Drillers Attendance - ONEOK Field

[Renaissance]

I finally was able to take in a Drillers game at ONEOK Field on Saturday.

Question: does anyone know how they count tickets?  Announced attendance was 6,553 but the stadium seemed nowhere near that full.  There were entire sections that were empty.  Are season ticket holders counted regardless of attendance?  Or maybe it was everyone milling about in the concourse...

Regarding the stadium, I really don't have specific comments but I was underwhelmed by everything except the skyline view.  Thanks, HOK Sport.  (not really)

[RecycleMichael]

I went Friday night for a sellout Fireworks show. I also went Saturday at noon for a scorcher game and then went back on Saturday night. The Sunday night game we left after the fourth inning.

I love the place. It is amazingly easy to get in and out of. My wife loves that there are three times more women's restroom facilities than for the men.

The food options are affordable. I usually get the bratwurst, a big bag of chips and a soft drink for $5.75. Yesterday kids got free hot dogs, milk, and an ice cream sandwich. Sometimes we just go late and get the big bag of three different flavors of cotton candy for $3 and split it. Get one with green because the sour apple flavor is excellent.

My son likes to find his friends and sit out on the grass berms in the outfield. My daughter likes to run on the field after the fourth inning with Hornsby.

I like that they have quality beer and also have $1 beer on Thursday.

My wife hates baseball and is perfectly fine going to Oneok field. She likes to wander around and swears their is not a bad seat in the house.

I diagree with your impression of the park.

[TheTed]

I believe they count tickets sold, so all the season ticket holders count whether they show up or not. Same as at the old park, where you'd go for a weekday game and there were a few hundred people there and the attendance was announced at 5,000 or something.

I love the place, with a couple exceptions: the suite level looks kind of cheap with some type of siding. They must've watched one too-many vinyl siding infomercials.

But the main issue I have is the scoreboards. The auxiliary scoreboard has been screwed up all season. Isn't that under warranty? The fifth inning displays as 9, the sixth is a backwards six or something weird. Last night the ribbon board next to that scoreboard was out. This is more of an issue when you can't see the main scoreboard because of the twilight glare.

But it's freaking great having a downtown park, biking to the game, stopping in downtown establishments before and/or afterwards, etc. I've gone to more games at ONEOK than the previous five years combined at Drillers Stadium (ick).

[Renaissance]

I love the location and what it's doing for downtown.  Much of the new place is an upgrade.  But I attended easily 100 baseball games back at old Drillers Stadium and just think the new place is rather generic.  Also, it was incredibly unpleasant in the heat--I wish somebody had stopped to think about air flow and shade in that location.  The suites look like construction trailers with their siding and sliding glas windows.  The oil derrick in the outfield is a stub and a joke.  I don't mind the sunken field but the seating grade is too shallow and there's no upper deck. 

I don't mean to be a downer, just offering honest impressions of what happened when we ordered a ballpark-in-a-box from HOK.  I was hoping for more.

[TheTed]

I love the location and what it's doing for downtown.  Much of the new place is an upgrade.  But I attended easily 100 baseball games back at old Drillers Stadium and just think the new place is rather generic.  Also, it was incredibly unpleasant in the heat--I wish somebody had stopped to think about air flow and shade in that location.  The suites look like construction trailers with their siding and sliding glas windows.  The oil derrick in the outfield is a stub and a joke.  I don't mind the sunken field but the seating grade is too shallow and there's no upper deck.  

I don't mean to be a downer, just offering honest impressions of what happened when we ordered a ballpark-in-a-box from HOK.  I was hoping for more.

The cheap seats down the third base line are terribly sunny, which is why nobody sits there when it's not packed. I usually pick the shady first-base line and I don't find the heat to be a problem.

Maybe if that siding was a dark green (generic ballpark color of choice) it'd be less noticeable. It doesn't help that the most architecturally interesting part of the stadium isn't visible to most fans, unless you park at OSU. But most people arrive from the west or south.

[Renaissance]

Also-

I LOVE the video board and everything that brings to the experience.  

Also, it seems like a really great place for the kids.  

The footlong bratwurst was decent, but they have GOT to do something about the guy chopping onions/peppers on the grill on the left field side.  He was banging that spatula like it was a cowbell and it was ting-ting-tinging throughout the stadium.  Gave me a headache and distracted from the game.

I think my biggest issue with the place is the lack of any vertical element.  I'l get over it I suppose.  It'll be much nicer on a cool night.

They need misting fans on the concourse like they had at the old place.  The heat really was miserable.

[Renaissance]

One other thing--parking is GREAT.  We parked at like Archer and Cincinnati and the walk was significantly shorter than it would have been at the fairgrounds. 

[Laramie]

Great sight lines  (not a bad seat in the house) and a beautiful stadium with the downtown skyline in the outfields,  Tulsa should be making a pitch to return to Triple-A within the next 5 to 7 years.

Really impressed with the development throughout Tulsa and the great upkeep of the Arkansas River-Riverside Drive areas.

You have a very clean city much like Raleigh, Colombia, SC and San Diego.  Tulsa is second-to-none for a major metro-area ( 1 million plus) residents do an outstanding job keeping the lawns moved and general upkeep of the residential areas.

The Rose Garden and Peoria, Harvard, Yale, & Boston Avenue Streets continue to bring back memories.   Attending Mass at Holy Family Cathedral was a blessing and viewing the Historic Boston Avenue Methodist Church.

Chapman Stadium and the fairgrounds were so colorful and vivid.

It is always special everytime I visit Tulsa.  First the BOK Center and now your new ONEOK Ballpark.

Had a great time in Tulsa and the food venues near the Blue Dome and Brady Districts were charming.

[SXSW]

I'd like to see the Drillers either replace Colorado Springs as the AAA affiliate of the Rockies in the Pacific League or become the AAA affiliate of the Braves (currently in small Lawrenceville, GA) in the International League.  It would be cooler to watch us play Memphis, Omaha, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, Portland, etc. instead of Springfield, Midland, Corpus Christi..

[cynical]

AAA ball would be nice.  The Drillers are currently averaging about 6,300 per game in paid attendance.  That would put them in the upper half of the Pacific Coast League and near the top of the lower half of the International League.  

I love playing with numbers.  Comparing average attendance, percentage of seating capacity sold, or total ticket revenues, Tulsa looks pretty good this year.  The shining star of the Texas League, though, is Frisco, averaging more than 8,100 sold seats per game in a AAA-ready 10,600 seat stadium.  The Rangers' current AAA team, OKC, is averaging far less than that with an average of 5473.  Based on statistics alone, only its proximity to Arlington would keep the Rangers from swapping its AA and AAA teams.  There may be other reasons to leave things as they are.

I would predict that after the novelty of the park wears off, the Drillers will settle into a very respectable average of around 5,000 to 5,500 sold seats per game.  That would still top Colo. Springs, but would be in the lower tier of the PCL.  But Tulsa is comfortable in AA baseball, so that's probably where it will remain.  It could be worse.  El Paso, Wichita, and Shreveport, among others, all lost their Texas League franchises and are now playing independent league baseball, the baseball equivalent of the Central Hockey League.  

I'd like to see the Drillers either replace Colorado Springs as the AAA affiliate of the Rockies in the Pacific League or become the AAA affiliate of the Braves (currently in small Lawrenceville, GA) in the International League.  It would be cooler to watch us play Memphis, Omaha, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, Portland, etc. instead of Springfield, Midland, Corpus Christi..

[Conan71]

In spite of Tulsa being an AA club, we've had some great talent come through here:

Sammy Sosa, Dean Palmer, Bobby Witt, Ruben Sierra, Ivan Rodriguez, etc.

Honestly I don't think you can tell much difference if there's two AA teams or to AAA teams on the field.  It's more a matter of pride to say we've got a AAA team than better compeition or a more exciting game.

[TheTed]

I don't want an upgrade to AAA. Someone with more baseball expertise feel free to correct me, but it seems the future MLB stars are more likely to spend more time at AA. I've seen lots of guys either get called up directly from AA or get called up after a short time at AAA.

Plus AAA is more clogged with the kind of guys who bounce between AAA and MLB, with zero chance of ever being an MLB star.

[SXSW]

I just think there may be more interest in watching bigger city teams with AAA baseball.  A swap with Colorado Springs seems reasonable unless proximity to Denver is a factor (I doubt it).  The Rockies are my favorite MLB team so I'm glad Tulsa is connected with that club.  The series with OKC alone would sell out the park (as it does for AFL and (formerly) CHL hockey).

[cynical]

The quality of AAA baseball is better than AA, but not by all that much.  The players seem to be more mature and polished and outfielders who can't anticipate or cover a lot of ground have been weeded out.  The best minor league outfielder I've seen in person played for Toledo in the International League.  Of course he happened to be Curtis Granderson.  Even at AAA, he was a thoroughbred.  Pitching and hitting seem about the same.  Probably the worst hitter I've ever seen in pro ball played for OKC two years ago.  No bat speed.  His swing was in slow motion, and not just his warmup swing. 

But AA or AAA, it's all good.  The players are pretty good and some will go on to be stars.  I can look back and say I saw a young Ubaldo Jimenez pitch well in Tulsa.  A more seasoned Jimenez at the top of his game will start for the NL in tomorrow's all-star game. 

I just think there may be more interest in watching bigger city teams with AAA baseball.  A swap with Colorado Springs seems reasonable unless proximity to Denver is a factor (I doubt it).  The Rockies are my favorite MLB team so I'm glad Tulsa is connected with that club.  The series with OKC alone would sell out the park (as it does for AFL and (formerly) CHL hockey).

[RecycleMichael]

I agree that the fringe players good enough to play spot roles for the Major League team are found on most AAA rosters. The real studs get coaching at AA, then maybe get a few starts at AAA, before going up.

Speaking of Driller games...

Thursday has dollar beers and half price margaritas. It is Jimmy Buffet night with Parrotheads leading a conga line through the crowd.

Friday is free Driller t-shirts and $2 off a ticket with canned food. Of course, all Friday home games are fireworks.

Saturday is free Driller blankets.

Sunday has free food for the first 500 kids and they want kids to wear swimsuits to play on the three inflatable water slides they are settting up.