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OKC United's name borrows from one of the more common names associated with football clubs worldwide.
Their announcement video, posted on Instagram and shared at the State of the City, starts with the reason why it's a fitting name for one of the newest United Soccer League team to enter the scene:
"As Oklahomans, working together as one is in our DNA. One community, one family, one spirit destined to overcome."
But getting to the name was a process similar to that of naming the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2007, before their first season.
Here's how OKC United got their name and what this means for the future of the beautiful game in Oklahoma.
After OKC Energy FC officially closed their doors in 2022, the wake left a community still hungry for soccer.
OKC For Soccer, a community-led campaign to bring professional soccer back, had a naming campaign in 2025 to help decide the future of the brand. Some names were left on the cutting room floor, including the "OKC Onion Burgers FC," "Flying Cows SC" and "Flaming Lips Football Club" all as nods to different parts of Oklahoma and Oklahoma City.
More: Oklahoma City's new pro soccer team officially unveils its name, logo
While naming the team "Russell Westbrook FC" would've been a nice way to pay homage to one of the future part owners, ultimately the crew landed on five names that were the "top contenders" for the position:
OKC Bison FC, OKC Lightning FC, OKC Thunderbird FC, OKC Wind FC and the winning ticket, OKC United.
"FC" is a typical attachment to soccer teams, shorthand for "football club," but "United" was the lone name without the moniker. Though lots of questions can arise on what Oklahoma City needs to be united for.
Yet, as Mayor David Holt explains it's not a need to be united because already a common thread throughout the city.
“OKC is a community that works together to find common ground. Our unity is how we have built ourselves into America’s most dynamic city. And nothing brings us together like our sports teams,” Holt said in a press release.
Designer Matthew Wolff set out to create a logo that is "long-lasting and bigger than soccer" with OKC United's crest. Wolff's credits include numerous sports teams, like Los Angeles FC, Minnesota Twins and FC Tulsa.
The shield that adorns the midnight blue, pink sunset and ivory cloud team colors forms an arrowhead shape. The nod to Oklahoma's Native American past is not the only note to the 39 tribes with headquarters in Oklahoma, as the OKC logo sits at the center of a sun made of sun rays honoring each of those tribes.
“A crest is more than a logo. It’s a mirror,” Westbrook said in a news release. “It has to reflect the city, the people and the club all at once, and it has to earn its place on a uniform. Oklahomans are proud and resilient. They don’t need to be told what they’re a part of — they feel it. That’s what this crest is built on … When you see it, you know it’s OKC.”
The final note on the crest pays homage to Jim Thorpe's Sac and Fox name, Wa-Tho-Huk, meaning “Bright Path." The inside lining of the crest shows that life's journey may not be a straight line, but more.
Each color of the crest, instead, gives credit to the "United" name, according to Christian Kanady, majority owner of the club.
“It doesn't matter where you live, what you do or where you came from — when we look up, we all see the same colors in the sky,” Kanady said. “The same beauty. Those pink Oklahoma sunsets are unlike anywhere else on earth. The sky became the foundation of our color palette and the emotional through-line of the identity.”
The choice for midnight blue and pink as the primary colors were not the colors that fans often pitched to the OKC for Soccer campaign in 2025. According to a post, the top wishes were a similar blue to the Oklahoma flag, a red to reflect the red dirt and bright sunsets and a green to honor the sprawling landscape.
The 10,000-seat stadium where OKC United will play is expected to open in 2028, when the team will make its debut in the championship division of the United Soccer League — the second-best league in the U.S. behind Major League Soccer. It’s the same league OKC Energy FC competed in. The Energy suspended operations in 2022.
The stadium is funded by the city as part of MAPS 4, but Kanady donated the land in lower Bricktown on which the stadium is being built.
Contributing: Joe Mussatto
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Why did OKC United pick that name? See the naming, design process
Continue reading...
Their announcement video, posted on Instagram and shared at the State of the City, starts with the reason why it's a fitting name for one of the newest United Soccer League team to enter the scene:
"As Oklahomans, working together as one is in our DNA. One community, one family, one spirit destined to overcome."
But getting to the name was a process similar to that of naming the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2007, before their first season.
Here's how OKC United got their name and what this means for the future of the beautiful game in Oklahoma.
Why is the team named OKC United?
After OKC Energy FC officially closed their doors in 2022, the wake left a community still hungry for soccer.
OKC For Soccer, a community-led campaign to bring professional soccer back, had a naming campaign in 2025 to help decide the future of the brand. Some names were left on the cutting room floor, including the "OKC Onion Burgers FC," "Flying Cows SC" and "Flaming Lips Football Club" all as nods to different parts of Oklahoma and Oklahoma City.
More: Oklahoma City's new pro soccer team officially unveils its name, logo
While naming the team "Russell Westbrook FC" would've been a nice way to pay homage to one of the future part owners, ultimately the crew landed on five names that were the "top contenders" for the position:
OKC Bison FC, OKC Lightning FC, OKC Thunderbird FC, OKC Wind FC and the winning ticket, OKC United.
"FC" is a typical attachment to soccer teams, shorthand for "football club," but "United" was the lone name without the moniker. Though lots of questions can arise on what Oklahoma City needs to be united for.
Yet, as Mayor David Holt explains it's not a need to be united because already a common thread throughout the city.
“OKC is a community that works together to find common ground. Our unity is how we have built ourselves into America’s most dynamic city. And nothing brings us together like our sports teams,” Holt said in a press release.
Explaining the OKC United crest
Designer Matthew Wolff set out to create a logo that is "long-lasting and bigger than soccer" with OKC United's crest. Wolff's credits include numerous sports teams, like Los Angeles FC, Minnesota Twins and FC Tulsa.
The shield that adorns the midnight blue, pink sunset and ivory cloud team colors forms an arrowhead shape. The nod to Oklahoma's Native American past is not the only note to the 39 tribes with headquarters in Oklahoma, as the OKC logo sits at the center of a sun made of sun rays honoring each of those tribes.
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“A crest is more than a logo. It’s a mirror,” Westbrook said in a news release. “It has to reflect the city, the people and the club all at once, and it has to earn its place on a uniform. Oklahomans are proud and resilient. They don’t need to be told what they’re a part of — they feel it. That’s what this crest is built on … When you see it, you know it’s OKC.”
The final note on the crest pays homage to Jim Thorpe's Sac and Fox name, Wa-Tho-Huk, meaning “Bright Path." The inside lining of the crest shows that life's journey may not be a straight line, but more.
Each color of the crest, instead, gives credit to the "United" name, according to Christian Kanady, majority owner of the club.
“It doesn't matter where you live, what you do or where you came from — when we look up, we all see the same colors in the sky,” Kanady said. “The same beauty. Those pink Oklahoma sunsets are unlike anywhere else on earth. The sky became the foundation of our color palette and the emotional through-line of the identity.”
The choice for midnight blue and pink as the primary colors were not the colors that fans often pitched to the OKC for Soccer campaign in 2025. According to a post, the top wishes were a similar blue to the Oklahoma flag, a red to reflect the red dirt and bright sunsets and a green to honor the sprawling landscape.
When OKC United start?
The 10,000-seat stadium where OKC United will play is expected to open in 2028, when the team will make its debut in the championship division of the United Soccer League — the second-best league in the U.S. behind Major League Soccer. It’s the same league OKC Energy FC competed in. The Energy suspended operations in 2022.
The stadium is funded by the city as part of MAPS 4, but Kanady donated the land in lower Bricktown on which the stadium is being built.
Contributing: Joe Mussatto
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Why did OKC United pick that name? See the naming, design process
Continue reading...
