According to the Omaha World-Herald, efforts to bring a USL team to Omaha are taking shape.
The owner of the minor league baseball Omaha Storm Chasers, Gary Green, has tentatively agreed to lead an ownership group to bring USL to Omaha. The group would also be tasked with building a soccer specific stadium as well. USL has been attempting to launch a team in Omaha for almost a year now but at the moment, Green’s involvement is in the exploratory phase and he has yet to sign any official paperwork to take on ownership responsibilities.
It is known that at least eight markets are in the mix for USL expansion between 2019 and 2020 but it is unknown if Omaha has an official application in at the moment. Green is in the process of finding other investors for the team while also figuring out a temporary home while a stadium is being built. USL requires that all of its teams either are playing in soccer-specific stadiums or that they have plans to do so by 2020.
“I think there’s a pumped-up demand for soccer in the city,” Green said.
Green states that other investors are involved but he declined to name them at this time. USL is asking for expansion fees around $5 million with at least a $2.5 million operational budget.
There is a short history of professional soccer in Omaha as the Omaha Flames and the Omaha Vipers both folded after playing for a few years. However, the Flames played in the PDL while the Vipers played in the MISL. Omaha is home to minor league hockey, minor league baseball, and college sports, leaving the market open for USL to succeed.
Starting to see a trend here. According to the 2010 Census, there were 275 cities in the US with populations of 100K or more. By the end of the decade, that would be around 300 cities. Each of them should have at least one USL level club.
I bet the profit margin of owning a minor league club in the USL is actually higher than MLS. MLS franchises are worth more because of the hefty expansion fees plus television money. Salaries would be much lower in USL both for players and staff. I don’t know if USL has a union, and they probably don’t. A team playing in a full 7-10K stadium or larger probably could make decent money.
Join the party Omaha!