rayo OKC the riskiest of the NASL’s three expansion clubs set to begin play in 2016 for one major reason: money. Miami FC has boatload of it between co-owners Riccardo Silva and (former A.C. Milan legend) Paolo Maldini. Puerto Rico FC is owned by NBA superstar Carmelo Anthony. One would assume that with the kinds of pocket books involved with the other two clubs, they will have more room for significant financial loss than an until-recently obscure Spanish club’s North American lovechild.
- And the chance has fallen for- Vallecano?!
It’s no secret that Barcelona and Real Madrid are the two international giants smashing their way through Liga BBVA both on- and off-pitch, and that Atletico Madrid gamely tags along despite being lightyears behind the two in brand development and finances. With such a clear gap between those three, plus perhaps Sevilla, and the rest of the clubs in Liga BBVA, why has it fallen to Rayo frickin’ Vallecano to be the first Spanish club to make serious inroads into the North American pro game? If there was any serious opportunity to grow a brand by becoming the majority owner of a stateside start-up club, don’t you think Real or Barça would have gotten on it years ago?
With all that said, I want to commend the NASL for seriously attempting to grow its brand internationally beyond the New York Cosmos. With Minnesota (and almost certainly Atlanta, plus potentially San Antonio) set to depart the league within two-to-three years, the league has to expand as rapidly as possible.
League commissioner Bill Peterson has gone 3-for-3 in his last three ‘expansion at-bats’, hitting a proverbial home run with Indianapolis (2014) and a pair of solid doubles with Ottawa (2014) and Jacksonville (2015), and will need to continue that pace if his league is to reach its lofty target of 20 teams by 2018.
“We’re going to get to 18, maybe 20 teams in the next three to four years.” Bill Peterson on @SoccerMorning re: NASL expansion.
— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) March 31, 2015
