When is Tulsa Going to Get a Pro Sports Team?

[Jamalia]

I am so sick of Tulsa not having an NBA, MLB, NHL or NFL team! I mean, is it that small of a market? At least OKC got an NBA team recently, but how about Tulsa? Where is a petition to get this going? I wonder how many signatures you would need to actually get things rolling in some way. Or is it all about what rich person will buy a team and put it in Tulsa?

[Rattle Trap]

It's mostly about a wealthy individual or group buying a team and placing it in Tulsa. To do that it has to be worthwhile financially and if you look at regional pro teams the market just unfortunately isn't there. With football, we're too close to Kansas City and Dallas. Basketball, too close to OKC. Baseball is the same story as football except baseball is kind of a dying sport. Etc.

The OKC Thunder have been successful in a small market because they draw not only Oklahoma as a whole, but also a large fan base from other neighboring states. That and the fact that they had players like Kevin Durant and Westbrook who receive international attention. That jumpstarted the organization's popularity.

Soccer is slowly gaining in popularity across the country though so that could be an option in the future.

[shavethewhales]

OKC is much more in-line to receive an MLS expansion team. As far as sports are concerned, Tulsa will always be a third-rate city. OKC/Dallas/KC are bigger and close enough to cover the market. The best we can hope for is to get a proper minor league team for SOMETHING. I wish we still had the Thunder B-team at least.

[heironymouspasparagus]

We won't.  We have shown repeatedly that we really don't want one all that bad.  Or there would be one already.

[Jamalia]

It's mostly about a wealthy individual or group buying a team and placing it in Tulsa. To do that it has to be worthwhile financially and if you look at regional pro teams the market just unfortunately isn't there.

That is kinda what I thought, makes sense, but frustrating to be sure.

[Oil Capital]

It's mostly about a wealthy individual or group buying a team and placing it in Tulsa. To do that it has to be worthwhile financially and if you look at regional pro teams the market just unfortunately isn't there. With football, we're too close to Kansas City and Dallas. Basketball, too close to OKC. Baseball is the same story as football except baseball is kind of a dying sport. Etc.

The OKC Thunder have been successful in a small market because they draw not only Oklahoma as a whole, but also a large fan base from other neighboring states. That and the fact that they had players like Kevin Durant and Westbrook who receive international attention. That jumpstarted the organization's popularity.

Soccer is slowly gaining in popularity across the country though so that could be an option in the future.

It's at least as much about the size of the market.  The smallest current NBA market is 34% larger than Tulsa.  The smallest Major League Baseball metro is about 58% larger than Tulsa.  Aside from the unique situations of Green Bay, Buffalo and New Orleans, the smallest metro with NFL is more than 50% larger than Tulsa.    The only possibility in the foreseeable future is MLS and that's a very long shot.

[TulsaRufnex]

OKC is much more in-line to receive an MLS expansion team. As far as sports are concerned, Tulsa will always be a third-rate city. OKC/Dallas/KC are bigger and close enough to cover the market. The best we can hope for is to get a proper minor league team for SOMETHING. I wish we still had the Thunder B-team at least.

Tulsa is a significantly better market for soccer (under the right conditions) even though our metro population is smaller than the OKC metro area.
Tulsa consistently shows up on Top 10 Nielsen ratings for soccer on TV, while OKC does not.
https://deadline.com/2019/06/womens-world-cup-ratings-fox-sports-thailand-1202631488/
http://www.giltedgesoccer.com/womens-world-cup-tv-social-highlights/
https://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/from-world-cup-ratings-to-youth-participation-soccer-is-huge/article_0c9ee994-e34a-5328-bc9b-1a6b38534704.html

The difference?  OKC/Bob Funk Jr's Prodigal Sports bought Tulsa's USL territorial rights for a professional team in their league and then peddled them to the Drillers' owners, who never had any previous interest in soccer.  It's as if OKC Energy wanted the Drillers to run a team that calls itself the "Roughnecks" because they knew the Hubbard brothers would only be willing to pay a fraction of the player salaries that Funk Jr and company were/are willing to pay to field a competitive team.... so we have a minor league version of a one time major league franchise that has never had a winning season, has had two seasons where they've finished DEAD LAST in their conference, and this season they are in 17th out of 18 teams in the USL Western Conference.  So, a team that far outdrew the Energy in its first season is not competitive enough to be worth watching anymore...
https://www.uslchampionship.com/league-standings  (check out "Select a season" and look at Tulsa's records in 2016 & 2018 as well as this year's standings... ugh)

Sorry, but any civic narrative claiming that OKC is capable of supporting two major league franchises (NBA & MLS?) while Tulsa is incapable of supporting any is a false narrative.
http://www.fieldofschemes.com/2019/08/07/15130/oklahoma-city-soccer-team-owner-wants-tax-money-for-new-stadium-because-economic-boost-and-diversity/

Meanwhile, Tulsa County needlessly destroyed a 10k seat stadium, a stadium more than capable of hosting a high level pro soccer team as first tenant with far better viewing angles to watch a game than the soccer viewing angles at ONEOk Park... not to mention a team playing there that has never had a losing season in our seven years of existence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT_KPWnybug

[heironymouspasparagus]

Tulsa is a significantly better market for soccer (under the right conditions) even though our metro population is smaller than the OKC metro area.
Tulsa consistently shows up on Top 10 Nielsen ratings for soccer on TV, while OKC does not.
https://deadline.com/2019/06/womens-world-cup-ratings-fox-sports-thailand-1202631488/
http://www.giltedgesoccer.com/womens-world-cup-tv-social-highlights/
https://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/from-world-cup-ratings-to-youth-participation-soccer-is-huge/article_0c9ee994-e34a-5328-bc9b-1a6b38534704.html

The difference?  OKC/Bob Funk Jr's Prodigal Sports bought Tulsa's USL territorial rights for a professional team in their league and then peddled them to the Drillers' owners, who never had any previous interest in soccer.  It's as if OKC Energy wanted the Drillers to run a team that calls itself the "Roughnecks" because they knew the Hubbard brothers would only be willing to pay a fraction of the player salaries that Funk Jr and company were/are willing to pay to field a competitive team.... so we have a minor league version of a one time major league franchise that has never had a winning season, has had two seasons where they've finished DEAD LAST in their conference, and this season they are in 17th out of 18 teams in the USL Western Conference.  So, a team that far outdrew the Energy in its first season is not competitive enough to be worth watching anymore...
https://www.uslchampionship.com/league-standings  (check out "Select a season" and look at Tulsa's records in 2016 & 2018 as well as this year's standings... ugh)

Sorry, but any civic narrative claiming that OKC is capable of supporting two major league franchises (NBA & MLS?) while Tulsa is incapable of supporting any is a false narrative.
http://www.fieldofschemes.com/2019/08/07/15130/oklahoma-city-soccer-team-owner-wants-tax-money-for-new-stadium-because-economic-boost-and-diversity/

Meanwhile, Tulsa County needlessly destroyed a 10k seat stadium, a stadium more than capable of hosting a high level pro soccer team as first tenant with far better viewing angles to watch a game than the soccer viewing angles at ONEOk Park... not to mention a team playing there that has never had a losing season in our seven years of existence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT_KPWnybug

Make a soccer co-op.  Get all the soccer fans in NE OK together and make a team, kind of a Green Bay thing...publicly owned-ish.   Start it out on kickstarter.  If there are that many who would really support it, then they should all willingly put in a few hundred dollars.  If that doesn't work, it just shows we won't support a major league team.