I guess we'll find out more at the news conference. Hopefully there's a backup plan.

After watching the council meeting it appears the city manager may have been a victim of his own salesmanship. While trying to get council approval for the recent cuts to city services and personnel, he may have overpainted his picture of gloom and doom. It was fairly obvious that the majority of the council couldn't reconcile having just made those cuts while having the $7M to throw at this. Some had real questions as to where this money could be coming from since they were told we were in such dire straits. Unintended consequences. Sad really, I was kinda hoping this would come together. Would've been fun to attend.

OK- so you have to over-pay for city services before you can do anything else with city funds.

Too bad. This was an amazingly cheap amount for the advertising and pr OKC could get out of this investment.

It will just make other businessmen think twice before trying to do aggressive things to better our community. I doubt they will risk their money and reputation on our city's behalf. Opportunities don't always come along. Next time this goes to one of our competing cities. Maybe Tulsa will get it and when it is big time there we can go see it and we can go back to our complaining.

Guess we aren't quite as "big league" as some think.

Too bad. This was an amazingly cheap amount for the advertising and pr OKC could get out of this investment.

It will just make other businessmen think twice before trying to do aggressive things to better our community. I doubt they will risk their money and reputation on our city's behalf. Opportunities don't always come along. Next time this goes to one of our competing cities. Maybe Tulsa will get it and when it is big time there we can go see it and we can go back to our complaining.

Guess we aren't quite as "big league" as some think.

It would be interesting if Tulsa gets mentioned as a possible replacement.

Oh well, crappy fireworks next year...

Too bad. This was an amazingly cheap amount for the advertising and pr OKC could get out of this investment.

It will just make other businessmen think twice before trying to do aggressive things to better our community. I doubt they will risk their money and reputation on our city's behalf. Opportunities don't always come along. Next time this goes to one of our competing cities. Maybe Tulsa will get it and when it is big time there we can go see it and we can go back to our complaining.

Guess we aren't quite as "big league" as some think.

I wanted it to happen too, but make no mistake- if OKC has to put up $7MM, the businesmen aren't the only people risking.

Too bad. This was an amazingly cheap amount for the advertising and pr OKC could get out of this investment.

It will just make other businessmen think twice before trying to do aggressive things to better our community. I doubt they will risk their money and reputation on our city's behalf. Opportunities don't always come along. Next time this goes to one of our competing cities. Maybe Tulsa will get it and when it is big time there we can go see it and we can go back to our complaining.

Guess we aren't quite as "big league" as some think.

What advertising and PR are you referring to? I've never seen the American Gran Prix series ever covered on Sports Center or any other national sports news show. I don't believe that the series has a TV contract. It's not even on Versus.

What advertising and PR are you referring to? I've never seen the American Gran Prix series ever covered on Sports Center or any other national sports news show. I don't believe that the series has a TV contract. It's not even on Versus.

American Le Mans is on the Speed channel, but only diehard racing fans watch this channel.

Great Decision!

^^ I agree, something wasn't right about "Okc Grand Prix" all along. Glad to see our council got this one right.

Kudos to the council for doing the responsible thing here.

But I think the main reason the vote went this way is because the support among the city's moneyed elite was not as strong as Lund and Ward would have liked to believe.

What advertising and PR are you referring to? I've never seen the American Gran Prix series ever covered on Sports Center or any other national sports news show. I don't believe that the series has a TV contract. It's not even on Versus.
American Le Mans is on the Speed channel, but only diehard racing fans watch this channel.
The IRL is on Versus, I always forget about that because Versus is not a (traditional) racing channel, the only IRL race on a major network (ABC) is the Indy 500. The only reason why they show anything on SportsCenter is because of the Indy contract that ABC has, they used to get more coverage when the IRL ran full time on ABC and barely gave Nascar a notice until they picked up the TV rights to it. ESPN is very self-serving in that way.

The ALMS also has had races on CBS (a couple of weeks ago) and NBC in the past. Speed shows about 10 hours of the 12 Hours of Sebring season opener and about 19 hours on television of the 24 Hours of LeMans with the remaining time shown on Speedtv.com, they have the rest of the sprint format races in their entirety. The ALMS has become a manufacturers series, more of them are in that form of racing with direct involvement than any other. The Audi and Peugeot turbodiesels have dominated the LMP class for quite a few years. Porsche is starting to run a hybrid in the series and the non-hybrid version makes up the bulk of the GTC class. The ALMS is where new automotive technologies will come from since F1 is going down the road of Nascar and the IRL in becoming a spec or template car series.

The only race series with a "major network" contract (Fox/ESPN) is Nascar. The other sports car series (Grand-Am) which is run by Nascar people is on Speed (owned by Fox) as well. I actually prefer the Speed coverage of most races because it is full coverage instead of the chopped up coverage that happens when the races are on a "major network".

We were planning on coming up there for the race, an additional trip on top of our Christmas and OU-Texas Tech (my wife is a Tech alum) game trips.

Watching the Fair Park Grand Stands' dismantling and today's vote on the Grand Prix it makes you wonder where does Oklahoma City stand on racing?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a racing fan; however, when states that sandwich Oklahoma (Kansas/Missouri - Texas) are building racetrack cathedrals, we couldn't even be content with a street race.

Race fans will continue to spend their money in other neighboring states while we let the economic impact dollars strengthen those states and their economies.

When we finally decide to act, it will be too costly to pursue.

Maybe one of the native american tribes would be willing to pursue some kind of racing facility or grand prix race in Shawnee, Norman or Okarche.


.
__________________
"Oklahoma City looks oh so pretty as I get my kicks on Route 66." --Nat King Cole.

The Whole country is in a recession and OKC is faring very well compared to Most large cities!Sales tax collections are up in OKC and jobs are on the increase!Try telling Bricktown club,bar,hotel owners that this would not be a good idea!While The city of OKC might not get paid back within 4-5 years, millions of Dollars would be pumped into OKC by nearly 100 Thousand spectators wich inturn increases Tax revenue!Think Long term BIG PICTURE!


It's really sad, when people start talking about fixing every nic and cranny before you do anything to strengthen revenue steams.

I agree, the economic impact of expanding sales tax dollars and the advertising of increasing our city's reputation would far outweight our initial $7 million dollar investment. Just maybe an action of expanded our footprint will help to lure some big company into relocating or expanding into our city.

We have got to become more diverse in sports and offer at least a cafeteria sampling of what our city is about!

What a joke!! There goes a HUGE opportunity for the city. Oh well, Let's just stay a small city. I mean honestly, who wants worldwide coverage in lil' ole OKC??... Why would we want 100,000 spectators downtown bringing in roughly $40+ million in 3 days??.. not OKC money, money from all over the country. Who really wants that redneck race here anyways?!?! Why do we need people from outside the state coming to OKC that would never consider coming here otherwise. Great decision Council!! Continue the renaissance, continue to think small!!

It would be interesting if Tulsa gets mentioned as a possible replacement.

I hope Tulsa does get it.... That away I can drive up there for the weekend and spend my money there.

Sad day for OKC. Hopefully Trent and Brad won't give up.

These types of events are risk/reward investments. I believe that the rewards (lots of money pumped into local economy, increased and diverse image for city, possible long term success of event and full repayment...) far outweighed the risks (worst case loss of a few million). OKC made a major mistake not taking a risk and investing in itself.

Congrats to our city council! I think they are right on with this vote. I had a deep, bad gut feeling about this Brad Lund-inspired snowjob. The fact that the guy is throwing in the towel tells you everything you need to know: he was a go if the city fronted all the money, but because we won't, he's out. What a jerk. I wish taxpayers would finance my grand fantasies, too. Why can't Brad find other investors, or invest his own money? I realize 7 mill isn't chump change, but it's not much more than small businesspeople spend to build a McDonald's. I wish I could come up with a business plan requiring taxpayers to front all of my upfront risk! Thank God we're not dumb enough to be seduced by this cheap rope-a-dope.

Guys, just wait for tomorrow's paper... some incredible developments ahead. This story has only just begun.

^^ Plan B Steve?

Oh, far more interesting than Plan B... this is the kind of intrigue I love... I see lots of stories ahead...

Congrats to our city council! I think they are right on with this vote. I had a deep, bad gut feeling about this Brad Lund-inspired snowjob. The fact that the guy is throwing in the towel tells you everything you need to know: he was a go if the city fronted all the money, but because we won't, he's out. What a jerk. I wish taxpayers would finance my grand fantasies, too. Why can't Brad find other investors, or invest his own money? I realize 7 mill isn't chump change, but it's not much more than small businesspeople spend to build a McDonald's. I wish I could come up with a business plan requiring taxpayers to front all of my upfront risk! Thank God we're not dumb enough to be seduced by this cheap rope-a-dope.

^^ Can your fantasies produce 70-100 Thousand spectators?I'm sure The Bricktown Merchants arent dumb!MILLIONS of Dollars of outside money flooded into Bricktown yeah that sounds Dumb!No investor or Company never got anywhere without taking risk's!I respect your opinion but I have to disagree!

Oh, far more interesting than Plan B... this is the kind of intrigue I love... I see lots of stories ahead...

^^Crap I'll be in Ardmore tommorow!good thing I have my trusty Blackberry,I'll be looking for The story!

Oh no Steve, not rumors of political corruption?

Guys, just wait for tomorrow's paper... some incredible developments ahead. This story has only just begun.

Tease.


Seriously, it's getting old.

No, no, I'm not teasing. Believe me, this story and where it's going has me absolutely giddy. To be honest, I could care less as to whether OKC gets racing or not. I'm just a mercenary on this one - there's blood in the water ...

Guys, just wait for tomorrow's paper... some incredible developments ahead. This story has only just begun.

Are Costco and Nordstrom's finally coming?

Um, that's an odd twist in this thread. Tell ya what Bunty - you got me. We've got a scoop about how a combined Nordstoms-Costco store is coming to Oklahoma City. It's going to open up in the old AMC flea market building at NW 10 and Penn.

No, no, I'm not teasing. Believe me, this story and where it's going has me absolutely giddy. To be honest, I could care less as to whether OKC gets racing or not. I'm just a mercenary on this one - there's blood in the water ...

OK, this is interesting. Blood in the water. Hmmmm. Are you giddy because you have a public figure dead to rights? The mind wanders. Still, it's very uncool to tease information you have. If you have it, let us in on it. Otherwise, send us a link to your story tomorrow.

Here's the link for the story tomorrow: www.newsok.com
Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow!

Here's the link for the story tomorrow: www.newsok.com
Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow!

Steve,

This is just a link to the home page. There is no story there.

Is this a miscue on your part or are you just messing with us?

http://www.newsok.com/second-group-plans-oklahoma-city-race-with-private-money/article/3490740?custom_click=headlines_widget

^^^
Guess I am missing the "blood in the water" part...

Although this development goes along with something I have been saying for a couple of years now. OKC is not in the desperate shape it was in with the original MAPS (even mayor Cornett admitted that with MAPS 3). And the idea that we have to bend over backwards giving up all sorts of concessions & millions/multi-millions for these events just isn't the case. We had 2 teams that wanted to locate here with the NBA and now we find we have 2 groups trying to bring Grand Prix racing here. Almost immediately after the public financed one fell thru (at least this time around), the announcement comes that another, privately financed deal is in the works. I hope this 2nd group makes it.

OMG! I was just reminded of a rumor that I heard right after Mayor Mick started talking about a Grand prix race here. It involved an IRL race similar to the new Baltimore Grand Prix. I was told that the IRL was trying to satisfy the teams that came over from CART that wanted more Grand Prix type racing. Then I forgot about it and when the LeMans thing was announced I just figured that my source was mixed up. Could it be?
If so, we go from a very minor league race in the LeMans series that weren't even going to bring their top two classes here to something pretty major league with the IRL.
Dario Franchitti, Marco Andretti, Danica Patrick, Helio Castronevus (sp), Penske, Team Green, Rahal - Letterman Racing.
Wow, that would be fun. Could it be true?
http://www.newsok.com/second-group-plans-oklahoma-city-race-with-private-money/article/3490740?custom_click=headlines_widget

If Ron Norick is involved it will happen and be a success. Everything the guy touches pretty much turns to gold.
^^^
Guess I am missing the "blood in the water" part...

Although this development goes along with something I have been saying for a couple of years now. OKC is not in the desperate shape it was in with the original MAPS (even mayor Cornett admitted that with MAPS 3). And the idea that we have to bend over backwards giving up all sorts of concessions & millions/multi-millions for these events just isn't the case. We had 2 teams that wanted to locate here with the NBA and now we find we have 2 groups trying to bring Grand Prix racing here. Almost immediately after the public financed one fell thru (at least this time around), the announcement comes that another, privately financed deal is in the works. I hope this 2nd group makes it.

Funny how things change. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out. I wonder if the 'money people' behind this venture contacted any council people behind the scenes to encourage a No vote on the OKC Grand Prix plan, even if they didn't reveal their own plan.

Realize McAuliffe was a partner in OKC Grand Prix - along with Norick. There is blood in the water...

Realize McAuliffe was a partner in OKC Grand Prix - along with Norick. There is blood in the water...

That does seem a bit strange. Here you have a group and one has private money backing and backs out of the group, leaving the remaing team to require public support (sort of). I wonder if the location of the race is the reason for the break-up. If the new one is going to be around Remington Park (and not near downtown) is the Indian tribe that owns Remington Park involved? I hope the plan isn't to have a "parking lot" race.

Funny how things change. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out. I wonder if the 'money people' behind this venture contacted any council people behind the scenes to encourage a No vote on the OKC Grand Prix plan, even if they didn't reveal their own plan.



I really don't see any behind-the-scenes developments that influence this vote! I think it was more a matter of timing.

The council just approved $4 million plus on Cox Convention Center improvements for AHL hockey and $7 million for street improvements for an annual race--looks like we were neglecting a big part of our city. It was timing indeed.

Someone will come up with the money to fund this adventure in the Adventure District. This is too good to pass up!

Mayor Cornett knew this vote wasn't going to fly; so he voted yes anyway.

He appeared to have reservations about this and he knew the votes weren't there.

I wonder if the 'money people' behind this venture contacted any council people behind the scenes to encourage a No vote on the OKC Grand Prix plan, even if they didn't reveal their own plan.

I think that's a pretty safe bet. When I referred to the 'moneyed elite' in a previous post, I didn't realize there was a rival group. But I was pretty sure the council's vote didn't represent some newly-found concern about spending public dollars on for-profit sporting events.

If Mayor Cornett's only interest in this was to bring Grand Prix racing to OKC, then he will presumably support the McAuliffe proposal as enthusiastically as he did the Lund/Ward proposal. It will be interesting to see if he does.

It could also possibly be Grand-Am, the other sports car series that is owned by Nascars France family. Both the ALMS and Grand-Am have run as support races to the IRL and previously Champ Car. I prefer ALMS but an IRL/Grand-Am race would be a good get as well.

For those who are interested they had the unveiling of the track layout for the Austin F1 track.
Statesman.com - Promoter unveils F1 track layout (http://www.statesman.com/sports/formula1/promoter-unveils-f1-track-layout-890582.html)

For those who are interested they had the unveiling of the track layout for the Austin F1 track.
Statesman.com - Promoter unveils F1 track layout (http://www.statesman.com/sports/formula1/promoter-unveils-f1-track-layout-890582.html)

I hope no one runs off the track on turn 20. That is a long way down.:Smiley063

Steve,

Please help us understand where the "blood in the water" is.

Nah, don't think I will. You're pretty much critical of anything I say or write, so I'll just let you say your peace and move on.

I am glad to see that there is still the possibility of a race in OKC, I just wish that it wasn't going to be in the adventure district. I think this will somewhat take away the awesome potential imagery that could have been captured with the cars passing through downtown with the CBD in the distance and the National exposure with the image of what the OKC skyline looks like.

I know that they will still work in some shots, but it will not be the same. Now I will expose my ignorance about the class of race but compared to the ALMS what type of cars does this potentially bring to the city for the race? (I was pretty stoked about the variety of cars in the ALMS)

Nah, don't think I will. You're pretty much critical of anything I say or write, so I'll just let you say your peace and move on.

Wrong. I've complimented your work many times, but I must say that's a misuse of the word peace. :)

I know that they will still work in some shots, but it will not be the same. Now I will expose my ignorance about the class of race but compared to the ALMS what type of cars does this potentially bring to the city for the race? (I was pretty stoked about the variety of cars in the ALMS)

ALMS and Grand Am are pretty much run the same kind of cars. Almost the same car you can buy at a dealership. IRL is your traditional Indy car (Indianapolis 500). I prefer the verity of cars in ALMS. I'm just not a big fan of all the cars looking the same.

Here is an IRL car.
http://www.hph.co.nz/images/guest/ScottDixon2007Indy500Practice.jpg

Sooner, maybe I'm confusing you with someone else. Just seems like someone with the handle starting with sooner has been chewing on me repeatedly. If not you, my apology. I'm tired and already wishing for more vacation time. You didn't like the use of the phrase "blood in the water." Fine. I get it. There's some real acrimony going on here between former partners, and with the rejection of the Grand Prix proposal, the former partners were going for the kill.
Blood in the water.

Sooner, maybe I'm confusing you with someone else. Just seems like someone with the handle starting with sooner has been chewing on me repeatedly. If not you, my apology. I'm tired and already wishing for more vacation time. You didn't like the use of the phrase "blood in the water." Fine. I get it. There's some real acrimony going on here between former partners, and with the rejection of the Grand Prix proposal, the former partners were going for the kill.
Blood in the water.

Actually, I don't have a problem with the phrase at all, I just couldn't see what you're seeing from the inside, so I wondered where the blood in the water was. Your commentary here obviously provides more perspective.

I pretty stoked too until I got suspicious. First Mayor Mick was pitching this as a major league event that would draw the racing world's eyes and pocketbooks to OKC. I thought wow, what have I been missing? Is ALMS really that big of a deal? Then I twice saw local newscast stories about the event showing video of Formula 1 racing. Then the next day I heard OKC's biggest blowhard sports radio guy saying that Paris, London, Madrid all of the world would be watching this race in OKC. Talking of his memories as a boy going to the Detroit Grand Prix and how great it was. Then later when he was in Phoenix going to the Phoenix Grand Prix and what a big deal that was. So I began thinking that maybe I had missed something and that maybe F1 was coming to OKC. So I researched a little on the net and was really bummed when I found out the following; 1. Formula 1 was not coming to Oklahoma City. 2. The ALMS is only seen on SPEED TV. Not exactly ESPN or ABC. 3. The ALMS has a dismal record of attendance and rarely if ever makes it more than 2 years on street courses. 4. it would have to be successful here 5 or 6 years, 3 times longer than it has made it anywhere else for the city to recoup it's investment. Then I found this quote by Andre Salerno of the ALMS Examiner and several others like it [It’s true race fans.

Times are tough out there. Amidst all this negativity, I ask myself: How fares the American Le Mans Series?

Well, the GT1 class is extinct with Team Corvette’s exit. The prototype classes are not faring much better. Audi R15 TDI? Porsche RS Spyder? Aside from 24 @ Le Mans , they are nowhere to be found. Only Mazda’s and Acura’s whizzing around here.

For those who haven’t heard, the Detroit round of this year’s ALMS series has been cancelled. Fan attendance is down. Team budgets are tight. Some critics are even forecasting the demise of the entire series….

Not exactly what I was hoping to find. If the McAuliff/Norick group can bring a big time event(s) here with little or no tax payer risk, which it sounds like they are attempting that would be a much more attractive option. If it actually is IRL they are working with at least there is a chance of a network broadcast. ABC televised 5 races this year but I couldn't find anything for their 2011 TV contract. Their TV ratings are going up modestly every year so who knows? ABC may do even more races next year.
I guess we just have to wait and see, but I like this groups idea for the location of the race. Concerts and events at the Zoo, Remington and Cowboy Hall. More room for the fans and places for them to escape the summer's boiling downtown pavement. Like I said, we just have to wait and see. QUOTE=OKC@heart;358010]I am glad to see that there is still the possibility of a race in OKC, I just wish that it wasn't going to be in the adventure district. I think this will somewhat take away the awesome potential imagery that could have been captured with the cars passing through downtown with the CBD in the distance and the National exposure with the image of what the OKC skyline looks like.

I know that they will still work in some shots, but it will not be the same. Now I will expose my ignorance about the class of race but compared to the ALMS what type of cars does this potentially bring to the city for the race? (I was pretty stoked about the variety of cars in the ALMS)[/QUOTE]

ALMS has four classes, Le Mans Prototype (LMP), Le Mans Prototype Challenge (LMPC), Grand Touring (GT) and Grand Touring Challenge (GTC). The LeMans Prototype class is the top level, these are cars like the Audi R15 TDI, the Peugeot 908 HDI/FAP, Acura ARX-02a, Porsche RS Spyder, Aston Martin Lola and some others. LMPC is a class of similar cars with less power and weight. The GT class includes "road based" cars like the Corvette C6.R, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, Ferrari F430 GT, Jaguar XKR, BMW M3, Panoz Esperante, Ford GT, and Dodge Viper. The GT Challenge class is a restricted class with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car being the most common. Their major races are the 24 Hours of LeMans, the 12 Hours of Sebring (Florida, the season opener) and the Petit LeMans at Road Atlanta, those are the endurance races, they have sprint races at Laguna Seca and other tracks.

Audi R15 TDI
http://www.planetlemans.com/wp-content/themes/tma/images/uploads/2009/03/470-audi2-sebring4-mtc2.jpg

Peugeot 908 HDI/FAP
http://www.niot.net/blog-images/01_Jun/audi-r15-dominates-first-day-of-sebring-testing.jpg

Acura ARX-02a
http://ll.speedhunters.com/u/f/eagames/NFS/speedhunters.com/Images/AndyBlackmore/GALLERY/ALMS09/seb_acura3.jpg

Porsche RS Spyder
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2007/08/rs_spyder_opt.jpg

Aston Martin Lola
http://www.mulsannescorner.com/LolaAstonMartin-JS2.jpg


Grand-Am/Rolex Sports Car Series is more restricted and a part of the Nascar family so they get some Nascar drivers at some events. They have two classes for the most part, the Daytona Prototype and GT classes. The DP class is composed of a chassis manufacturer (Riley, Lola, Crawford, etc.) paired up with an engine by BMW/Dinan, Ford, Chevrolet, Porsche, etc. The GT class is made up of road based cars like the Chevrolet Corvette and Camaro, Ford Mustang and GT, Ferrari F430GT, Porsche 911, Mazda RX-8 and some others. Patrick Dempsey from Gray's Anatomy has a team in GT racing an RX-8, he drives in many events and participated in the 24 Hours of LeMans with another team in a Ferrari F430GT last June. The Rolex 24 at Daytona is their premier event.

BMW Riley
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/images/stories/large/2010/01/30/telmexers96282232.jpg

I really don't see any behind-the-scenes developments that influence this vote! I think it was more a matter of timing.

The council just approved $4 million plus on Cox Convention Center improvements for AHL hockey and $7 million for street improvements for an annual race--looks like we were neglecting a big part of our city. It was timing indeed.

Someone will come up with the money to fund this adventure in the Adventure District. This is too good to pass up!

Mayor Cornett knew this vote wasn't going to fly; so he voted yes anyway.

He appeared to have reservations about this and he knew the votes weren't there.

Loved a couple of quotes from the Mayor. Starting off the Grand Prix discussion he mentioned the approach the City Manager took in the negotiations...that the Council's history is "we like zero subsidy, as our goal"

LOL, you mean like the "zero subsidy" to the Thunder ($120M + $90M and more)?

Or maybe the "zero subsidy" to the Baron's (<$4M)

Now this, "zero subsidy" of $6.9M?

Then after the less than supportive remarks by various Councilmen, the Mayor said this:


The idea that an opportunity like this is going to come again, I think is probably not realistic. This is a good deal the City manager has negotiated for us. It may not be the deal we want, but it isn't likely to get better than this.

Yet WITHIN hours of the No vote, the 2nd group made their announcement. So much for what the Mayor was trying to push....


Hours after the council denied a proposed letter of intent with OKC Grand Prix LLC, OKC Motorsports announced it also has begun negotiations to bring a race to Oklahoma City in a venture that predominantly would consist of private funds, not city funds.

Seems like opportunity has come again, this race is for 2012 so there isn't this "we have to have an answer today" rush. The can take their time, actually have a solid business plan w/details, make sure the Council is informed along the way, and work out the best deal.

Can't recall who said it on the horseshoe, but it seems some have had enough of the City funding these things. Made a comment to the effect, that OKC should be at a point now where we don't have to keep being forced to subsidize. They should stand/fall in the private sector on their own merit. I couldn't agree more.

The source of the $6.9M in funds still seemed to be a mystery. During the Council meeting, things like magically appear and "cobbled together" were used. While no one specifically asked the question, the neither the City Manager nor the Mayor said a word about it.

Sooner, maybe I'm confusing you with someone else. Just seems like someone with the handle starting with sooner has been chewing on me repeatedly. If not you, my apology. I'm tired and already wishing for more vacation time. You didn't like the use of the phrase "blood in the water." Fine. I get it. There's some real acrimony going on here between former partners, and with the rejection of the Grand Prix proposal, the former partners were going for the kill.
Blood in the water.

Steve,

Thanks for the clarification, I was missing it too...

Can't recall who said it on the horseshoe, but it seems some have had enough of the City funding these things. Made a comment to the effect, that OKC should be at a point now where we don't have to keep being forced to subsidize. They should stand/fall in the private sector on their own merit. I couldn't agree more.

I'm not saying I disagree with you, but this sounds exactly like what we were hearing from the public in Seattle before they lost the Sonics to us.

I knew pro wrestling wasn't a real sport when WWE didn't demand $5 million in taxpayer subsidies to perform here.

I'm not saying I disagree with you, but this sounds exactly like what we were hearing from the public in Seattle before they lost the Sonics to us.

You are correct. If a for-profit pro team has a broken business model that requires public funding, then they need to fix their business model. Just as this 1st group is depending on the $6.9M in public money. Not willing to even discuss the City doing "zero subsidy" as the Mayor stated is our goal. Yet we have another group proposing the same thing largely without public money. Sounds like they might have a solid business model in place and I hope they make it.

Yet we have another group proposing the same thing largely without public money. Sounds like they might have a solid business model in place and I hope they make it.

I want racing in OKC as much as the next person, but for those that opposed Plan A because it required a nearly $7 million investment from the city I would hold off on comments like this becasue we don't yet know how much the city will need to pony up for Plan B.

Plan B doesn't have people driving 150mph down EK Gaylord Blvd. It won't have 80,000-100,000 people filling up standing-room-only spots on the roofs of every parking garage...It won't bring $30m-$40m into our economy in one weekend...Is plan B cool? Yes. Is it all that Plan A was? Not even close.

Again, the $6.9m from Plan A was for tangible items that could even be resold if needed. I am excited for all sports-related items that bring excitement to our city and at the same time give our city an economic injection to every hotel and restaurant citywide. Will Plan B do that...maybe, but at a fraction of what Plan A could have done. Will I attend Plan B? Yes. Would I have attended Plan A? I would have been there hours beforehand and stayed hours after too.

I am, however, very excited that another option is available but I hope that Ward and Lund (etc) don't give up.