WNBA for Tulsa?

[Laramie]

I will be driving to Tulsa to support Tulsa's WNBA experience.  I will be a season ticket holder.  Looking forward to supporting Oklahoma's second major professional sports franchise. 

I looking forward to this as I did when the Roughnecks were in the North American Soccer League.

Let's hope the city gets behind this franchise.

[Laramie]

?

I would rather watch mens basketball or soccer.  Matter of fact I would rather the city and any possible corporate sponsors put their time and effort nurturing MLS in Tulsa. I am willing to bet far more people would be willing to watch that than Womens Basketball.

Agree with you 100%.   

We had an owner (Bob Funk--Express Sports) here in Oklahoma City who was willing to get an MLS franchise until the AAA RedHawks went on the market.

Bring on soccer to Tulsa, again  I will support it!

[USRufnex]

Well, although I obviously wish this were in Tulsa.... http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3143/2928905192_372d3e3c82.jpg
MLS All Star game next week, Monster Trucks w/ Grave Digger in August...
http://www.riotintostadium.com/index2.php ...

In the tradition of not making the perfect the enemy of the good, I hope this works out....

Investors announce plan to bring WNBA to Tulsa
By JUSTIN JUOZAPAVICIUS, Associated Press Writer Jul 22, 8:11 pm EDT
http://sports.yahoo.com/wnba/news?slug=ap-tulsa-wnba&prov=ap&type=lgns

Sounds like they're already down the road with their plans.  BTW, the WNBA doesn't seem to be in as bad shape as AFL1, which had already cancelled their 2009 season and now may be filing for bankrupcy (doesn't affect the Talons, though)...
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/07/20/afl-heading-for-bankruptcy/

The only way I wouldn't be in support of something like this is if they announced a TV deal with Channel 11 & 13 and played at a second rate arena.... like the Chicago Sky....  

Here's today's PSA from TW's John Klein....

Given the chance, WNBA can succeed
http://www.tulsaworld.com/sports/article.aspx?subjectid=203&articleid=20090723_203_B1_ISDFIU770934

[TURobY]

It's important to note that this doesn't have to be an either/or situation. We could have both WNBA and MLS, and they would still probably both do well, as they aren't really competing fan-bases.

[FOTD]

It's important to note that this doesn't have to be an either/or situation. We could have both WNBA and MLS, and they would still probably both do well, as they aren't really competing fan-bases.

If Nat Gas continues at these prices, which too many say to expect, unemployment will escalate here from %6.8 to over %10.

What happened to reasonable expectations? What happened to being cautious?

Said it before, say it again. Eventually, all entertainment venues will suffer from the over abundance of expensive entertainment....food, drink and the arts.

But, soccer was the king of all attractions in Tulsa at one time. Nobody seems to think it could be successfully replayed. It was magic in the late 70's and early 80's. It was a gas, gas gas....

WNBA? Avg attendance? My guess....2900. Days occupying the BOK? Ford Center will pick up shows that can't get the open date.....

[Conan71]

If Nat Gas continues at these prices, which too many say to expect, unemployment will escalate here from %6.8 to over %10.

What happened to reasonable expectations? What happened to being cautious?

Said it before, say it again. Eventually, all entertainment venues will suffer from the over abundance of expensive entertainment....food, drink and the arts.

But, soccer was the king of all attractions in Tulsa at one time. Nobody seems to think it could be successfully replayed. It was magic in the late 70's and early 80's. It was a gas, gas gas....

WNBA? Avg attendance? My guess....2900. Days occupying the BOK? Ford Center will pick up shows that can't get the open date.....

We haven't hit hurricane season...yet 

NG won't stay this low for long.  There's infrastructure inquiries for projects launching in 6-12 months that suggest the big players are expecting $7 to $10 per mcf in the next 12 months.  Even still, NG was $5-$6/mcf five years ago and u/e was nowhere close to 10% in Oklahoma.  The major players already did their cut-backs last year(ONEOK, Chesapeake).  I've been wrong a time or two, just saying the kind of activity I'm seeing indicates something different than your scenario.  The first six months of this year sucked but there's a lot of buzz in the industry in the last 30 days.  New processing plants that had been on hold are now being fast-tracked to completion and are starting up.

[FOTD]

OT....there's too much nat gas....the shallow horizontal stuff is a huge ponzi scheme...Aubrey is way out on a limb.

Thought NG would go up to $5 by year end....now doubtful. Been smack downed ....get po'ed when they sell it for $2.25 an mcf.

You need Goldman Sachs to push the price up....

UNG?

[PonderInc]

"For fear of failure, he did nothing."  Or what's that other saying?  "If you wait for all the red lights to turn green before you start your car, you'll never get anywhere."

I'm intrigued that a discussion about women's basketball has turned into a debate about the future of the natural gas industry.  (Hey, whatever excuse it takes to be against something...)

Add to that the ability of a women's sports team to "emasculate" an entire city, while simultaneously causing a rash of lesbianism!  Wow!  Who knew!  The Victorians are alive and well in 2009!!!

Personally, I'm excited.  We'll get professional women's basketball...AND great opera (thanks to all the new castrati singers).  (You know, all those eunuchs created by mere proximity to female athletes of superior ability...)

[FOTD]

Good point Ponder....FOTD, being a lesbian, fully supports the Dubya Ennn Beee AAA vers.

[USRufnex]

It's important to note that this doesn't have to be an either/or situation. We could have both the WNBA and MLS, and they would still probably both do well, as they aren't really competing fan-bases.

I would agree with you that the WNBA and MLS don't compete with each other much in huge markets like NYC, Chicago and LA-- other than which league gets more token media coverage... although I think there would be overlap in smaller markets-- and Tulsa would enter as the second smallest market in the WNBA... IOW, I never went to see the WNBA Chicago Sky play at UIC Pavilion back when I lived there, but I would pay to see a Tulsa WNBA team play a few games at the BOk center.  I'd also say there'd be overlap when it comes to corporate sponsorships and such.... when sponsorships dry up in an economy like this, you watch as Arena Football cancels their season and then considers Chapter 11....  

FOTD, not even league worst Chicago had average attendance at 2900.  Average league attendance for 2008 was just under 8,000 fans per game-- 17 regular season home dates each season; all time high was close to 11k per game and all time low was 7,610 fans per game in 2006.

WNBA enjoys jump at gate; TV ratings flat
http://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/article/60088

I'm guessing a Tulsa WNBA team would need to draw at least 6k per game to be considered "successful" -- 8k to 10k would be icing on the cake.  Can Tulsa do this?  Yes.  And with the NBA subsidizing it to the tune of millions of dollars per year, annual operating losses will likely not be much, depending on exactly how one defines the word "much."

What does all this have to do with the price of gas?  Well, although there is a strong  connection between the Thunder and Chesapeake Energy, there doesn't appear to be any overt connection to this WNBA effort so far....  Bill Cameron is an insurance company CEO; And David Box?  http://www.growinokc.com/index.php?submenu=DavidBox&src=gendocs&ref=DavidBox&category=OKCSuccessStories

So..... how much is the expansion fee for the WNBA?  Ten million dollars?
Heck, I'd rather $10mil be spent on the WNBA over the $10mil that was spent on Bing Thom so he could design three manmade islands originally drawn up on a bevnap. 

[USRufnex]

Looks like this is the official website:

Tulsa:  A Major League City
http://www.wnbatulsa.com/

[Conan71]

OT....there's too much nat gas....the shallow horizontal stuff is a huge ponzi scheme...Aubrey is way out on a limb.

Thought NG would go up to $5 by year end....now doubtful. Been smack downed ....get po'ed when they sell it for $2.25 an mcf.

You need Goldman Sachs to push the price up....

UNG?

Yep, ING. CHK has bought some of my Marshall's stash for me, not Gold Man Sacks...dirty, filthy bastards.

$2.25/mcf sounded great 30 years ago, didn't it?

Okay, back OT.  Is it just me or is there some magic that the Roughnecks brought with them that we've not seen since?  Hell, even when the oilers first came back in '92 (did I get that right, Hoss?) the local media did a great job of creating celebrities and characters out of Dougie Lawrence, Tom Korales, Tony Martino, etc.  I don't see that kind of coverage enthusiasm in the local media anymore in terms of creating local sports celebrities.  Does anyone else?  Have I just become ignorant of the local sports scene?  Other than reading about the Driller's pitcher who got called up to the big show this week, I really don't hear the TV or World building any names like Sosa, Palmer, Witt, etc. like they used to.

For some reason I don't think the WNBA is near as well promoted in general as it used to be.  Five years ago, I could have named at least a few of their stars, but I don't have a clue who they are anymore.  I hope if we get a franchise it's succesful and I hope the media will do a good job of promoting the team and creating local heros out of the players.

[Hoss]

Yep, ING. CHK has bought some of my Marshall's stash for me, not Gold Man Sacks...dirty, filthy bastards.

$2.25/mcf sounded great 30 years ago, didn't it?

Okay, back OT.  Is it just me or is there some magic that the Roughnecks brought with them that we've not seen since?  Hell, even when the oilers first came back in '92 (did I get that right, Hoss?) the local media did a great job of creating celebrities and characters out of Dougie Lawrence, Tom Korales, Tony Martino, etc.  I don't see that kind of coverage enthusiasm in the local media anymore in terms of creating local sports celebrities.  Does anyone else?  Have I just become ignorant of the local sports scene?  Other than reading about the Driller's pitcher who got called up to the big show this week, I really don't hear the TV or World building any names like Sosa, Palmer, Witt, etc. like they used to.

For some reason I don't think the WNBA is near as well promoted in general as it used to be.  Five years ago, I could have named at least a few of their stars, but I don't have a clue who they are anymore.  I hope if we get a franchise it's succesful and I hope the media will do a good job of promoting the team and creating local heros out of the players.

Yeah, 92-93.  Doug actually didn't arrive until later that year, but I think the real reason they were really propped was the hiatus of hockey for 8 years, plus our head coach was the freaking NHL Ironman Garry Unger.

But Doug was always good at creating his own press, whether it be getting arrested at a club or in a fight.  Hockey was so much better back then because we had bona-fied tough guys.  The league has gotten so big now (originally it was six, now it's fifteen) that it's really diluted the player pool.  That and the fact that two or three more leagues of the same level got started after the new CHL.

Word I'm hearing now is that there are a lot of NHL clubs wanting to move their affiliates closer to home for whatever reason, and Tulsa is on the radar now that OKC is in talks.  A division would be made of Austin (getting a club either this season or next), Houston, OKC, Tulsa and San Antonio.

Keep Lund away from it and I'd be alright with it.

[AVERAGE JOE]

Thank you for proving my point by using the same rhetorical "soccer is for sissies" implication you tried before....

You got so crazy in a thread from 2006, that Kenosha had to talk you down.... nothing new, though....

This from 2007....
"QUIT MISREPRESENTING MY POSITION, you f*cking liar. Liar, liar, liar, filthy, stinking, pondscum sucking LIAR............................YOU ARE A FILTHY LIAR...........YOU PATHETIC LIAR................ so that's a lousy lie even for a pathological LIAR like yourself.......................LIAR LIAR LIAR."

Still taking the bait so easily. I wouldn't joke about it otherwise.

And that quote from two years ago (let go easily?) was in response to, guess what, your constant lies. I got tired of posting "the sky is blue" and having you claim I posted that the sky is red. Same old tactics from you -- you sling lies about me and my posts over and over, I finally get sick of it and call you on it, and that makes ME the problem child.

[Laramie]

US Rufnex:

Thanks for the addition information about the WNBA and I feel that Tulsa can support both the WNBA and a MLS franchise.

You are very knowledgeable and thorough with your postings and you'll continue to have my support and respect.

Glad to see that you are still around, thanks again!