Five Years Later, BOK Center Is Still A Hit

[Conan71]

One of those things I'm glad I was proven wrong on:

Tulsa's not big enough.

John Bolton heard those words from Los Angeles music agents and Tulsa residents alike in the months before the opening of the city's BOK Center in September 2008.

"They thought (the arena) was maybe too large for the market and that we wouldn't be able to really sell enough tickets to have the large, big shows," said Bolton, the facility's general manager.

How wrong they were.

The iconic 19,199-seat downtown arena has spent nearly five years shattering expectations, selling out shows, attracting major artists and landing in national publications' rankings of the nation's top-performing venues.

And with performances by Paul McCartney kicking off its five-year anniversary celebration Wednesday and Thursday, the facility has proved again that Tulsa can attract the world's top performers.

"The BOK Center is really the beginning of what I believe has been the renaissance of our city," Mayor Dewey Bartlett said Tuesday in a ceremony rededicating the arena in honor of the coming milestone.

"But the real way that we can talk about it is just to say that Paul McCartney is here. ... He purposely has picked Tulsa, Oklahoma."

McCartney helped celebrate the BOK Center's first anniversary in a 2009 performance that still ranks as the arena's most lucrative event, having grossed $2.6 million in ticket sales.

But like any major star, landing McCartney, whose choice venues are major outdoor stadiums, took some arm-pulling - especially the first time, Bolton said.

"That was probably the hardest thing," he said. "The back-door politics of it - trying to get people convinced that Tulsa was a real concert market."

Bolton, an executive with the arena's worldwide management company, SMG, had doubts of his own when he was assigned to Tulsa during the facility's construction in 2007. Then, a year in advance of the building's opening, tickets for a Celine Dion concert went on sale.

It was a sellout.

"Once Celine went on sale and it sold out, we had a track record, and all of a sudden the next show worked and the next show worked," Bolton said. "Then it became just, 'Oh my God! We've got to play Tulsa.' "

Since its first show on Sept. 6, 2008 - a sold-out concert by the Eagles - the BOK Center has sold 3.3 million tickets, collected $104.4 million in ticket revenue and generated more than $11.1 million in sales tax.

It has been consistently recognized as one of the nation's top venues, nominated four straight years for Pollstar magazine's Arena of the Year award and ranked by the publication last month as the 14th most-attended arena so far this year.

But most surprising is that attendance has held steady each year between 600,000 and 740,000, bucking a trend among arenas of declining revenue after an initial "honeymoon period," Bolton said.

"Typically, the honeymoon period continues for maybe six months after the building opens, and we've been able to continue that," he said.

Concerts tend to be the arena's bread and butter, but other successes have included attracting a WNBA basketball team - the Tulsa Shock - and national sporting events such as the NCAA college basketball tournament and the 2013 Bassmaster Classic.

The $178 million facility, funded mostly by revenue bonds and a 13-year 0.6-cent sales tax, was the flagship project of Tulsa County's Vision 2025 initiative in 2003.

Renowned architect Cesar Pelli, famous for designing the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, drew up a swirling aluminum-clad exterior and an eye-popping glass facade in response to city officials' request for an "iconic" structure.

The design gave Tulsa "a true icon - a building that people visit just to see it, let alone see a show here," former Mayor Bill LaFortune said Tuesday.

LaFortune helped lead the Vision 2025 campaign along with former Tulsa County Commissioner Bob Dick. Bartlett said during Tuesday's rededication ceremony that a plaque honoring both men will be placed in the facility's lobby.

"People always say, 'You didn't get enough credit for the BOK Center," LaFortune said. "Well, I enjoy as a citizen the fact that we have this."

The ceremony was just the start of fifth-anniversary celebrations, with Gov. Mary Fallin getting in on the fun by declaring Paul McCartney Day on Wednesday.

After McCartney's performances, an Oct. 4 concert by Blake Shelton and two yet-to-be-announced major shows closer to the actual anniversary will also be billed as celebrations, Bolton said.

www.tulsaworld.com

[zstyles]

So we've almost broke even I guess...

[RecycleMichael]

Why are they saying it has been five years? The first show was in September.

I think this is some sort of election-related made-up news.

[Red Arrow]

I think this is some sort of election-related made-up news.

"Your" candidate can probably answer that.

[RecycleMichael]

I would think any good news about the BokCenter would help the woman candidate I like. I didn't see her involved in any of the coverage, though. Odd.

I just read in the story above that the first show was in September and it struck me as odd that they would be talking about the anniversary date over three months early.

[Breadburner]

I'm not sure how anyone could have thought this was not a great investment......

[guido911]

I would think any good news about the BokCenter would help the woman democrat of any gender, race, etc candidate I blindly support I like. I didn't see her involved in any of the coverage, though. Odd.

fixed it.

[Red Arrow]

I would think any good news about the BokCenter would help the woman candidate I like. I didn't see her involved in any of the coverage, though. Odd.

I haven't seen her involved in the anniversary.  I think I saw a claim in one of her campaign ads that she helped bring it (BOK Center) in on time.  I won't argue with that but I won't give her sole credit either.

I just read in the story above that the first show was in September and it struck me as odd that they would be talking about the anniversary date over three months early.

Without specific examples, I will say that seems to be a trend anymore.  Must be public school math.

[YoungTulsan]

I think the timing was Paul McCartney's, not the arena management or politicians patting themselves on the backs.

[sgrizzle]

I would think any good news about the BokCenter would help the woman candidate I like. I didn't see her involved in any of the coverage, though. Odd.

I just read in the story above that the first show was in September and it struck me as odd that they would be talking about the anniversary date over three months early.

It's a series of anniversary concerts. McCartney is just the first one.

[Townsend]

fixed it.

Pot calling kettle.  Pot calling kettle.  Come in kettle.  Over.

[JCnOwasso]

So we've almost broke even I guess...

negative nancy...

I did some calculations and found that the sales tax associated with the ticket sales was only 8.8 Mil, so that left about 2.3M, which equals and additional revenue of 25.9 Mil.  I am not 100% sure if that is associated directly with sales at the BOK or if it includes additional sales downtown.  Either way, that is an additional 5Mil per year in revenue being spent downtown.  Had Tulsa not had a venue for concerts, there is a pretty reasonable chance that this money would have been spent in OKC or elsewhere.

[Conan71]

negative nancy...

I did some calculations and found that the sales tax associated with the ticket sales was only 8.8 Mil, so that left about 2.3M, which equals and additional revenue of 25.9 Mil.  I am not 100% sure if that is associated directly with sales at the BOK or if it includes additional sales downtown.  Either way, that is an additional 5Mil per year in revenue being spent downtown.  Had Tulsa not had a venue for concerts, there is a pretty reasonable chance that this money would have been spent in OKC or elsewhere.

Pretty certain the $11.1 million is sales tax generated soley in the BOK center.  That would be from tickets (I would assume tickets are subject to sales tax), concessions, and unless there is an exemption for the memorabilia vendors to collect sales tax in the BOK, memorabilia.  Sales tax and convention/visitor tax collected as a result of shows there I'm sure has been outstanding.  We would not have that revenue without the BOK.  As well, there's a civic pride which has accompanied this facility and the events we now attract which is invaluable.  I find it funny some noted bloggers still hate on the BOK, one in particular saying temporarily renaming the streets around the BOK with Beatles references was a sign of Tulsa's low self-esteem.  Really?

MC and I decided to pass on $45 Sir Paul shirts last night as we already have far too many t-shirts to start with.  

By the way, Sir Paul was the best show I've seen by far.  Most aging rockers are merely a caricature of their former selves.  For being nearly 71, and performing for around 50 years, he puts on a spectacular show.  His voice and vocal range is still mostly all there, and his physical presence on stage is energetic, and the back up band he has assembled is tight.  He's a great story teller as well with tributes to John, George, and the Moore tornado victims.

If you are on the fence about picking up some tix at the last minute for tonight, do it, you won't regret it.

[JCnOwasso]

Pretty certain the $11.1 million is sales tax generated soley in the BOK center.  That would be from tickets (I would assume tickets are subject to sales tax), concessions, and unless there is an exemption for the memorabilia vendors to collect sales tax in the BOK, memorabilia.  Sales tax and convention/visitor tax collected as a result of shows there I'm sure has been outstanding.  We would not have that revenue without the BOK.  As well, there's a civic pride which has accompanied this facility and the events we now attract which is invaluable.  I find it funny some noted bloggers still hate on the BOK, one in particular saying temporarily renaming the streets around the BOK with Beatles references was a sign of Tulsa's low self-esteem.  Really?

MC and I decided to pass on $45 Sir Paul shirts last night as we already have far too many t-shirts to start with.  

By the way, Sir Paul was the best show I've seen by far.  Most aging rockers are merely a caricature of their former selves.  For being nearly 71, and performing for around 50 years, he puts on a spectacular show.  His voice and vocal range is still mostly all there, and his physical presence on stage is energetic, and the back up band he has assembled is tight.  He's a great story teller as well with tributes to John, George, and the Moore tornado victims.

If you are on the fence about picking up some tix at the last minute for tonight, do it, you won't regret it.

In which case, that is great... the BOK has generated over 100M in ticket revenue and over 11M in sales tax.  Can't forget the food and drinks prior to the shows, heck... when we went to the Black Keys, we dropped $100 on food and drinks before heading over to the BOK, we were with another couple who did the same thing and we met other folks at the Tavern and were going to the concert.  On top of that, we rented a room at a DT hotel, as did our friends and we ate at the Blue Dome Diner the next morning.  All told, we spent a lot... as do many people.  Money we had previously spent to go to OKC or Dallas for concerts. 

I know I am preaching to the choir, but I was one of those folks who said the BOK would be a bust.  I was wrong.  Was listening to John Klein who mentioned that on Memorial day, the Drillers had a sell out, there was something going on at Guthrie Green and the Shock had a sellout.  Three things that would not happened had the BOK center not been built.... Sure, downtown development could have very well happened without the BOK, but I think it would have been significantly slower.   

[DTowner]

I confess I get a little schadenfreud every time I overhear people at a BOK Center event complaining about that drive back to OKC.

This arena is a win, win, win for the City of Tulsa.  Whatever tax revenues it brings in are simply icing on top.