@OP:
Of course 4Kids believe they can turn it into a huge phenomenon. Otherwise they wouldn't invest so much time in the dub. The problem is most of the general public is just not getting into it…at least the one's with the Nielsen boxes that is.
Such is an illustration of corporate stupidity, if anything. The Naruto and Bleach fandoms are massive and fanatical on the internet; outside Arlong Park and EastBlue, the OP following is barren. OP is an ideal property for 4Kids, but we all saw how Funi's DBZ dub (during the Cell Saga, no less) was upstaged by the Pokemon craze from 1998-2000, so why bother with OP, aside from boasting rights. Inu-Yasha, Bleach, and Naruto, which are all Japanese historical/cultural/romanticised culture programmes are the hottest Anime tickets now, and apparently have been for a long time. Yet, I do not see, outside of Pokemon (which took a Japanese cultural turn in the Johto saga) anything "ethnic" for 4Kids. Is this part of the localization policy?
Also, I have been wondering why OP took so gosh darn long to license. Truely, America has been decades late in producing material (Battle of the Planets, Voltron, Robotech came out in the early 1990's), but we pretty much hit a groove with the Sailor Moon, YYK (original) and DBZ dubs of the 1996-1997 era, and Pokemon was dubbed before it became a massive hit.
In comparison for the length of the OP license (six years is huge for a modern Anime, especially one like OP), Naruto was grabbed a mere two something years afterward. Bleach is likely to be licensed in a few months, unless the rumours of "Tite Kubo wanting the manga/anime to finish before releasing it to the US" are true. Probably not.
Methinks Alabastia might have had a hand in influencing OP's licensing; if this is true, the reason companies steered clear of the series (East Blue) is exactly where 4Kids has had its stumblings. Outside of the Little Garden cut, which was done to have Chopper themed with Christmas, Grand Line shows massive improvements over any single arc of East Blue.
Bad things to come when Skypiea rolls around.