Editor’s Note: This piece was submitted by Special Guest Contributor, Jordan Beech, best known to readers as the man behind Total USL.

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the North American Soccer League unveiled their second attempt at a team in Oklahoma City on Tuesday afternoon in the OKC suburb of Yukon, about 20 minutes west of the city proper. As I’m sure you do know, there is currently a United Soccer League-affiliated team present in that city, OKC Energy FC.

Undoubtedly, there are many opinions about this, but mine comes from a special place. I’ve lived the Oklahoma soccer scene my entire life having been born and raised in the OKC area. I’ve watched failed attempts to bring MLS to the metro back when I was in middle school, and I’ve witnessed Premier Development League games and the first-ever international friendly between the Club America U-20s and that PDL team. Needless to say, my opinion on this new NASL iteration, Rayo OKC, is at least theoretically as good as any you’ll read, and maybe better because I’m tapped into the local roots.

Now, let’s start off with a brief little history lesson about Bob Funk Jr. and Brad Lund. The two operated the Oklahoma City Blazers, a semipro hockey team, where Funk was the owner and Lund the general manager. In 2008, after nearly 17 years of service to Funk, Lund was, in his own words at the press conference, fired.

The two would come to another crossroads, this time for the hearts and minds of the soccer public, starting back in 2013. That year, the OKC PDL side, OKCFC, looked to move into USL PRO. Oklahoma City FC was managed by Lund. A more successful bid by a Funk-led group eventually got the USL PRO franchise rights, and so Lund and Sold Out Strategies went to the NASL and got a franchise in a higher division. That NASL franchise faced many false starts, lost a principal owner in Tim McLaughlin to the Funk-led Energy, and with it the rights to Taft Stadium, appearing for all intents and purposes to be another false start for a professional soccer team that had seen several die since the 1980’s.

Well, over the last 18 months, minority owner Sean Jones and Lund have been meeting with Raúl Martín Presa, the owner of Rayo Vallecano of La Liga fame, and the second coming of the NASL to OKC movement was born. I was there Tuesday, amidst the media, the high school soccer players, families, friends and kids, to see the events unfold as NASL Commissioner Bill Peterson unveiled the newest franchise in the second tier of the American soccer pyramid as the league rushes to meet Division 2 certification requirements regarding geographic footprint and total number of clubs.

Honestly, it could be a great thing for soccer in my beloved Sooner State, but the Energy is already here. I really don’t see there being a real threat to the soon-to-be third-year club who just recently reached the Western Conference Finals of the USL Playoffs. Here’s why.

First things first, you have to have a product to place on the field. While I was unable to get much information on how many Vallecano players would be loaned to Rayo OKC, it can’t possibly be enough to field a whole team. Sure, they have roughly five months to build a team, and they certainly aren’t entirely behind the 8-ball with the backing of a La Liga team, but they don’t have a coach yet and thus overarching player acquisition policy could be spotty given the general lack of soccer efficacy Lund has.

Secondly, they are playing their games in Yukon Miller Stadium on the campus of Yukon High School. Sure, as Lund points out, Canadian County (where Yukon is located) is one of the fastest growing counties both in terms of population and income in the state of Oklahoma, and nowhere in the OKC metro area is more than 20 minutes away on the turnpike system, but that ignores a trend across America’s soccer landscape.

Teams are beginning to move into the city centers; just ask the Energy and Tulsa Roughnecks. Sure, the Energy play out of a high school stadium, and don’t get me started on the Roughnecks playing in a baseball stadium, but they are both in downtown locations. Soccer has started targeting men and women that are in their 20’s and 30’s and don’t necessarily live in the suburbs. Playing matches in Yukon, which is pretty much one of the most basic suburbs in the entire Oklahoma City metro, neglects what should be the target audience.

Third, Lund went with the political answer when asked about whether the city could support two clubs, saying that he hoped supporters would cheer for both clubs. That’s just not realistic. Season tickets are an investment, regardless of how much Rayo OKC wants to dub themselves “The Fans’ Team” and keep the ticket prices low. The committed groups are most likely going to go with the team that has been established for going on three years now, not the group that can provide “higher level” soccer, but has already proven susceptible to false starts on a regular basis. I could be wrong, but brand awareness is a big deal, as well as goodwill, and the Energy possess that in vast quantities compared to Rayo.

If we’re being honest, Oklahoma City just can’t support two teams. The OKC Thunder of the National Basketball Association are the big ticket, and effectively killed off Funk’s other team, the OKC Barons, another semipro hockey team. Sure, attendance was up for the Energy this season, and undoubtedly some of that had to do with the success the team had on the field and how much more literate Prodigal’s ownership is becoming with the supporter base. But the Thunder were also awful last year due to injury, and ultimately missed the NBA Playoffs. That freed up 18,203 sets of plans come May and June, and the uptick in attendance at Energy games can probably thank that snake-bitten basketball team for some fans.

Rayo OKC is an awesome idea, in theory. In reality, part of me leans towards it being a continuation of the cat fight between Lund and Funk. With Sold Out Strategies’ experience operating a Women’s Premier Soccer League team that reached the Final Four of the WPSL Tournament this past summer, I really wish they would have gone the National Women’s Soccer League route. The team would have enjoyed overlap fans throughout the season and it wouldn’t seem like such a blatant turf war. I wish Rayo OKC the best, because I want anything related to my hometown to succeed, but I don’t see it happening.