The New York Cosmos are back. Can the Tulsa Roughnecks be far behind...?

[DolfanBob]

I want to buy tickets with others so we all have seats together?

Let me know and next Friday we can buy them together.

They're reserved?

[TulsaRufnex]

FYI, almost all of the lower level seating is $10 reserved except for a couple of sections by far right field that have excellent views of... the beer garden.   
All upper level seating is $5 general admission.

[DolfanBob]

What is the report on you're first game/victory at the old Drillers Stadium?
Did it go as well as planned?

[TulsaRufnex]

It went so well it deserves its own thread... 

[TulsaRufnex]

Don't look now, but...

Manchester City and Yankees to Own M.L.S. Club in New York
By KEN BELSON and CHARLES V. BAGLI
Published: May 21, 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/22/sports/soccer/manchester-city-and-yankees-to-own-mls-franchise-in-new-york.html?_r=0

The New York metropolitan area, already packed with professional sports teams, will soon get another: a Major League Soccer team owned by Manchester City of the English Premier League and the Yankees.  Manchester City, which is owned by Sheik Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, will be the latest foreign owner of a team in the New York metropolitan area.

The team, to be known as the New York City Football Club, will be the 20th Major League Soccer club and expects to begin competing in 2015, assuming it can find a stadium to play in.

The announcement on Tuesday by Major League Soccer confirmed speculation that Manchester City would spend about $100 million to buy the expansion team. The English team, which is owned by an investment group led by a member of the royal family of Abu Dhabi, Sheik Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, will be the latest foreign owner of a team in the New York metropolitan area. It will join hands with the Yankees, one of the wealthiest and best known teams in American sports.

Manchester City will be the majority owner of the new club, while the Yankees will own about a quarter of the team.

[TulsaRufnex]

NASL Commissioner Bill Peterson was on NASN's Soccer morning show yesterday and has apparently stated that the NASL is planning for 14 teams by 2015.
He mentioned the league is in discussions with potential investment groups for expansion into Jacksonville, Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles area as well as other groups.

Plugged In: Bill Peterson, NASL commissioner
Published March 25, 2013
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2013/03/25/People-and-Pop-Culture/Plugged-In.aspx

[BoscoTJones]

NASL Commissioner Bill Peterson was on NASN's Soccer morning show yesterday and has apparently stated that the NASL is planning for 14 teams by 2015.
He mentioned the league is in discussions with potential investment groups for expansion into Jacksonville, Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles area as well as other groups.

I followed NASL Commish Peterson on Twitter and he followed me back.  So I sent him a direct message to thank him for the follow and mentioned how I wish we could get a team back in Tulsa.  He replied "Would OKC satisfy the fans?".  Not me.  An MLS team in OKC would be something I would follow but not a tier 2 team.  Now in Tulsa, I would be all over it. 

[TulsaRufnex]

Game Recap: New York Cosmos 2 Fort Lauderdale Strikers 1
Posted on Sat, Aug 3, 2013
http://www.nasl.com/index.php?id=3&newsid=5112

Alessandro Noselli struck in the second minute of second-half stoppage time to blast the New York Cosmos to a dramatic 2-1 victory over the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the North American Soccer League fall season opener in front of a sellout crowd of 11,929 at Shuart Stadium on the campus of Hofstra University Saturday night.

Before the Cosmos' first match in nearly 30 years, legends Pele, Carlos Alberto and the late Giorgio Chinaglia, represented by his son George, were honored.

Pele, Carlos Alberto, Cosmos legend Shep Messing, NASL Commissioner Bill Peterson and former Strikers star midfielder Teofilo "Nene" Cubillas greeted the teams before the match.

[DowntownDan]

So if NASL were to move to Tulsa would the Athletics move up or would it be a seperate group and a revival of the Roughnecks name?  And could they play at Drillers Stadium?  I really enjoy the setup at Drillers stadium.  And depending on their success, maybe they could find a way to justify a soccer specific stadium downtown with 10K seats expandable if interest increases.  It doesn't need to be as fancy as OneOk field and could probably be built at a very reasonable price.

[TulsaRufnex]

So if NASL were to move to Tulsa would the Athletics move up or would it be a seperate group and a revival of the Roughnecks name?  And could they play at Drillers Stadium?  I really enjoy the setup at Drillers stadium.  And depending on their success, maybe they could find a way to justify a soccer specific stadium downtown with 10K seats expandable if interest increases.  It doesn't need to be as fancy as OneOk field and could probably be built at a very reasonable price.

Depends on who has the money and what their concept is for the team... ever since this new NASL split from the USL system of minor league soccer in the fall of 2009 and added the Tampa Bay Rowdies, I've felt this was the only league other than MLS where a revival of the Roughnecks name would make sense.  Quite a few of the A's fans who remember the old Roughnecks are hesitant to bring back the old name.  God knows I've argued for years that the setup at Drillers Stadium is perfect for this particular league (intimate & really close to the action on the lower level with great sitelines from the upper deck).  The old Drillers Stadium would also fit in well with the other venues in this league...

Tampa Bay Rowdies 0 New York Cosmos 0
Posted on Sat, Aug 10, 2013
http://www.nasl.com/index.php?id=3&newsid=5177

The Tampa Bay Rowdies played to a scoreless draw against the visiting New York Cosmos in front of a sold out crowd of 7,032 at Al Lang Stadium in St. Petersburg, Fla. on Saturday night.

http://rowdiessoccer.com/
http://nycosmos.com/news/photo-gallery-tampa-bay-rowdies-0-0-new-york-cosmos



I feel the Hurricane Soccer/Track & Field Stadium is too small, has inconvenient parking options, and couldn't be expanded much beyond a couple of thousand seats... I think Chapman Stadium is too big, for now at least-- also the field at Chapman is too narrow and has permanent football markings on it... but if it was up to me, I'd be negotiating with the County for concessions (both figuratively AND literally), and would LOVE to arrange for a game or two against the NY Cosmos to be played at Chapman Stadium.  It'd be great to be able to say that our crowds are "too big" for old Drillers Stadium and that the field dimensions at Chapman Stadium leave us in need of a suitable stadium solution (preferably downtown a few blocks from Fassler Hall)...  

BTW, we're gearing up for a 30-year reunion for Tulsa Sports Charities on Monday, Oct. 14th...
http://www.tulsasportscharities.org/blog-charlie-mitchell-to-talk-soccer-at-august-lunch/
http://www.tulsasportscharities.org/245/
http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/printerfriendlystory.aspx?articleid=20130804_29_B2_Thetha574008

[DowntownDan]

Depends on who has the money and what their concept is for the team... ever since this new NASL split from the USL system of minor league soccer in the fall of 2009 and added the Tampa Bay Rowdies, I've felt this was the only league other than MLS where a revival of the Roughnecks name would make sense.  Quite a few of the A's fans who remember the old Roughnecks are hesitant to bring back the old name.  God knows I've argued for years that the setup at Drillers Stadium is perfect for this particular league (intimate & really close to the action on the lower level with great sitelines from the upper deck).  The old Drillers Stadium would also fit in well with the other venues in this league...

Tampa Bay Rowdies 0 New York Cosmos 0
Posted on Sat, Aug 10, 2013
http://www.nasl.com/index.php?id=3&newsid=5177 http://rowdiessoccer.com/
http://nycosmos.com/news/photo-gallery-tampa-bay-rowdies-0-0-new-york-cosmos



I feel the Hurricane Soccer/Track & Field Stadium is too small, has inconvenient parking options, and couldn't be expanded much beyond a couple of thousand seats... I think Chapman Stadium is too big, for now at least-- also the field at Chapman is too narrow and has permanent football markings on it... but if it was up to me, I'd be negotiating with the County for concessions (both figuratively AND literally), and would LOVE to arrange for a game or two against the NY Cosmos to be played at Chapman Stadium.  It'd be great to be able to say that our crowds are "too big" for old Drillers Stadium and that the field dimensions at Chapman Stadium leave us in need of a suitable stadium solution (preferably downtown a few blocks from Fassler Hall)...  

BTW, we're gearing up for a 30-year reunion for Tulsa Sports Charities on Monday, Oct. 14th...
http://www.tulsasportscharities.org/blog-charlie-mitchell-to-talk-soccer-at-august-lunch/
http://www.tulsasportscharities.org/245/
http://www.tulsaworld.com/site/printerfriendlystory.aspx?articleid=20130804_29_B2_Thetha574008

I really like the setup at Driller's Stadium.  It's even better than this setup because the stands go all the way down the baseline so the entire third base line stands go from end to end across the field.  I've sat on the first base side and it is also a good view.  And depending on their popularity they can always expand the outfield stands to a permanent or quasi-permanent stand of bleachers.  And could Chapman Stadium even hold a soccer field?  I know a lot of stadiums that have been recently renovated have had the stands moved closer to the sidelines to the point that it can't really hold a soccer field.  Plus, as you mentioned, the permanent football markings would be annoying.  I say Driller's Stadium and leave open the possibility of a soccer specific stadium for downtown.  Never stop pursuing MLS even if it's a longshot. 

[BoscoTJones]

So if NASL were to move to Tulsa would the Athletics move up or would it be a seperate group and a revival of the Roughnecks name?  And could they play at Drillers Stadium?  I really enjoy the setup at Drillers stadium.  And depending on their success, maybe they could find a way to justify a soccer specific stadium downtown with 10K seats expandable if interest increases.  It doesn't need to be as fancy as OneOk field and could probably be built at a very reasonable price.

I was thinking about where in Downtown Tulsa a soccer stadium could be built.  After looking at Google Maps for hours, I found this little industrial area just across the RR tracks from OSU-Tulsa.  Then I decided to do some Photoshop work and place PPL Park (the MLS home of the Philadelphia Union) into that spot on the map, using the same scale.  That park holds 18,500.    I even added some more parking for good measure.  This is the result:

[rdj]

What became OneOK Field was almost in this location.  Wouldn't be the worst place in my mind for a stadium.

[BoscoTJones]

Interesting note re: soccer interest in Tulsa:  Tulsa had the 2nd highest TV rating for the Swansea-Man U game on Saturday.  http://www.sbnation.com/2013/8/18/4633606/premier-league-improved-ratings-on-nbc-nbcsn

[TulsaRufnex]

Don't look now... but... OKC's Bob Funk Jr. makes a move in the "Funk versus Lund" soccer feud...

http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=searchss&state=4806:71rlav.1.1

Word Mark TULSA ROUGHNECKS FC
Goods and Services IC 041. US 100 101 107. G & S: Entertainment services, namely, organizing, providing and conducting professional soccer exhibitions and games
Standard Characters Claimed
Mark Drawing Code (4) STANDARD CHARACTER MARK
Serial Number 86069516
Filing Date September 19, 2013
Current Basis 1B
Original Filing Basis 1B
Owner (APPLICANT) Prodigal Soccer LLC LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY OKLAHOMA 615 N. Hudson, Suite 100 Oklahoma City OKLAHOMA 73102
Attorney of Record Harvey L. Yusman
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator LIVE