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Although minor league attendance is not always an accurate gauge, good attendance which is exhibited by the Tulsa Roughnecks FC shouldn't be overlooked along with its competition (Tulsa Athletics). NASL Roughnecks of the late 70s & early 80s had averages of 12,000-16,000 to a high of 20,000 which is comparable to the MLS today.
Tulsa (969,224) has roughly 1 million in its metro area today which is an adequate base to support MLS. Same concerns the NBA had with markets like Memphis (1,343,230), Oklahoma City (1,336,767). New Orleans (1,251,849) & Salt Lake City (1,153,340) which possess slightly over 1 million metro population.
NOLA supports both the NFL & NBA. The million population markets in the NBA have shown they are capable thru their attendance and corporate support. An MSL Tulsa Roughnecks franchise would gain name-recognition much like the NBA Thunder has done in OKC.
Roughnecks need to make a strong MLS run. We are demolishing OKC in attendance and we have two teams in town.
Good point!
Tulsa Roughnecks FC - 4-5-2vs. Oklahoma City 03/28 - 8,335
vs. St. Louis 04/02 - 3,335
vs. Austin 04/04 - 5,067
vs. Seattle II 04/16 - 4,025
vs. Portland II 05/30 - 5,755
Average Attendance = 5,303 In town competition: TL - Tulsa Drillers attendance average 5,804
In town competition: NPSL - Tulsa Athletics attendance average (?)
Oklahoma City Energy FC - 6-2-3 vs.
Seattle II 04/18 - 6,797
vs. St. Louis 04/25 - 4,383
vs. Sacramento 05/23 - 3,717
vs. Austin 05/31 - 4,293
vs.
Portland II - 3,133
vs.
Vancouver II - 3,300
Average Attendance = 4,273In town competition: PCL - Oklahoma City Dodgers average attendance: 6,610
Sources:
USL game
stats:
http://www.uslsoccer.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPID=157014&SPSID=917141&DB_OEM_ID=32800&DB_OEM_ID=32800PCL 2015 attendance:
http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=l_att&lid=112&sid=l112TL 2015 attendance:
http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=l_att&lid=109List of 381 largest Metro Area populations:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Metropolitan_Statistical_Areas