Former U.S. Soccer star Jozy Altidore is investing in an Oklahoma City United Soccer League (USL) team set to re-launch in 2028 with a new stadium as part of a $1 billion entertainment district.
Altidore and his longtime business partner Alex Lee join nine-time NBA All-Star Russell Westbrook on the cap table headed by financial firm Echo and its founding partner and CEO Christian Kanady, who says he is a “fifth generation Okie.”
“The alignment with Christian and Echo was really important for me, looking at what they’re trying to do in a city that means so much to them,” Altidore said in a video call. “As a player, you see what works and what doesn’t in development and youth development, and this gives us a chance to build something from the very start.”
Oklahoma City had a USL team that played in a pre-World War II stadium and went on hiatus in 2022. The re-launch will include a venue with more than 10,000 seats that meets MLS standards, with $121 million of public money directed towards the stadium. The city is also nearly fully funding the new $1 billion arena for the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder set to open in 2028.
Echo is planning for the stadium to be the centerpiece of a $1 billion mixed-use development, which will include retail and hospitality experiences, a music campus and public green spaces. It will be two blocks from the Thunder’s arena. Westbrook, who played 11 seasons for the Thunder and won the 2017 NBA MVP there, invested in the OKC soccer project in 2024. Other investors include the Chickasaw Nation Tribe and Nick Gross, son of bond king Bill Gross.
Oklahoma City is one of the fastest growing major cities in the U.S., and it now ranks as the 20th largest in the country by population.
“This is a city with a population on the rise, diverse, well run, well capitalized, and then lastly, a sports city,” Kanady said. “What we are building with Jozy [answers the question of] how do you take college football and the NBA, and add a third love language of sport, all kind of clustered in a downtown area.”
Altidore, 36, announced his retirement from soccer in 2023 following an 18-year pro career that spanned MLS, LaLiga, Premier League, Süper Lig, Liga MX and Eredivisie. His 42 career goals for the U.S. men’s national soccer team are the third most all time, behind Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan, both at 57.
Altidore and Kanady first connected in early 2025 when Altidore was looking at soccer opportunities in the U.S. and abroad. “I wanted to be really delicate with the project that I chose to do stateside, being my background as an American soccer player,” Altidore said. “I wanted to do something that had a sense of a differentiator in a lot of ways.”
Off the field, Altidore has been an active sports investor. In 2024, he became an equity partner in the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, alongside former NBA stars Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter. Other investments include TGL/TMRW Sports, SailGP and the NWSL’s Bay FC.
In early 2024, Altidore invested in Sogility, which operates youth soccer training facilities and utilizes a proprietary tech training platform. Lee is the company’s CEO, and Altidore serves as its chief strategy officer. Echo will invest in Sogility as part of his alliance with the investment firm, and Sogility’s training methodology will be integrated into the Oklahoma City teams.