2016 Tulsa Athletics Thread

[DowntownDan]

Can they sell beer?

[TulsaRufnex]

Games at LaFortune.

Probably a good move.

Better sightlines for soccer than ONEOK.
Probably one of the better temporary options available.  Beer sales is being negotiated...
Funny how the original proposal for BMX National HQ was for south Tulsa and NOT at the corner of 15th & Yale.
Wonder why the proposal was changed at the last minute to force the relocation of the Athletics and the destruction of a perfectly good stadium?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WL4VZznopM

   
Tulsa Athletics Prove An NPSL Team Can Thrive With USL In Town
by Chris Kivlehan - December 22, 2016
http://midfieldpress.com/2016/12/22/tulsa-athletics-prove-an-npsl-team-can-thrive-with-usl-in-town/

[cannon_fodder]

When they proposed it in South Tulsa they specifically said they didn't have a site plan in mind, it wasn't meant to imply it would be located here, they just thought putting it on the river "would be cool" for their presentation.  The location was the playground and splash pad at ~76th and Riverside, from the apartments almost down to the volleyball courts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIYB2AbVCGU   (~4 minute mark)

That they did not move forward with the proposal to take 20 acres of park land and transfer it to a private entity (to include 10 acres of surface parking) is not surprising. The proposal basically called for several phases that ended with a new Expo like building (an "all weather" enclosed structure large enough for an indoor BMX track that could be reconfigured).  That was a $45,000,000 plan made in August of 2015.

The expo square location is right next to their longtime home, Expo Center (or whatever we are calling it now), and the new facility is a $15mil investment (not $45mil). So I imagine it changed when they were advised $45mil and park land wasn't likely...

[TulsaRufnex]

[TulsaRufnex]

Letter to the Editor: A Brief History of the Real "Athletics"
by Sonny Dalesandro - January 22, 2017
http://midfieldpress.com/2017/01/22/letter-to-the-editor-a-brief-history-of-the-real-athletics/

Then came the phone call. When I heard it was a lawyer from a major league sports team, I thought my intern was bucking with me, but as soon as I got on the line, I realized it was actually some higher power bucking with me. The lawyer grilled me, asking all types of probing lawyerly questions: Did we recently trademark our crest? Yes. Do we sell miniature bats? Umm... Do we ever play baseball games? What? She then informed me that her client was none other than the Oakland A's. You know, those guys from the Brad Pitt movie about how major league teams should just do a bunch of boring math instead of buying people who are good at baseball. I hung up and yelled at my intern for not screening calls properly.

The legal letter that followed took a more ominous tone, and as I read through it I learned that the Oakland A's had filed an official objection to our trademark application. We were allowed to be called 'Athletics', but now our crest was being opposed. Apparently, ours was indistinguishable from the Oakland A's crest, but you be the judge:

[cannon_fodder]

Want me to tell you how this ends?

From an intellectual law perspective, the Oakland A's seem to have a fairly weak case.  They are a national brand for sure, but they are located 1700 miles away, play a different sport, use a different color scheme, and a logo that is entirely different. The Tulsa mark specifically disclaims the word "Athletics."  The test should be:  is the other guy causing confusion in the marketplace.  Would someone accidentally patronize the Tulsa Athletics instead of the Oakland Athletics, thereby letting the Tulsa Athletics unfairly profit from the branding and other efforts of the Oakland A's?

It seems unlikely to me.  "Hey Bob, that guy over there with the funny ankle armor just kicked that ball really far, but he didn't even try to run to 1st.  Also, there are people sliding all over the place, but the ump never calls them safe or out.  I mean, there is beer.  These are the athletics.  I don't get it."  Of course, Courts have let what I think are weak cases skate by before so...

Maybe I'm missing something significant, since I have only read the Tulsa side of the argument and haven't spent a lot of time researching it. But it seems kind of off.


From a practical standpoint, the Oakland A's have a budget that is almost certainly higher than ever team in Tulsa all added together (including ORU and TU).  The cost for the Athletic's attorneys to look into this and do a few conference calls would probably be enough to matter in the Tulsa soccer clubs annual revenue. Let alone the cost to actually defend an action in this regard.  $o it i$nt really hard to tell who would win a legal battle over thi$.

[DowntownDan]

The green and yellow were the same and I remember there used to be an Oakland A's logo at Drillers Stadium.  I'm guessing they sent someone down to take a photo of that sign which is why the lawyer thought it was the same.  He surely wasn't talking about the pink coat of arms.

[Conan71]

This is pretty damn ridiculous, but as you said, CF the Oakland folks have more $ at their disposal so better off to white out the "s" and move on.

[TeeDub]

I saw one of your stickers on a car today.   While you may have used the red and black logo in the past, you have also sold it in the green/yellow of Oakland.   

Seems silly and unfortunate, but blanket letters are not uncommon.