# Civic Matters > Suburban & Other OK Communities > Tulsa & Suburbs >  BOK Center "Arena of the Year"!

## okclee

> BOK Center again garners 'Arena of the Year' nomination
> 
> 
> Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/arti...0_hrbrFo178365


This is an impressive list to be on;
Nominated venues:
Air Canada Centre (Toronto, ON)
BOK Center (Tulsa, OK)
Bridgestone Arena (Nashville, TN)
HP Pavilion (San Jose, CA)
Madison Square Garden Arena (New York, NY)
Staples Center (Los Angeles, CA)
Xcel Energy Center (St. Paul, MN)

You can bet the concerts will continue flowing into Tulsa and so will the citizens of Okc with money to spend in Tulsa. 

Meanwhile the building formerly known as the Ford Center looks horrible right now. I'm not sure what type of improvements tearing up Reno did if anything at all. Removing the name Ford Center from the building looks bad too. 

The BOK is a first class building nice work Tulsa in making this happen.

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## windowphobe

Good company to be in, for sure.

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## Easy180

Defintely no need to hate on this..great having two quality arenas within 90 minutes of each other

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## soonerfan_in_okc

okc thunder>>justin bieber concerts. sorry.

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## bombermwc

It is s nice looking facility...way better than a lot of designs out there. It deserves to be recognized as the architecural icon that it is. At the end of the day, it's another arena, but compare it to something like the New Orleans areana....whoa.

Madison Square - not sure that needs to be on there though. It's not exactlly a spring chicken, and even having asbestos issues these days. When you have to cancel events so people dont get contaminated....not a list topper facility to me.

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## MustangGT

Pleased for the recognition of a signature facility in our state.

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## Oil Capital

> Madison Square - not sure that needs to be on there though. It's not exactlly a spring chicken, and even having asbestos issues these days. When you have to cancel events so people dont get contaminated....not a list topper facility to me.


Interesting to note that Madison Square Garden won the Arena of the Year Award this year (it was awarded in February).

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## dmoor82

> okc thunder>>justin bieber concerts. sorry.


I've heard people complain about Tulsa getting all The good concerts but here's how I see it!Tulsa gets MORE concerts and Minor league sports and OKC gets some good concerts and 41home Thunder games that avg. 18k per game!OKC's overall turnstile counts are WAY higher!I'll take that trade off any day of any week in any year!but Tulsa's BOK center is Stunning and deserves this recognition!

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## z28james

BOK is ok, to me it's better than the OKC arena on the outside, but not the inside. Plus im happy with a filled arena of Thunder games.

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## dankrutka

> BOK is ok, to me it's better than the OKC arena on the outside, but not the inside. Plus im happy with a filled arena of Thunder games.


Wrong. Everything about BOK is way better. Not even close. I love Thunder games also, but the arenas are not even comparable.

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## bombermwc

So rather than just spouting "mine is better" let's hear why each city thinks their arena is better than the other on the inside.

I think the BOK wins outside. Personally, once the improvements are complete in OKC, i think we win that one hands down as well. Right now, can't say. But things like the scoreboard are big plusses for OKC in comparison.

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## dmoor82

^^The BOK's scoreboard is pretty nice!

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## Floyd



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## dmoor82

^^Yeah thats pretty much a Tie,BOK is over all a nicer arena,but inside the two look like a tie as well!Look for OKC to build a new arena in The future most NBA teams demand up to date state of the art ones!

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## swilki

> 


I have never been inside the BOK center so I can't really say much about a comparison to the OKC Arena/Midfirst Center/Place the Thunder play. But, is that whole blue area on the BOK's scoreboard (just below the monitors) just a giant advertisement for Williams? Seems a little weird if so. I do like how they sell the bottom of the scoreboard to an advertiser. I wish we would do that.

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## Swake2

The whole circular section is a video screen.

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## ljbab728

> The whole circular section is a video screen.


The circular section may be a video screen but the Williams signs are not.  They are attached to the circular area and cover up parts of it.  That somewhat limits what that area can be used for.

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## swilki

> The circular section may be a video screen but the Williams signs are not.  They are attached to the circular area and cover up parts of it.  That somewhat limits what that area can be used for.


Then that makes no sense to me.

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## jdg78

I have been to several shows at the BOK and many at the Ford & others (American Airlines, Pepsi Center in Denver, Sprint in KC and FedEx Forum in Mephis).   The BOK is very nice on the exterior but in my opinion American Airlines and the Sprint Center are nicer.   In terms of the inside, the BOK has more open areas in the entrances, but it is still a bunch of painted cement blocks and cement floors through out.    It is actually quite similar to the Sprint.  Nothing really special on the inside.... However, with the improvements, the Ford is nicer.   Especially if you have been in the suites and under the arena in the concourses... It is a push on the scoreboards.... 

Regarding the sound quality... The Ford seems to have improved dramatically.  I was at the Kings of Leon and the sound was far superior to the way it used to sound.  I thought the BOK was light years ahead, but after the Tom Petty Show this summer I believe the sound was better at the Ford....

Congrats Tulsa!  Still a great arena...

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## bombermwc

So the BOK Center scoreboard is one big adverisement center....with very little actual scoreboard. I'd say that's a win for OKC, not a tie.

I'm not saying the BOKC isn't a great place. It's totally at the top of the game. But anyone that thinks it's god's gift to the world is mistaken. Much like how the Ford Center (or whatever you want to call it) isn't either.

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## Snowman

I would go: Exterior design win for Tulsa, Scoreboard slight edge to OKC (really given how much the people pay at the bottom, all the scoreboards should have the wedge/triangle at the bottom), sight lines: bottom - practically identical, top - advantage OKC with them being noticeably closer due to the overhang. Events they can draw will be a real differentiation over time, NBA is great for most of the year but still a little early to see if it will push or pull more special events to or from Tulsa.

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## Larry OKC

One thing to keep in mind by having the NBA and those 41 dates a year, that is 41 dates/year removed for other events. if you love the NBA, that's great, if your interests lie elsewhere, lo a lesser degree now. Most likely, whichever dates are open in for an event, that's where the event is going to end up. May get lucky and they decide to book in both facilities. Now OKC is splitting at least some of that concert revenue with Tulsa. Remember that concerts were the bread-n-butter that kept the Ford operating at a profit (or at least without further subsidization from the City). With the lease agreement, the city is making very little (if any profit at all) from Thunder games (the revenue is skewed to "maximize profits for the Team").Also, the money that used to go to the City is now being split with the Team (for events the team has absolutely nothing to do with or impact )

The Ford had similar occulades(sp) bestowed on it (#1 concert venue in sales) or something like that its first few years of operation. Let the BOK enjoy it while it lasts. Even Bennet described the BOK as a first rate arena.

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## betts

The BOK arena is stunning from the outside.  I agree the inside is less so.  It cost quite a bit more than our arena, however, and hopefully with upgrades the Ford will be much more attractive.  As far as concerts go, a lot of them are in the summer anyway.  And, OKC gets tax revenue on everything sold inside the arena as well as in Bricktown and surrounds, a fair amount of that coming from people who might otherwise be spending their money in Edmond or other suburbs, Tulsa, Wichita, etc.  The playoffs bring a lot of money into OKC as well, with much more national exposure and people traveling here.  In addition, for the state of Oklahoma, every NBA player who plays a game in OKC pays tax to the state for the days he spends here, I believe. At their salaries, that probably amounts to a reasonable chunk of change.  I don't have a ticket to look at, but initially we were paying a $1 seat tax for our tickets, as well.  I don't know if that's still in force.

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## earlywinegareth

I'm happy both cities have excellent arenas - both were sorely needed and are paying dividends.

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## BoulderSooner

> ^^Yeah thats pretty much a Tie,BOK is over all a nicer arena,but inside the two look like a tie as well!Look for OKC to build a new arena in The future most NBA teams demand up to date state of the art ones!


maybe you heard the Oklahoma City arena is in the middle of an over 100 mil renovation

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## Oil Capital

And the winner of the "Arena of the Year" for 2010 . . . 

Madison Square Garden

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## dmoor82

> maybe you heard the Oklahoma City arena is in the middle of an over 100 mil renovation


LOL, no crap but read my post again,I said in The future!Even with the overhaul the # of suites are small for the NBA and the overall capacity is only 18,203!IN THE FUTURE OKC will have to build another arena!I have been to 4 NBA arenas and OKC by far falls short BUT that is changing!

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## ZYX2

Forget nationwide, we went for the whole world:

http://m.newson6.com/LocalNewsStory....ype%3drssstory

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## ljbab728

> Forget nationwide, we went for the whole world:
> 
> http://m.newson6.com/LocalNewsStory....ype%3drssstory


That's great recognition but it doesn't mention anything about what the honor is based on.  Do you have any idea what criteria was used to make that decision?

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## ZYX2

> That's great recognition but it doesn't mention anything about what the honor is based on.  Do you have any idea what criteria was used to make that decision?


I'm not 100% sure but I don't think there was any set criteria. This award is given by the International Group of Venue Managers. I believe they simply vote on it.

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## Dustin

Came across this photo on Flickr!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ourtulsaworld/3725317951/

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