quote:
Tulsa is upset because they specifically said they had to use demographics from Tulsa to get the franchise but the idea of making it a state team was ludicrous even though something like 40% of the NBA teams are state teams.
I am assuming that you meant to say that only 5 teams (Indiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, Golden State and Utah) in the NBA have state names, and not 40%, because that's all there is. That would actually be 17%.
In addition, the NFL, MLB, and NHL have 5 teams each that do not use city names, for 16-17% of those leagues, as well.
In any event, the reality is that 100% of the teams in all of those leagues depend on drawing from outside of the municipal boundaries of the city in which they play (in fact, some don't even play within the city they are named after) and a lot of them draw from farther away, in both distance and time traveled, than Tulsa is from Oklahoma City. The fact is that it's just not done that often and it doesn't seem like most teams have to worry about offending the ego of its surrounding markets to the point where they feel the need to not honor their host city. Many teams bearing the name of a city ARE in fact that state's team and it's a shame that many in Tulsa seem unwilling to enjoy this new entertainment option coming to the state because it bears the name 'Oklahoma City'.
Given what Oklahoma City has done in order to land this team over the last 15 years combined with the fact that it will play in Oklahoma City, it just makes sense that it would be named after that city. Granted, I guess there are some that have to feel included no matter what their contribution, and it would have been a nice gesture to appease those potential customers, but to insinuate that it is somehow owed to them is kind of bizarre, really.
Hopefully, Tulsa's new arena will attract a major league team and HOPEFULLY it will be named after Tulsa because that city will have earned it and including the name of the city would be the least any owner could do. I certainly know that, even if it gets a state tax break (which I don't think any team should), that having Tulsa in the teams name would be a non-factor in deciding whether I went to watch a game in the beautiful new facility up there. In fact, I think it would be weak to name a Tulsa team after the state. You don't need it and it wouldn’t be the proper thing to do, given your investment. And, honestly, I hope that it happens for Tulsa a lot quicker than it did for Oklahoma City, and, really, it should happen faster, given the better perception generally held of Tulsa than of Oklahoma City.
What's really stupid is how many people in Oklahoma actively root for and support teams in other cities, named after those cities, like Dallas, Kansas City, Houston, St Louis, Chicago, etc. that now say they won't support a team in Oklahoma just because it's named after its host city and not the state. Some here are even going to root against it, because they feel so burned and left out.
It's just so funny what a non-issue this should be, but not surprising when you consider that it stems from one of the biggest non-issues in existence: the Oklahoma City / Tulsa "rivalry".
