Tulsa Oilers now have a real affliation with NHL/AHL team

[Hoss]

He was probably the only reason it lasted as long as it did there......

That may be the case, but he ran the franchise into the ground, much like where Lund was going with the Oilers.

[Breadburner]

Looks like Lund is on it......

[Hoss]

Looks like Lund is on it......

Brad Lund > Jeff Lund.  Brad knows how to run a hockey franchise.  It's funny, he should have shown his uncle how to.

[Breadburner]

2 Mill for a franchise fee.....

[Hoss]

2 Mill for a franchise fee.....

Yep..however the old CHL teams got that waived is my understanding.

[Laramie]

I don't claim to know a lot about Jeff Lund; however, Brad always managed to bring in the OKC crowds.  Some questioned his methods with claims that he gave away tickets?  I was never the recipient of any free tickets.

Brad Lund has been working behind-the-scenes to put a group together to bring an Oklahoma City ECHL entry into this market for 2016-17 season.

 Former Oklahoma City Blazers CEO assembling an ownership group to bring hockey back to the city | News OK

If the rivalries are renewed in 2016; you should witness some carryover between ice hockey & soccer with TUL-OKC.  Oklahoma City Energy FC's last 4 soccer crowds were impressive:

    August 29, Austin 2-0 win. Attendance: 6,089
    September 12, Colorado Springs 3-3 tie. Attendance: 6,847 Largest regular season crowd in Energy FC's history.
    October 4, Colorado Springs 3-2 playoff win. Attendance: 6,370
    October 11, Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1 playoff lost. Attendance:  7,654 Largest crowd In Energy FC's history.

Will the OKC Energy FC's trend of 6,000-plus attendance figures continue into the 2016 season?  OKC's 4,635 average placed 7th in USL.  Sports entertainment dollars are stretched in OKC as the NBA Thunder has 209 consecutive sellouts of 18,203 which dates back to 2010.  OU football has 87 consecutive sellouts of 83,000 plus.

Equally as impressive non playoff contender Tulsa Roughnecks FC's averaged 4,714 in their inaugural year (5th best USL) with intermarket  competition--NPSL Tulsa Athletics.  Ownerships should partner together; go for an MLS franchise (expansion or relocation) and promote a Vision 2025 extension to put a 20,000-seat soccer specific stadium (estimate: $100 - $125 million) on the ballot to have something ready post 2020 second wave of MLS expansion.  Promote that the team be called Tulsa as OKC did with the NBA's Thunder.

Tulsa is primed for NHL or MLS to be the next city in Oklahoma to embrace a 'big league city' franchise in at least 1 of five major sports.  BOK Center could be retrofitted for NHL.  OKC will finish their streetcar  system in 2018.   There's talk about regular rail transit service between TUL-OKC with a rail transit corridor:  Tulsa-Oklahoma City Corridor Investment Plan - About the Plan


 

[Hoss]

I don't claim to know a lot about Jeff Lund; however, Brad always managed to bring in the OKC crowds.  Some questioned his methods with claims that he gave away tickets?  I was never the recipient of any free tickets.

Brad Lund has been working behind-the-scenes to put a group together to bring an Oklahoma City ECHL entry into this market for 2016-17 season.

 Former Oklahoma City Blazers CEO assembling an ownership group to bring hockey back to the city | News OK

If the rivalries are renewed in 2016; you should witness some carryover between ice hockey & soccer with TUL-OKC.  Oklahoma City Energy FC's last 4 soccer crowds were impressive:

    August 29, Austin 2-0 win. Attendance: 6,089
    September 12, Colorado Springs 3-3 tie. Attendance: 6,847 Largest regular season crowd in Energy FC's history.
    October 4, Colorado Springs 3-2 playoff win. Attendance: 6,370
    October 11, Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1 playoff lost. Attendance:  7,654 Largest crowd In Energy FC's history.

Will the OKC Energy FC's trend of 6,000-plus attendance figures continue into the 2016 season?  OKC's 4,635 average placed 7th in USL.  Sports entertainment dollars are stretched in OKC as the NBA Thunder has 209 consecutive sellouts of 18,203 which dates back to 2010.  OU football has 87 consecutive sellouts of 83,000 plus.

Equally as impressive non playoff contender Tulsa Roughnecks FC's averaged 4,714 in their inaugural year (5th best USL) with intermarket  competition--NPSL Tulsa Athletics.  Ownerships should partner together; go for an MLS franchise (expansion or relocation) and promote a Vision 2025 extension to put a 20,000-seat soccer specific stadium (estimate: $100 - $125 million) on the ballot to have something ready post 2020 second wave of MLS expansion.  Promote that the team be called Tulsa as OKC did with the NBA's Thunder.

Tulsa is primed for NHL or MLS to be the next city in Oklahoma to embrace a 'big league city' franchise in at least 1 of five major sports.  BOK Center could be retrofitted for NHL.  OKC will finish their streetcar  system in 2018.   There's talk about regular rail transit service between TUL-OKC with a rail transit corridor:  Tulsa-Oklahoma City Corridor Investment Plan - About the Plan


 

Explain how the BOK would need to be 'retro-fitted' for the NHL.  I've talked to several people who have said the facility is NHL-ready right now.  As as far as capacity goes (17096 right now for hockey), the BOK Center is a perfect fit..lower end of the spectrum, but not much smaller than Bridgestone Arena in Nashville (which I went to for a game last March).

I don't believe Tulsa has a hoot-in-hell chance of the NHL anytime in the next 5 years or probably even 10.  It would be nice to dream, but those NHL tickets aren't cheap by any stretch of the imagination.

[sgrizzle]

I've heard Tulsa's Arena is larger than the Columbus Bluejackets arena, which is a (pretty bad) NHL team.

[Hoss]

I've heard Tulsa's Arena is larger than the Columbus Bluejackets arena, which is a (pretty bad) NHL team.

Depends on what you mean by larger.  Capacity?  Then no.  Nationwide Arena (in which the Blue Jackets play) has a sit-down hockey capacity of 18,144, with a standing-room only capacity of a little over 19k.  I don't know if the BOK Center has standing-room only seating, but know that the hockey capacity is 17,096.  That's more than just three current NHL arenas (Rexall Place in Edmonton for the Oilers, Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the Islanders and MTS Centre in Winnipeg for the Jets).

[sgrizzle]

Depends on what you mean by larger.  Capacity?  Then no.  Nationwide Arena (in which the Blue Jackets play) has a sit-down hockey capacity of 18,144, with a standing-room only capacity of a little over 19k.  I don't know if the BOK Center has standing-room only seating, but know that the hockey capacity is 17,096.  That's more than just three current NHL arenas (Rexall Place in Edmonton for the Oilers, Barclays Center in Brooklyn for the Islanders and MTS Centre in Winnipeg for the Jets).

It was someone from Columbus who told me that.

We probably have bigger seats.

[swake]

It was someone from Columbus who told me that.

We probably have bigger seats.

Butts would be smaller in Columbus seeing as they are freezing them off so often.

[sgrizzle]

Butts would be smaller in Columbus seeing as they are freezing them off so often.

They saved money by not needing to install a cooling system for the ice.

[Hoss]

They saved money by not needing to install a cooling system for the ice.

I won't believe it until I hear from our local Columbus expert...uh....wait....

[Hoss]

It was someone from Columbus who told me that.

We probably have bigger seats.

It's possible that in footprint he could be correct.  ScottTrade Center in St. Louis has almost 20,000 seats, but, the concourses are super narrow.  I like the Blues but I got spoiled with the larger concourses at BOK.

[Breadburner]

Attendance is what matters.....