Tulsa Shock - Standing Room Only!

[PonderInc]

Just had to post this one...

The Shock's first game is sold out, and they're selling standing room only tickets.

Remember all the grumpy naysayers?  "Nobody will come.  Nobody cares.  Nobody wants to see women's basketball...etc, etc..."

It appears that the grumpy naysayers are wrong again.

Shocking.

[Conan71]

I don't recall the post now, someone else please link, but it was just mentioned earlier.

They sold out the lower bowl.  The upper bowl will be curtained off.  I think it was reported a Shock sellout is 7700 or 7800 seats.  I don't know whether to be excited about this or not, Ponder.  I hope the team is supported but it sounds like they lowered the bar for what's considered a sell-out.  Do they curtain off the upper bowl for the Oilers?  I've still not been to an Oiler game so I don't know.

IMO, 7000 to 8000 is really good attendence for our level of pro sports in this town.  I'm not beating down their number, just not sure if you were aware what a sell-out was for the Shock.

Does anyone know if they are selling lumberjack shirts and birkenstocks at the merchandise booths (just kidding!)

[custosnox]

http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsextra/article.aspx?subjectid=413&articleid=20100513_29_B7_TheTul670814

[Hoss]

I don't recall the post now, someone else please link, but it was just mentioned earlier.

They sold out the lower bowl.  The upper bowl will be curtained off.  I think it was reported a Shock sellout is 7700 or 7800 seats.  I don't know whether to be excited about this or not, Ponder.  I hope the team is supported but it sounds like they lowered the bar for what's considered a sell-out.  Do they curtain off the upper bowl for the Oilers?  I've still not been to an Oiler game so I don't know.

IMO, 7000 to 8000 is really good attendence for our level of pro sports in this town.  I'm not beating down their number, just not sure if you were aware what a sell-out was for the Shock.

Does anyone know if they are selling lumberjack shirts and birkenstocks at the merchandise booths (just kidding!)

Yes, they curtain off the upper bowl for the Oilers unless it's a special event game (BOK opening, a near sellout; Doug Lawrence retirement jersey ceremony, kids night, some other promotions).

I can only recall four or five occasions when they don't curtain it off, and in a lot of cases, the overflow warrants them only selling one side of the upper, so they open that side up and leave the other side closed.

Here are some photos demonstrating it:

[Cats Cats Cats]

Just had to post this one...

The Shock's first game is sold out, and they're selling standing room only tickets.

Remember all the grumpy naysayers?  "Nobody will come.  Nobody cares.  Nobody wants to see women's basketball...etc, etc..."

It appears that the grumpy naysayers are wrong again.

Shocking.

I hope they succeed.  But 1 game isn't exactly enough to make money.  I think season 2 will be where we get to see what the normal numbers are going to be.

[Breadburner]

I bet they gave away 70 percent of those tickets....

[TheTed]

Let's see how many of those seats they "sold" are occupied.  The Oilers had a massive announced crowd their first night at the BOK (due to freebies?), but half the seats were empty. I have a feeling the Shock might be the same way.

[Hoss]

Let's see how many of those seats they "sold" are occupied.  The Oilers had a massive announced crowd their first night at the BOK (due to freebies?), but half the seats were empty. I have a feeling the Shock might be the same way.

Wrong, not half.  There were alot of empty seats, but half is incredibly wrong.

And I know the front office.  There were few freebies.  There were a lot of group sales.  Plus the newness of the arena had people coming in.

[TheTed]

I wasn't there. I just saw this photo from the beginning of the game. Unless a lot of people arrived late, half is not far off.

[Hoss]

I wasn't there. I just saw this photo from the beginning of the game. Unless a lot of people arrived late, half is not far off.

This was admittedly taken during the pre-game ceremonies.  TONS of people were in concession lines at this point.

Believe me when I say (I know, I was there) it was WAY more than half.

If you've been to any NHL games, especially St. Louis, they report ticket sales, not butts in seats, for attendance.  Nearly every league does this.  Why do you think the NHL doesn't allow wide angle shots during games in smaller markets?

[MichaelBates]

If you've been to any NHL games, especially St. Louis, they report ticket sales, not butts in seats, for attendance. 

With premium seating (club seats, luxury boxes) you have a certain amount of built-in paid attendance, whether or not the seat owners show up.

If I'm not mistaken, the Convention Center Arena's basketball capacity is bigger than the lower bowl of the BOK Center. Of course, you still have to heat and cool the curtained-off volume plus run the outer areas designed to handle more than twice the size. If the two arenas were in competition with one another, I wonder how many events the Convention Center would win by being able to turn lower operating costs into lower facility rental fees.

[Hoss]

With premium seating (club seats, luxury boxes) you have a certain amount of built-in paid attendance, whether or not the seat owners show up.

If I'm not mistaken, the Convention Center Arena's basketball capacity is bigger than the lower bowl of the BOK Center. Of course, you still have to heat and cool the curtained-off volume plus run the outer areas designed to handle more than twice the size. If the two arenas were in competition with one another, I wonder how many events the Convention Center would win by being able to turn lower operating costs into lower facility rental fees.

Oilers actually come out ahead between their CC era and this.  Although their rent at the highest was $2500 per game in the CC vs $20000 in the BOK, they are now guaranteed suite revenue of $22300 per game that they didn't have in the CC.  Thus they come out ahead when you look at in that light.

Plus, they now get a larger percentage of concessions than they did at the CC.

[TheTed]

With premium seating (club seats, luxury boxes) you have a certain amount of built-in paid attendance, whether or not the seat owners show up.

Sure wish those club seat owners would sell their tickets. I expected to see lots of bargains for those seats for Oilers/Talons games, as I'm sure many of those seat owners aren't too interested in Talons/Oilers games. But aside from what looks like the same guy constantly posting on craigslist wanting $60/seat for Talons games, there's not much. Guess those people don't need the money.

[Hoss]

Sure wish those club seat owners would sell their tickets. I expected to see lots of bargains for those seats for Oilers/Talons games, as I'm sure many of those seat owners aren't too interested in Talons/Oilers games. But aside from what looks like the same guy constantly posting on craigslist wanting $60/seat for Talons games, there's not much. Guess those people don't need the money.

That was my big concern having the club seats in the common lower bowl..when club seat holders didn't go to games (Talons or Oilers) it would make a big hole and appear to be empty.  I guess I was right.

[Oil Capital]

So, did anyone on here go to the game last night?  How did the actual attendance compare to the paid attendance?  From the photos I've seen, it looks like that lower bowl actually was pretty much full.