OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) 鈥� The United Football League will add an expansion team in Oklahoma City to begin play in the spring of 2028, the league announced Thursday.
The team will play in a downtown multipurpose stadium that is scheduled to open that same year with a capacity of just over 10,000.
League co-owner Mike Repole said the NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder鈥檚 success and the state鈥檚 support for the Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Tulsa college football programs made the destination an easy choice. The league considers Oklahoma City 鈥渙ne of the most glaring vacancies on the professional football map.鈥�
Repole said the fact that the announcement is being made two years ahead of time speaks to his confidence in both the league’s direction and the Oklahoma City market.
鈥淲e鈥檙e excited by this,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he United Football League is here to stay. Football is king right now and we鈥檙e going to build a really great spring football league that people are excited about, and by the time we get to Oklahoma, we鈥檒l be another season in and you guys are going to be really excited about what we have as a league by 2028.”
Repole said the playing facility is the only hangup. Echo Investment Capital, an OKC-based multistrategy investment firm, will manage the new stadium when it opens. Groundbreaking is set to take place in June.
鈥淚 think Oklahoma and Oklahoma City is going to be a great market,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou guys know your football, you love your football and I wish the stadium was built yesterday because I would have been there already.鈥�
The league that counts Dwayne 鈥淭he Rock鈥� Johnson as a co-owner kicked off its spring season last month with eight teams. Repole said the UFL will add at least one more team before the start of the 2028 season to bring the total to 10.
鈥淥klahoma City welcomes the UFL to our championship city鈥� Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt said in a statement. 鈥淲e love sports and we love football, so we think this should be a great fit. We have always said that the MAPS 4 Multipurpose Stadium opens up new opportunities for our city, and this is a perfect example. We look forward to the UFL鈥檚 arrival in 2028.鈥�
Because of the UFL鈥檚 connection to the former United States Football League, it owns the rights to the Oklahoma Outlaws name 鈥� the USFL team that played in Tulsa in 1984. Repole said that name is a possibility, but others also will be considered.
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