KansasCity.com has a lengthy rundown on the upcoming Kansas City Wizards-OnGoal Soccer Stadium and Retail Development called The Trails.

I like these new KC owners - young, good soccer attitude, risk takers, and dreaming big.

“Soccer is the world’s game. OnGoal LLC, owner of the Kansas City Wizards, is determined to make it as much a part of the local sports landscape as the Chiefs and the Royals.

“We learned a lot about the sport from Lamar Hunt, who founded the Wizards,” said Robb Heineman, chief executive of OnGoal, which bought the Major League Soccer team from Hunt Sports Group in 2006. “He believed soccer has a pathway to becoming the No. 2 sport in the United States over the course of the next 20 years, and we bought into that vision.”

But the long-term success of the Wizards, which kicked off a 14th season in Kansas City this month, largely depends on an ambitious plan by OnGoal to build a soccer-specific stadium as part of TheTrails, a billion-dollar development at the site of the former Bannister Mall. Tight credit and a slumping retail market make the project anything but a free kick.

Team executives, however, are cautiously optimistic.

“It is more complicated than anyone will ever know,” said Greg Cotton, executive vice president and general counsel for OnGoal. “I know everything is trending very positively, but this is like assembling a 747 — every part has to fit in place for the thing to fly. I want to see this succeed so badly I can taste it. But until the fireworks go off on opening day, I’m not going to celebrate.”

In the meantime, OnGoal is working aggressively to build a championship-caliber team while solidifying its fan and sponsorship base.”

Much more at KansasCity.com

Image via BP