I politely disagree.
I just want professional soccer in Tulsa. The Athletics games were fun, but it was not the best product.
The Tulsa Athletics have a team in the 4th division of the American soccer hierarchy.
The Tulsa RINOs
(Roughnecks-in-name-only) will play in the 3rd division of the American soccer hierarchy.
Neither will be "the best product," so your poo-poo-ing of an Athletics team that never lost a game in the summer of 2013 rings hollow, Michael.
The A's had better average per game attendance than more than half of the USL Pro's clubs in 2013.
The players were amateurs, the referees let fights happen during the game and on the sidelines, and the games never even started on time.
Three cheap shots in one sentence-- very impressive.
1. Our squad has the best players from TU, ORU, RSU and NSU along with a smattering of former professionals who have played at both the USL Pro level (Charleston Battery) and the MLS and NASL level (Daniel Wasson played for both the Colorado Rapids and Minnesota along with a couple of German squads). Current NCAA players lose eligibility if they play on the same team with paid players, so it is to our competitive advantage to be designated amateur.
2. You're talking about a single game in June where the refs lost control of the game. If you think that won't happen from time to time in USL Pro, you probably need to have your head examined. (FYI, the game in question drew over 3,700 fans, which is more fans than the average attendance for all but two of the USL Pro's thirteen teams.)
3. Our very first game had around a thirty minute delay-- because over 3,200 fans showed up when we figured the turnstile count would be closer to 2,000. A couple of other games had delays of around 15 minutes to accommodate a surprisingly large walk up crowd, not to mention the occasional snafu with sharing fairgrounds parking lots with horse trailers and Winnebagos.
The league was two teams from Houston and a team from Plano. To make a season, they played those same three teams four times each. There was no investment into the fan experience. When you sang the national anthem, no one could hear you because of cheap audio equipment.
This season, we play our division rivals twice and four teams from an all-Texas division once each.
To say there was "no investment into the fan experience" is an OUTRIGHT LIE.
Food trucks, fun for the kids, a beer garden... I could go on and on.... were there errors in our first season of play--- yes.
The problems were largely addressed over the course of the season.... if you went to every game the way you said you did, you'd know this.
The concessions were some food trucks parked on the other side of the stadium that no one went to.
Concessions were available where they always have been at the old ballpark.
In addition to those options, food trucks were parked in such a way that you could still watch the game while waiting in line for food or a beer.
It was completely underfunded. Grassroots is a polite way to say doing everything cheap.
You don't spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to finance a first year team in an amateur league... you just don't.
However, I invite anyone reading this to come see us this year... the field is in much better shape, got new kick-donkey goals, and have spent the off season learning from our shortcomings last year.
AND..... the sightlines at our stadium will be infinitely better than having primo seats on the third baseline at OneOk Park only to find out that the sidelines in the soccer setup are way over on the other side of the pitcher's mound... good luck with that...
Compare that to OneOk field with top notch food and beer options, seats with actual backs, a big screen TV, and even luxury boxes. The league is tier three professional (same as the Drillers).
Yes... and all at taxpayer expense. Lower level seats at the fairgrounds are no different than at OneOk... the upper level at the old ballpark has bleacher seats with "actual backs."
Comparing tier three soccer to double A baseball is like comparing apples to cadillacs... there is none.
Tier three is the lowest level of professional soccer in existence in North America.
The "amateur" Tulsa Athletics are one step below that..... well... at least for next summer.
The downtown location and new stadium alone will make it a better experience for the fans. It is incredibly presumptious of you to say that baseball fans and baseball teams owners can't possibly want to have a great soccer team and product. Your judgement of others disappoints me.
I watched Drillers fan scoff at our booth at the Blue Dome Arts Festival last May on their way to the game.
After witnessing this first hand, I believe diehard Drillers fans will be doing a lot of complaining about field conditions in summer 2015, especially in the outfield.
The Athletics didn't invent soccer in Tulsa. There have been two other times when teams named Roughnecks have started and failed the last twenty years here. They failed because they tried to do everything without any money (sounds familiar).
None of those teams averaged 3k per game...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulsa_Roughnecks_%281993%E2%80%932000%29And the Tulsa Roughnecks team from 1997-99 were???... wait for it........ third division, which is why so many of the Athletics fans don't like the idea of calling them the Roughnecks.
I will support the dreamers (Sonny & Dr Kern) over the schemers (the Drillers).