Oklahoma AthleticsThe Oakland Athletics are looking for a new home. Does Oklahoma have the potential to support Major League Baseball long term. A state supported team in Tulsa would have
less of an interference with the NBA Thunder currently based in OKC.
Could Oklahoma (Tulsa-Oklahoma City) support Major League Baseball (MLB).
Tulsa/Oklahoma City would be the smallest market TV and population wise (Milwaukee's is the smallest) which would include state's two largest markets, currently there are 755,340 OKC and 552,980 TUL; represent 1,308,280 current TV households Nielsen:
https://mediatracks.com/resources/nielsen-dma-rankings-2021/Population Metro OKC 1,425,375/Tulsa Metro 1,006,411 Combined total 2,431,786.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_statistical_areasFacility: ONEOK PARK in Tulsa may have a better expansion capability than any current baseball specific stadium in Oklahoma including OKC's Bricktown Ballpark which doesn't have the capacity capable for expansion beyond 30,000 maximum.
Minor League Baseball isn't a perfect gauge as to how MLB would perform in Oklahoma. However, here are some interesting numbers on Oklahoma's two minor league operations in 2019:
Tulsa Drillers: 374,501 68 5,507
Oklahoma City Dodgers: 444,131 67 6,629
What kind of facility (baseball specific venue) would be needed in Oklahoma.
40,000 - 45,000 minimum seating capacity.
New or upgrades to an existing facility would cost $500 million or more.
Corporate sponsorships: Oklahoma has a good base of Fortune 1,000 corporations/company business in Tulsa/Oklahoma City; a strong casino tribe market throughout the state.
This is the City in Oklahoma with the Most Billionaires:
http://www.purcellregister.com/news/state/this-is-the-city-in-oklahoma-with-the-most-billionaires/article_b79a9d02-c7ad-5f3f-97bc-38521e29b2bb.htmlMeet The Richest People In Oklahoma:
https://www.iheart.com/content/2021-04-09-meet-the-richest-people-in-oklahoma/.
