NFL

[CORNholio]

With the NBA likely coming to OKC (or so it seems). Just wondering if any of yall would support the NFL if it ever (unlikely but) made a home here as well.
Humor me.
I would especially if they got a couple of ex-sooners.

[walkoffsooner]

you bet even with out sooners

[AllAboutThe'O']

Maybe OKC can build a stadium near or close to downtown and give it a corporate name. How does Sonic Field grab you?

[soonerboomer93]

I'll take college football over NFL any day of the week, it's just more fun to me.

but I don't live in Oklahoma

[StoopTroup]

Sonics still haven't won a game.

103-101 against the Jazz....close but no cigars!

[StoopTroup]

Maybe OKC can build a stadium near or close to downtown and give it a corporate name. How does Sonic Field grab you?
Isn't that one of the clinchers to get the Sonics?

I saw an interview with the owner that said the Ford Center was a good Temporary Facility but that to move to OKC they're going to need to commit to a new Facility.

[Okla-homey]

Have you heard Celine Dion is already booked for Tulsa's new BOk Center? CELINE DION people!;)

[sooneron]

The nfl product generally stinks.
Why do the Sonics think they need another arena?

[Harry Beanbag]

Isn't that one of the clinchers to get the Sonics?

I saw an interview with the owner that said the Ford Center was a good Temporary Facility but that to move to OKC they're going to need to commit to a new Facility.


Seriously? I've never been in the Ford Center, but it looks pretty nice and should be large enough for an NBA team. Arco Arena in Sacramento has plywood stairs between sections for God's sake.

[BillyBall]

Why do the Sonics think they need another arena?

I was thinking the same thing, I thought that the Ford Center was supposed to be sufficient. Another "Maps" project I suppose, would the new arena be in the general vicinity of Ford/Myriad?

[royalfan5]

Seriously? I've never been in the Ford Center, but it looks pretty nice and should be large enough for an NBA team. Arco Arena in Sacramento has plywood stairs between sections for God's sake.
I would guess that the OKC ownership would want an arena that is well above nice to avoid ending up like Seattle when they essentially a new arena built in 94-95(only the roof trusses remain from the original incarnation of that arena) that ends up badly outdated a decade later, and has a less than competitive lease deal.

[King Crimson]

Have you heard Celine Dion is already booked for Tulsa's new BOk Center? CELINE DION people!;)

for some reason people pay out their wazoo to see that horse faced skeleton.

i watch the NFL because it's football, but after nearly 40 years on this earth there is almost nothing that will make me ever care about it.

i'd rather watch Baylor and Iowa State play than the holy holy Colts and Pats.

[sooneron]

I was thinking the same thing, I thought that the Ford Center was supposed to be sufficient. Another "Maps" project I suppose, would the new arena be in the general vicinity of Ford/Myriad?
OKC, the only place with two airports named after guys that died in a plane crash and we have more arenas downtown than anyone, EVAR!!!

I can't think of another area that they'd want to put an arena.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

The nfl product generally stinks.
Why do the Sonics think they need another arena?


The Ford Center is an OK facility when being compared to other NBA arenas but its nothing special. Probably amenity wise, its a bottom tier arena. The only places I have been to see an NBA game is Dallas, Indiana, Houston, San Antonio and OKC so my view is pretty limited.

One of the good things about when the Hornets were here was the price of a ticket. I m interested to see what the Sonics will charge compared to what the Hornets did.

[bluedogok]

It was built for about $100 million at the time when others where built in the $250-350 million range. It is not as nice as those and was never meant to be in the original concept. I have been to games at The Ford Center and the American Airlines Center in Dallas, the AAC is real nice if you are in the lower bowl. We went to an Avalanche-Stars playoff game there and sat in the upper bowl and it sucks for functionality up there. The circulation has too many tight points for the light wells to the lower level and the restrooms are crammed into nooks and seem to be an afterthought. The Ford Center just works better, of course I might be a little biased since I used to work for the company that did the project. All I did on the project was the design of locker rooms for the Oklahoma Wranglers before they were contracted, I don't know if they used any of it for the Yard Dawgz as I was down here in Austin by then.

There are plans to upgrade the arena in amenities in the interim if/when the Sonics move. The theory is for a replacement for The Myriad in the 10-15 year range, at that time The Ford Center would be 15-20 years old.

[stoops the eternal pimp]

It was built for about $100 million at the time when others where built in the $250-350 million range. It is not as nice as those and was never meant to be in the original concept. I have been to games at The Ford Center and the American Airlines Center in Dallas, the AAC is real nice if you are in the lower bowl. We went to an Avalanche-Stars playoff game there and sat in the upper bowl and it sucks for functionality up there.


I ve only sat in the lower bowl at the AAC but I see what your saying about the upper level.

As far as what the Ford Center was built for, it has done an excellent job. I wasn't disrespecting your craftmanship at all.:D It just wasn't built to be an NBA arena when it was built

[handcrafted]

The Ford Center will be fine for at least 10 years or so, they might have to remodel the interior a bit, but it's big enough and it has the stuff.

I agree that the next step would be to demolish the Myriad (I still call it that) and build a new one on that site.

[Jimminy Crimson]

We'll have a new arena within 5 years. Especially if the Sonics start playing in the 405 next season.

[StoopTroup]

Again...I think that's what it's going to take to seal a deal in OKC.

Folks may think the Ford Center is good enough...but the Owner clearly is leaving Seattle as Seattle doesn't think they need a new Stadium.

If he wants a situation where the fans or the City don't want to cater to him and the Sonics...he could just stay in Seattle.

[Petro-Sooner]

Why do the Sonics think they need another arena?


Dont get me started. ;)

[Mixer!]

The FC was originally built to house an NHL expansion team, and to let OKC host the Big12 and NCAA BB tourney games. I talked with a gentleman who's well connected in the hockey circles, and he told me that the FC was the kind of arena that the NHL had just spent the last 15 (now 20) years trying to get their teams out of. There are too few luxury suites to help a franchise maximize its profitability. That, plus the small TV market size is why the NHL opted to go to Columbus instead.

The NBA will want a new arena with a basketball-first seating arrangement, and likely double the number of luxury suites that the FC has (remodeling is out of the question).


EDIT: To answer the original question, no. An NFL team would detract from the Sooners (consider SMU's place in their pecking order prior to the Cowboys taking root in Dallas).

[bluedogok]

I ve only sat in the lower bowl at the AAC but I see what your saying about the upper level.

As far as what the Ford Center was built for, it has done an excellent job. I wasn't disrespecting your craftmanship at all.:D It just wasn't built to be an NBA arena when it was built
I didn't have anything to do with it, I was on a different project team and didn't work on the building at all. Only the locker rooms that were never built. I did have one project in OKC at the time, the JDM Place building renovation in Bricktown.

It was designed in compliance with both NHL and NBA specs at the time. Yes, it is a compromise between the two sports and one always comes in higher in the pecking order as far as which one is the focus of the design. Just look at the LNC, it was designed as a multi-purpose arena, multi-purpose means it can do a lot of things, just nothing particularly well. I would still rather have more of a "fieldhouse" type of building and atmosphere for basketball.

The suite situation in OKC is much different than that in Dallas or other larger markets. I don't think having a bunch of empty suites does the team any good in terms of revenue and when we went to a Hornets game last year I saw plenty. That may change some with a permanent team but I don't see the need for the same number of suites in OKC that I see in Dallas or any of the major markets.

The Ford Center even as it was built was desperately needed, The Myriad was 30 some years old and showing its age and the seating capacity was below the threshold that attracted the bigger name concert tours. If a new arena is built with the Ford Center being 15 years old it will be a much better situation for the city to attract the larger events like the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments. It would also be very attractive in luring larger conventions once the downtown hotel rooms are increased.

For all that The Ford Center lacks, the fact that it was paid for and no debt on opening day was the most attractive thing about it. While Dallas is stuck with paying off the debt on the AAC for 30 years it (and an ineffective city gov't.) kept it from getting Jerry World to replace the Cotton Bowl. Seattle faces the same situation with Key Arena, they paid way too much to polish a turd and did nothing to help the Sonics out in revenue streams. The Starbucks Baron made the mistake of agreeing to a ridiculous lease for what little polishing that the arena received. Most of those revenue streams that teams rely on in other markets went to the city, he was stupid for negotiating that bad of a lease.

SMU is a small private school in Dallas, the comparisons between the two are not equal. If anything OU football would still continue to sell and the NFL team would be more affected by it than OU would. OU is established, SMU never was as established as the Cowboys even when they had a larger player payroll. They never sold out the Cotton Bowl or Texas Stadium that I recall. The death penalty killed what they had established, the only people who care about SMU football now is the small number of alumni they produce.