The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

New sports venture to be announced Wednesday
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsext...cle_b820e238-67c9-11e3-bd60-0019bb30f31a.html

The Tulsa Drillers have called a news conference for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday to announce a new sports venture for the city of Tulsa. Several local dignitaries are scheduled to speak. The press conference will be conducted in the Conference Center at ONEOK Field, 201 N. Elgin Ave.

Any thoughts on what it could be?

Tulsa set to get USL Pro club as third-tier expansion continues to build steam
http://soccer.si.com/2013/12/18/mls-usl-pro-tulsa-nielsen-kansas-city-sacramento-oklahoma/

From my office view of ONEOK Field, they have a soccer field outlined in the stadium.  So I'm guessing they'll be playing games there?  The seasons look to overlap so I'm guessing there will have to be some detailed scheduling, but it'll mean that stadium will be very active over the spring, summer, and fall.  Pretty exciting if you ask me.

That is very exciting.  Although I don't like the idea of playing soccer on a dirt infield. The schedule runs concurrent with the Texas League, from late March until September.  I don't see any way around the infield problem. I wish we had a real soccer stadium, although the location is terrific!

Well, the Tulsa World article says they are going to sod the infield before each game.  Interesting.  They are taking $25 deposits per seat for season tickets already. http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportshomepage1/tulsa-granted-pro-soccer-franchise/article_5539a64e-681b-11e3-a266-001a4bcf6878.html

This can actually work quite well.  It did in my hometown of Rochester when the Rhinos soccer team successfully played in the new triple A baseball stadium before there was even a commitment to build the soccer specific stadium that they play in now.

Lots of information on facebook page...

https://www.facebook.com/tulsaprosoccer?ref=notif&notif_t=fbpage_fan_invite

(http://uslprotulsa.com/images/tulsaticketpage.jpg)

Athletics nation- There will be an announcement today that in 2015 a group calling themselves the "Tulsa Roughnecks" will enter the picture in our town as a USL Pro team. I would like to make it clear where the Athletics stand on the matter. Firstly, the Roughnecks name is something that is very special to me personally. As a child I was one of many who was profoundly affected by the team coming to our city. Their presence here is the sole reason that I played soccer as a child, professionally, and is essentially the impetus to the forming of the Tulsa Athletics. Victor Moreland is like a father to me. I played for Steve Earle in my youth. I count Billy Caskey and Charlie Mitchell as friends. And like many, I've shared a cold beer with "the boomer" Alan Woodward. The Roughnecks name is sacred to me and to this city.

That being said...The Tulsa Athletics want to bring an MLS franchise to Tulsa. We've been clear about that from the beginning. We are your team. Your support affirms that the love for the game still runs strong through the veins of Tulsa and is the sole reason why we work as hard as we do for this club. Today's announcement as interesting as it may seem, does not actually affect the way we'll approach anything. We're still going continue to improve our stadium, grow our fan base, and put a fantastic product on the field. I am a Tulsan. A proud one at that. If a group from Oklahoma City thinks that Athletics Nation is going to lay down and quit, then they have read myself and Tulsans all wrong. We made a commitment to you to bring top level soccer to Tulsa, and we will carrying on doing that. Like a former Roughneck just told me on the telephone, "Just because they're called the Roughnecks, doesn't make them the Roughnecks".

Yours in soccer,
Sonny Dalesandro

Ruf. I knew that this announcement was going to sting. I had not heard anything about the team being called the Roughnecks. Who owns the rights to that name?

But the team doesn't have a name yet, so how can they be the Roughnecks?

So have the soccer wars begun?  Are we gonna be asked to take sides?  Fans of each team gonna hate each other?  Doesn't seem real conducive to trying to attract the MLS.  Is the possibility of the new team being called the Roughnecks the major beef here?

Uh Oh. Looks like we have opened up a can of Smoot!

GO SONNY!!!!

To clarify, the group representing the new USL team is the "Tulsa Roughnecks."  This is not the team name, as I thought there was an upcoming naming contest or campaign to choose the nickname.

+1

Also, from yesterday's Tulsa World print edition:
"Prodigal LLC has filed the name "Roughnecks" with the U.S. Patent office, but other sources told the Tulsa World that rights to the name are in dispute."