Tulsa was mentioned as a possible destination for the Pittsburgh Penguins. It's definitely not likely, but it's nice to hear someone from outside Tulsa consider T-Town as a major league city.
Article: http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2722259
It'd be sort of a compliment, if the NHL wasn't in such a shambles.
Interesting story.
The owner of Express Services is very wealthy and he likes hockey enough to talk about buying a team. That is the kind of opportunity that might just work.
There is a big difference between minor League hockey and the National Hockey League. The game is so much faster at the higher level.
There is also a big difference in ticket price. OKC blazers have $9 tickets and the cheapest Penquins ticket is a third balcony seat for $35.
I am just not sure if Oklahomans are ready to pay major league prices for major league games over a whole season.
We'd have horrible attendance, but I'd be one of the...5,000 or so there. Every game. It's just not a good idea though...
[^][}:)]
All that talk is dead....Okc is off the Pens radar as well as Tulsa which was never on it....
I prefer the NHL to the NBA, fwiw.
I think we could support a team. Very little competition for the sports dollar here in Tulsa, plus it opens up the league to NW Arkansas as well...I like the thought.
TU hoops, Drillers, OU Football. That's about all that's worth mentioning.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070103/ap_on_sp_ho_ne/hkn_sprint_center_penguins
quote:
"The future of the franchise in Pittsburgh has been in question since last month when the Pennsylvania Gaming Commission rejected a slot application by Isle of Capri Casinos, which had promised to build a $290 million arena for the Penguins if its bid was approved."
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"We are meeting with officials in Kansas City today as part of our effort to explore all of our options regarding a new arena," Lemieux said in a statement on the team's Web site. "We have heard many great things about their new building, which is scheduled to open in time for the start of the 2007-08 NHL season."
Pittsburgh plays in the 45-year-old Mellon Arena, the NHL's oldest venue, and would have to stay there for several more years even if a new arena deal in Pittsburgh could be reached. The franchise's current lease expires in June.
The $276 million Sprint Center is under construction and set to open in the fall. The facility, which will seat about 18,000, is searching for an anchor tenant but has already sold out its 72 luxury suites. The arena is a public-private partnership between the city and Anschutz Entertainment Group, which also manages the NHL's Kings and STAPLES Center.
Kansas City is believed to be the first city to extend an invitation for a visit to Lemieux and the Penguins' ownership team. Other cities that have expressed interest in the Penguins are Houston; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Portland, Ore.; and possibly Oklahoma City.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07012/753298-61.stm
quote:
Despite the much heralded rent-free offer in Kansas City, Mr. Ganis views it as an "above average deal and that's it. The reason for that is it's not a great market.
"As it stands right now, I don't see it as a great relocation opportunity other than a building being under construction right now. But it's a thoroughly mediocre market," he said.
If Mr. Ganis thinks Kansas City, a metro area without an NBA team, is "a thoroughly mediocre market," what would he say about Tulsa?
Whatever, Tulsa Oilers are the best thing going!
[B)][^]
Based on what?
I was told by a hockey talent scout in Wisconsin that Oklahoma, especially Tulsa, has always been a inexplicably popular area for hockey. That is how we've had the oilers for so long and even 2 minor league hockey teams at one point recently.
Chances are, you might find more people willing to buy hockey tickets than soccer, even with beckham fleeing into the U.S.
quote:
Originally posted by USRufnex
Based on what?
Hockey being the second greatest sport ever, behind the greatest of all...lacrosse.
[^]
quote:
Originally posted by sgrizzle
I was told by a hockey talent scout in Wisconsin that Oklahoma, especially Tulsa, has always been a inexplicably popular area for hockey. That is how we've had the oilers for so long and even 2 minor league hockey teams at one point recently.
Chances are, you might find more people willing to buy hockey tickets than soccer, even with beckham fleeing into the U.S.
That guy fed you a spoon full of poop.
No one here really cares about hockey, except a few of us geeks who like superior sports.
Tulsa has had pro hockey since 1928. The early years of the Oilers were in the American Hockey Association, a league that competed with the six team (at the time) NHL. Tulsa even played for The Stanley Cup champions in 1930 as a one game inter-league "championship".
Wikipedia rules, huh?
[:o)]
quote:
Originally posted by deinstein
Wikipedia rules, huh?
[:o)]
That's not where I got my information
quote:
Originally posted by deinstein
That guy fed you a spoon full of poop.
No one here really cares about hockey, except a few of us geeks who like superior sports.
There are actually 5 area high schools that have club hockey teams. (They can't be school sponsored because of Title IX).
My father and I have season tickets for the Tulsa Ice Oilers. He goes to every game.
I go to a handful a year and he takes my kid or a nephew to a handful.
We love hockey and I am amazed at how many people I know at the games. I see the police chief, my former city councilor, neighbors, even people I used to work with at every game.
I love baseball because of the strategy and constant adjustments. I love football because of the physical pounding of fighting for every inch of real estate. But I love hockey because it is a breathtaking spiral of constant action.
The intricate patterns and weaves of players for position and the speed of the breakaway shot is so exciting. Watching the players make precision timing to attack without being offsides is wonderful. There is nothing better than a perfectly executed power play where the puck goes to every corner with skaters flying by the net distracting the goalie.
And they occasionally drop their gloves and fight like they really mean it.
Hockey is great.
Compare Tulsa's hockey attendance stats to OKC's...
http://www.mib.org/~lennier/hockey/leagueatt.cgi?league=CHL
quote:
Originally posted by USRufnex
Compare Tulsa's hockey attendance stats to OKC's...
http://www.mib.org/~lennier/hockey/leagueatt.cgi?league=CHL
I'm not saying that Tulsa will outpace OKC, but the two figures will likely be a lot closer together when the arena is finished? When it comes to pro sports, part of the product is the facility the team plays in. No matter what the event is, people would rather go to the BOk Ctr. than the Convention Ctr.
quote:
Originally posted by perspicuity85
quote:
Originally posted by USRufnex
Compare Tulsa's hockey attendance stats to OKC's...
http://www.mib.org/~lennier/hockey/leagueatt.cgi?league=CHL
I'm not saying that Tulsa will outpace OKC, but the two figures will likely be a lot closer together when the arena is finished? When it comes to pro sports, part of the product is the facility the team plays in. No matter what the event is, people would rather go to the BOk Ctr. than the Convention Ctr.
And Tulsa has finished at or near the bottom of it's division more often than not for most of the last ten years. I think Tulsa has only made the playoffs once in the last five years? OKC nearly always finished in first.
The Ford Center was constructed in 2002... the Oklahoma City Blazers attendance at the Myriad compared to Tulsa's...
1998-99 CHL Average per game Attendance
Oklahoma City 8,779
Tulsa 4,640
1999-00 CHL Attendance
Oklahoma City 9,413
Tulsa 5,319
2000-01 CHL Attendance
Oklahoma City 9,097
Tulsa 4,809
2001-02 CHL Attendance
Oklahoma City 8,849
Tulsa 4,333
The only thing this NHL in Tulsa talk is about is Express Sports's collective ego...
And I grew up with the Ice Oilers and the Drillers/Oilers...
Like I said, very few care about hockey here.
And even less care about an MLS expansion team.
[}:)]
Excuse me... when, exactly... did YOU prove this... because I beg to differ.
When has Tulsa hosted an NHL exhibition game and how many fans did it draw? The last NHL exhibition game in Kansas City drew 12,686 at Kemper Arena... still LESS than what TULSA drew for its MLS exhibition game...
Express Sports tried to lure MLS to OKC/Edmond... they hosted TWO exhibition games... the first one at Wantland Stadium in Edmond, played the last week of March 2003, drew 9300 fans on a Saturday night... Tulsa's game sponsored by Winnercomm and the Tulsa World drew 14,000 the following Saturday afternoon... the second MLS exhibition game in Edmond a year later only drew about 7500 fans...
WE SOCCER FANS are HERE... in Tulsa... whether you choose to believe it or not...
State high school soccer... clean sweep... Jenks, Kelly, Cascia... girls and boys...
Like I say... you told us you were leaving Tulsa a few weeks ago... move along little doggy... [}:)]
quote:
Originally posted by USRufnex
The Ford Center was constructed in 2002... the Oklahoma City Blazers attendance at the Myriad compared to Tulsa's...
1998-99 CHL Average per game Attendance
Oklahoma City 8,779
Tulsa 4,640
1999-00 CHL Attendance
Oklahoma City 9,413
Tulsa 5,319
2000-01 CHL Attendance
Oklahoma City 9,097
Tulsa 4,809
2001-02 CHL Attendance
Oklahoma City 8,849
Tulsa 4,333
The only thing this NHL in Tulsa talk is about is Express Sports's collective ego...
And I grew up with the Ice Oilers and the Drillers/Oilers...
Those Okc numbers are severely padded.....
Seems unlikely since Express Sports runs both teams?
quote:
"We have very successful [Central Hockey League] operations in Tulsa. Our operations over there are doing very well and they have been for a long time."
OKC's Express Sports and the Oilers have a partnership with the Professional Bull Riders... Tulsa's Winnercomm has promoted the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's (PRCA) Xtreme Bulls Tour... former mayor LaFortune was intensely criticized for giving a sweetheart deal that would benefit Tulsa's Winnercomm... so Express Sports pushed for the city to match that deal for the PBR...
http://pbrnow.com/media/press/release.cfm?ID=827
http://sports.espn.go.com/prorodeo/xtremebulls/news/story?page=x_news_Winnercomm_TakesOver_051208
If OKC's numbers were padded in an effort to appeal to the NHL, I wouldn't be shocked. But it frankly doesn't sound like something Express Sports would do... they didn't pad attendance for exhibition games for NHL and MLS...
But if we want to talk about padding attendance...
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060514/news_lz1s14zeig.html
And this eye-opening article on attendance padding at MLS makes Tulsa's crowd of 14,000 in 2003 look even more impressive...
http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/soccer/20060927-9999-lz1s27goal.html
Follow the money...
Express Sports does not run the Tulsa franchise.....
Would you guys please stop baiting the soccer guy? AJ, I'm looking in YOUR direction. These debates they're just so moot, and so tiring.
Hey, anyone want to go play some soccer? Fake some injuries, etc. It'd be fun.
MLS for life!
[}:)]
I like the debates.
The soccer guy has done a great job selling soccer and doing his research.
I am still totally in favor of baseball stadium versus soccer stadium downtown, but he makes good, well-thought out arguments.
Keep up the discourse.
quote:
Originally posted by Floyd
Would you guys please stop baiting the soccer guy? AJ, I'm looking in YOUR direction. These debates they're just so moot, and so tiring.
What did I do?? I haven't even posted in this thread! [:O]
quote:
Originally posted by recyclemichael
I like the debates.
The soccer guy has done a great job selling soccer and doing his research.
I am still totally in favor of baseball stadium versus soccer stadium downtown, but he makes good, well-thought out arguments.
Keep up the discourse.
Well, he has to. He's arguing for soccer.
Minor league mafia....
Of course, deinstein has NEVER even attempted to answer my question...
and over the summer, he made a quip that the only way MLS could be successful, is if it signed name players.... now, he's dancing on the head of a pin, insisting Tulsa doesn't deserve a team...
leave Tulsa already, deinstein... like you said you would.
Thank you.
I think the MLS would be successful if they signed players in their prime, not pulling a Pele New York Cosmos on us and signing Beckham and Ronaldo. Those are just publicity stunts and it makes a joke out of the league. They'll still never be on the level of something like the EPL even if they did sign players in their prime though.
By the way, why can't they keep Adu from leaving for Europe? Answer that.
Soccer is less a contact sport compared to football or ice hockey, but is still more physical than baseball and probably basketball.... hated the dives in the World Cup... MLS doesn't have that problem...
I thought Freddie Adu had been traded to Salt Lake City...
The NASL didn't just pull a "Pele New York Cosmos" on us...
Pele retired after the 1977 season...
Tulsa started play in '78... the NASL had many over-the-hill stars... Beckanbauer, Johann Cruyff, Carlos Alberto, etc... and also had some foreign players in their prime... the Pele-less NASL had its best year in 1980-- teams in Tampa and Vancouver drew over 25,000 fans per game... teams in Atlanta and Philly drew less than 5,000 fans per game... the problem for Tulsa was that all our fans were novices who wouldn't have known the difference anyway... Manchester United played in Tulsa in 1978... but the game attracted a crowd of less than 6000 fans at Skelly, since nobody in Tulsa knew who ManU was at the time...
If the NASL had simply stopped at Pele and concentrated on the development of American players rather than hype soccer in America as "the Sport of the 80s," the NASL could have survived...
2006 price of an NHL team in Pittsburgh = $175 mil
2005 price for MLS's 14th expansion team $15 mil
So, you could hypothetically build a stadium for $70 mil AND buy an MLS team for about half the price of an NHL team...
The NASL overhyped, overspent and overexpanded... MLS has the opposite set of problems...
quote:
Originally posted by Floyd
Would you guys please stop baiting the soccer guy? AJ, I'm looking in YOUR direction. These debates they're just so moot, and so tiring.
Using 20/20 hindsight, they were probably moot starting February 2006......... but the shovels still haven't hit the dirt in the "east village," "east end," "east...?"... have they???... [}:)]
quote:
Originally posted by deinstein
Hey, anyone want to go play some soccer? Fake some injuries, etc. It'd be fun.
MLS for life!
[}:)]
Oh, and my last NHL game... last year got great seats from my employer for a Chicago Blackhawks game against Vancouver...
There was a fight right before the game started... almost as if it were STAGED...
Yeah, NHL... Jerry Springer on ice complete with cheap Hammand organ music and mullets... [;)]
The National Basketball League has had their share of fights lately. Do you think that Americans just need to have some fights as part of their sports?
I have to say this about soccer...the players actually want to get hit in their heads by the ball.
quote:
Originally posted by USRufnex
Soccer is more physical than basketball....
Myth.
Lie.
I said this:
"Soccer is less a contact sport compared to football or ice hockey, but is still more physical than baseball and probably basketball."
When a basketball player takes a dive, we call it "taking a charge". And elbows can fly in both sports...
(http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/41780000/jpg/_41780300_mcbride270.jpg)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2006/4853182.stm
The NHL Penquins are now looking at Houston.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070123/ts_alt_afp/ihockeynhlpenguins_070123182406
Tulsa joins growing list of suitors for Penguins
Minor league hockey team owner in Oklahoma hopes to lure Penguins with 18,000-seat arena
Thursday, February 01, 2007
By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
As state and local officials try to complete a deal to keep the Penguins in Pittsburgh, another city could be in the hunt for the team if those efforts fail.
Bob Funk, president and chief executive officer of Express Personnel Services Inc., told a Tulsa, Okla., newspaper that he has an interest in bringing the Penguins to that city if a deal falls through in Pittsburgh.
Mr. Funk, owner of the Oklahoma City Blazers hockey team, previously was part of a business group looking to invite the Penguins to Oklahoma City to play in the Ford Center. That invitation never materialized.
In Tulsa, the 18,000-seat BOK Center currently is under construction, with a scheduled opening in 2008.
According to the Tulsa World newspaper, Mr. Funk said he has formulated a plan to try to bring the Penguins to that city. He said he hoped to talk to Penguins co-owner Mario Lemieux about a possible relocation.
Mr. Funk could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Tulsa is just one of several cities that could be in the running for the team if local efforts fail. Kansas City, with the $276 million Sprint Center getting ready to open this fall, is the presumed frontrunner should the team leave Pittsburgh. Officials there have offered the team a free arena, no construction costs, and half the building revenues.
Houston also has an interest in the team. While Oklahoma City did not extend an invitation to the Penguins, there may still be interest in bringing the franchise there.
The Penguins declined comment yesterday.
As cities line up to try to lure the team away, the team continues to talk to Gov. Ed Rendell, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato about reaching an agreement that would keep the franchise in Pittsburgh.
While public officials continue to express confidence about completing a deal, no formal negotiations have been scheduled, although the two sides are exchanging information and proposals.
Mr. Ravenstahl said the parties could talk on a conference call later this week, but he added nothing has been scheduled yet.
"They're having conversations. I have not heard about any blowups so I guess that's a good thing," said state Sen. Wayne Fontana, a board member for the city-county Sports & Exhibition Authority, which is involved in the negotiations.
"Everything seems to be positive. There's been no negative conversations or statements by anybody, which I think is a positive sign. Some agreement could be reached any day now."
The state and local politicians are hoping to complete a deal under Plan B, a funding formula that includes $14.5 million a year for 30 years in slots gambling-related revenues, plus an annual contribution from the Penguins. Mr. Rendell has said the team contribution is now a "fraction" of the $2.9 million a year the Pirates pledged toward PNC Park.
In his interview with Tulsa World Sports Columnist Glenn Hibdon, Mr. Funk said three or four other franchises could be interested in relocating to the BOK Center, but that he had his sights set on the Penguins.
"Pittsburgh has Sidney Crosby, the brightest young star in the NHL in many years," he said. "They have great young players and they should be a strong team for many years to come."
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(Mark Belko can be reached at mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262. )
Wow, now someone will think there is a whole other reason for the fiberglass penguins.
The "Tulsa Penguins."
I'd go.
Oklahoma City's CHL attendance figures are not padded.
I occasionally go to games, I prefer that both Oklahoma City and Tulsa join Houston and San Antonio in the AHL.
Oklahoma City once average 10,300 fans during one of their CHL seasons.
This league is considered AA. Believe me, the CHL isn't even close to be considered AA.
I hope that Tulsa will get an AHL franchise; because that is the only way that OKC would leave the CHL.