The ongoing legal dispute between the owners and operators of OKC FC and the United Soccer Leagues (USL) may be decided outside of the court room.
According to a document filed July 26 in US District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma, “the parties are currently considering whether alternative dispute resolution may provide a solution to their dispute.”
Additionally, sources with knowledge of the situation, who are not authorized to publicly comment, advised Eastword News the dispute is being mediated by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF).
As a result, Eastword News contacted USSF Spokesman Neil Buethe for comment. Buethe provided the following response when asked if USSF is mediating the OKC soccer dispute.
“We are aware of the situation,” he said. “We are not going to comment about ongoing litigation.”
The lawsuit was filed on June 28 by attorneys representing the plaintiffs, who are the owners and operators of OKC FC. They are Sold Out Strategies LLC, Brad Lund, Debray Ayala, Sean Jones and Donna Clark.
The plaintiffs are represented by Kiran Phansalkar, Mitchell D. Blackburn, Victor F. Albert, and Crystal A. Johnson of Conner & Winters LLP.
The defendant, USL, is represented by Leonard Court and Daniel P. Johnson of Crowe & Dunlevy.
Eastword News sought comment from both the parties named in the lawsuit along with their attorneys.
However, neither the parties nor the attorneys commented as of press time.
In addition to the original complaint that was filed June 28, attorneys for the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint July 12.
According to the local US District Court rules, each opposing party has 21 days to respond to file a response. However, this rule does not specify whether the allotted 21 days allowed for response are business days or calendar days.
The original deadline to respond to the lawsuit was July 29.
However, USL’s attorneys requested an extension of the deadline to Monday, Aug. 19, (equal to 20 days) in the July 26 filing.
Meanwhile, the plaintiffs through their attorneys objected to this motion.
Instead, they proposed a 10-day extension of Thursday, Aug. 8.
However, the presiding judge ruled on the motion Aug. 2.
US District Judge Joe Heaton granted the defendant’s motion as follows: the defendant shall answer or otherwise plead by Monday, Aug. 12.
Background
First, OKC FC is an amateur men’s soccer team that plays in the Premier Development League (PDL).
The PDL is owned and operated by the USL. The USL also operates a league called USL PRO.
USL PRO is the third highest division of professional soccer sanctioned by USSF.
In this structure, Major League Soccer (MLS) is the top division of American soccer.
Meanwhile, the North American Soccer League (NASL) is the second division.
Eastword News has obtained a copy of the USSF Pro League Standards. It accompanies this story on our website, www.eastwordnews.com.
A review of public records
Court documents show that the plaintiffs, acting as OKC PDL, LLC entered into an agreement with USL for a PDL franchise Dec. 11, 2012.
Included in the court filing is a copy of the Franchise Agreement.
Second, the lawsuit further alleges that, “In addition to a men’s amateur team, OKC PDL had expressed a desire (both before and after the execution of the Franchise Agreement) for a franchise to operate a men’s professional soccer team in Oklahoma City.”
Thirdly, another party bid for a USL PRO team, at which time USL gave OKC PDL an opportunity to place a bid themselves.
At that point, OKC PDL through their attorneys allege that the franchise fee for a USL PRO team had doubled from $250,000 to $500,000.
Eastword News has obtained copies of the USL franchise filing documents from October 2009 to March 2013 through the public California Electronic Access to Securities Information and Franchise Information online database.
These documents show that franchise fees for a third division men’s professional soccer team with the USL have changed in the aforementioned time period.
The franchise fee for this division ranged from $100,000 in 2010 to $500,000 in 2013. The 2012 fee was $250,000 as shown by documents filed March 12, 2012. Meanwhile, the $500,000 fee is listed in documents filed March 26, 2013.
The complaint goes on to allege that, “After the application had been submitted, however, the USL curiously went completely ‘silent’ and stopped returning OKC PDL’s phone calls and emails.”
As a result, the group, along with new member, Tim McLaughlin, submitted an application for an NASL franchise.
The other party to bid on an Oklahoma City USL PRO franchise appears to be Prodigal, LLC. Prodigal was granted a USL PRO franchise July 2.
Then, on June 17, the competing groups both presented lease proposals for Taft Stadium to the Oklahoma City Public Schools Board.
The board selected the proposal from OKC PDL and Tim McLaughlin.
Furthermore, the lawsuit states, “four days later, OKC PDL, Mr. Jones, Ms. Clark, Mr. Lund and Mr. Ayala, each received a letter from the USL’s attorneys threatening to sue each of them if they did not immediately abandon the idea of a NASL men’s professional team in the Oklahoma City area.
As stated later in the complaint, “The USL contends that a NASL men’s professional team would be in competition with OKC PDL’s amateur team even though the USL apparently sees no problem with the USL putting a USL men’s professional team in OKC PDL’s Protected Territory."
“In addition to threatening to sue Plaintiffs, the USL has sent letters to both the Board and Mr. McLaughlin. The USL threatened to sue Mr. Laughlin if he did not immediately ‘disassociate’ himself from Plaintiffs. The USL tried to persuade the Board to change its mind and give the Taft Stadium lease to the USL’s new franchisee," as stated in the complaint.
The complaint states that the members of the OKC PDL group have backed away from pursuing an NASL team in Oklahoma City due to the ongoing legal issues.
Separately, McLaughlin was awarded the OKC NASL franchise as its sole owner July 25.