thanks pete .... it never made sense to me to not have a lit roof sign .....

Agree, so many times with NBA telecasts you'll see overhead pics of the arena. Hope we are close to an agreement on a naming rights corporate sponsor. Would Love to see a new sponsor--no pun intended. :wink:

Steve is reporting that new name for OKC thunder arena secured. Could be announced next week.

Steve is reporting that new name for OKC thunder arena secured. Could be announced next week.

https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2021/04/20/NOKL/86a1fa1a-0079-4db7-aee9-b53447b56df8-Chesapeake.jpeg?width=1320&height=742&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp

Good news, Warremg88, thanks for the update...

Photo of the old signage being removed

https://twitter.com/joe_mussatto/status/1415801517085442059?s=20

Do we think Steve's poll is a hint?

https://twitter.com/stevelackmeyer/status/1416143987254206466

Do we think Steve's poll is a hint?

https://twitter.com/stevelackmeyer/status/1416143987254206466

It's hard to imagine who it might be other than Loves, especially since they already have the jersey patch.

And Judy Love loves her some thunder basketball.

Suck it up, LeBron!!

We really have to call the arena the Love Shack. That's pretty epic.

Am I the only one who doesn't like the Love Shack idea? 😄

No you are not

A big NO on Love Shack...although I do like the song

Am I the only one who doesn't like the Love Shack idea? ��

Very cringe. Yuck.

Love's Country Stores and Travel Stop Arena.
You heard it hear first.

Terrible

I would be okay with it if they had a convenience store setup inside the arena with self-serve free refill soda fountains. I hate going to events and paying $7 for a nickel's worth of soda that lasts 4 slurps because they filled the cup all the way to the top with ice.

Really, really not excited to have the city-owned arena named after truck stops.

Not exactly the "big league city" image we want to project to the world.

Really, really not excited to have the city-owned arena named after truck stops.

Not exactly the "big league city" image we want to project to the world.

Agreed.

Let some other companies have a crack at the team Judy, damn.

Perhaps they can do us a favor and just call it Love’s Arena. That would lessen the blow dramatically. I have a feeling the city will sign a ridiculous 20 year contract on this too.

At what point do Tom and Judy just buy a stake in the team?

You mean like Love's Stage at Scissortail? Oh, wait.....

Fully prepared to be disappointed. These kinds of deals are not Holt’s forté, unfortunately.

Is it Holt's decision? At all?

https://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/chkarena070821a.jpg

IIRC, much like the process with naming rights of the former Ford Center with the Oklahoma Ford Dealerships, our city council will ultimately vote to approve or disapprove of the recommendations from one of the city's assigned sub-review committees like the DDRC.

Correction: The purpose for building a major league downtown arena was to attract an NHL or NBA team. These efforts started when former Mayor Ron Norick and Clayton Bennett unsuccessfully attempted to secure an NHL expansion team back in 1997. The NHL rejected our bid because they didn't believe we could construct a viable arena for $89 million and Columbus, OH with the financial backing of Nationwide Insurance as a sponsor was seen to be a better long-term option for the National Hockey League.

Naming Rights for then to be named Oklahoma Redhawks (NHL) was set up by the city to turn the arena over to a major tenant--that deal fell apart.

When Bennett & The Professional Basketball Club, LLC was formed they secured the same agreement for the NBA Thunder, an NBA relocation franchise formerly the Seattle Supersonics.

Fully prepared to be disappointed. These kinds of deals are not Holt’s forté, unfortunately.


Is it Holt's decision? At all?

doesn't have anything to do with Holt this is a deal that Thunder are making ..

Perhaps they can do us a favor and just call it Love’s Arena. That would lessen the blow dramatically. I have a feeling the city will sign a ridiculous 20 year contract on this too.

the city has almost nothing to do the the Chesapeake deal and won't have much to do with this new deal .... this is the Thunder's deal ..

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholascrain/2021/04/20/okc-thunder-in-process-of-securing-new-naming-rights-partner-amidst-chesapeake-energys-agreement-termination/?sh=2a3531ba6be6

Remember, the stage at Scissortail Park is named Love's Travel Stops Stage, not Love's Stage.

I would fully expect the name to be Love's Travel Stops Arena and that's what will be on the signage and everything else.

Remember, the stage at Scissortail Park is named Love's Travel Stops Stage, not Love's Stage.

I would fully expect the name to be Love's Travel Stops Arena and that's what will be on the signage and everything else.

really surprised the Paycom didn't get this deal done ..

i wonder how much bigger this deal will be then the old chesapeake deal ? that one started at 3 mil and went up every year ..

Joint venture... Pay for Love Arena (.com)

Ugh… if only it could be named OnCue Arena.

the city has almost nothing to do the the Chesapeake deal and won't have much to do with this new deal .... this is the Thunder's deal ..

https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholascrain/2021/04/20/okc-thunder-in-process-of-securing-new-naming-rights-partner-amidst-chesapeake-energys-agreement-termination/?sh=2a3531ba6be6

Thanks for the info. I forgot the city gave away the naming rights to the thunder. Is this common in other cities to give the naming rights to the main tenant?

Does the city get any revenue for the naming rights?

Thanks for the info. I forgot the city gave away the naming rights to the thunder. Is this common in other cities to give the naming rights to the main tenant?

Does the city get any revenue for the naming rights?


It is pretty common to give it away.


IIRC the city gets the same amount the old state ford dealers deal paid. I don’t know if that amount increases every year

Could be way worse, look at a list of NBA arenas, there are truly some terrible ones….

Amway Center (MLM Company)
Smoothie King Center
Footprint Center…don’t even know what they do
Golden 1 Center, still better than their last arena, Sleep Train Arena

I wish we would just do away with naming rights entirely and give it a permanent name without a need for sponsors. Why is this necessary?

Could be way worse, look at a list of NBA arenas, there are truly some terrible ones….

Amway Center (MLM Company)
Smoothie King Center
Footprint Center…don’t even know what they do
Golden 1 Center, still better than their last arena, Sleep Train Arena

None of those are as bad as a potential Love’s Travel Stops Arena. If you think the inferiority complex and mocking of Oklahoma is bad now, just get ready when that crap is advertised on national television for NBA games and the inevitable jokes about the city being nothing but a low rent truck stop ramp up.

Could be way worse, look at a list of NBA arenas, there are truly some terrible ones….

Amway Center (MLM Company)
Smoothie King Center
Footprint Center…don’t even know what they do
Golden 1 Center, still better than their last arena, Sleep Train Arena

Vivint Arena

None of those are as bad as a potential Love’s Travel Stops Arena. If you think the inferiority complex and mocking of Oklahoma is bad now, just get ready when that crap is advertised on national television for NBA games and the inevitable jokes about the city being nothing but a low rent truck stop ramp up.

Wait, what? The circular logic here is astounding. Just making up something that doesn't exist.

A decision on arena naming rights have not officially been made.

Love's Travel Stop Arena... I've been to three of Love's Travel Stops in Oklahoma City and all appeared to be pretty decent compared to many similar or related travel stops throughout our country with other name brands--many of which you wouldn't dare to sit down on a toilet seat.

Ugh what an embarrassment this would be. Oh well.

Wait, why is having the arena being named after one of the largest travel stop brands in the world a bad thing? Not many business in OK are that large, and known on a national scale (they are all over the country).

Just curious what people are or were expecting from this?! Or do people like to bash everything OKC does? The Moda Center doesn't sound great, neither does the Vivint Arena. Is it just because of the company that is willing to basically piss away money (no company makes any money on these things, I've done audits of those companies)? Or what? I'm genuinely curious. People in Hartford .Connecticut or Portland, Oregon do not care 1 iota about the name of any arena on the face of the earth. People at ESPN don't care about the name of any arena on earth, as long as it isn't vulgar. There will be nothing written about the name of this arena outside of the city (maybe Tulsa).

I am honestly curious what all the hostility is for.

Wait, why is having the arena being named after one of the largest travel stop brands in the world a bad thing? Not many business in OK are that large, and known on a national scale (they are all over the country).

Just curious what people are or were expecting from this?! Or do people like to bash everything OKC does? The Moda Center doesn't sound great, neither does the Vivint Arena. Is it just because of the company that is willing to basically piss away money (no company makes any money on these things, I've done audits of those companies)? Or what? I'm genuinely curious. People in Hartford .Connecticut or Portland, Oregon do not care 1 iota about the name of any arena on the face of the earth. People at ESPN don't care about the name of any arena on earth, as long as it isn't vulgar. There will be nothing written about the name of this arena outside of the city (maybe Tulsa).

I am honestly curious what all the hostility is for.

The Thunder’s logo and branding, in general, is awful. Arguably the worst in the whole league.

And the branding was made even worse by the addition of the Love’s Patch on the jerseys.

So it’s understandable that folks are concerned. Do we continue to cement the team’s reputation for minor-league branding, or do we start making some actual big-league city moves?

Wait, why is having the arena being named after one of the largest travel stop brands in the world a bad thing? Not many business in OK are that large, and known on a national scale (they are all over the country).

Just curious what people are or were expecting from this?! Or do people like to bash everything OKC does? The Moda Center doesn't sound great, neither does the Vivint Arena. Is it just because of the company that is willing to basically piss away money (no company makes any money on these things, I've done audits of those companies)? Or what? I'm genuinely curious. People in Hartford .Connecticut or Portland, Oregon do not care 1 iota about the name of any arena on the face of the earth. People at ESPN don't care about the name of any arena on earth, as long as it isn't vulgar. There will be nothing written about the name of this arena outside of the city (maybe Tulsa).

I am honestly curious what all the hostility is for.

How exactly do you audit to ROI of your name on an arena? "Make money" is a very strange term.

For example: If it weren't for Oracle arena, most people in this part of the country might not know anything about them. I've got a friend who lives on ESPN and is also in sales. He ended up working for Oracle during a brief period of time, but I have to ask myself - if it weren't for GSW and sports television, would my friend have even known enough about the company to apply for the position? What if someone like that onboards with a company and becomes a top producer/contributor/innovator etc.

Not that Love's is that kind of company vis-a-vis Oracle, and even if you quantify that it still seems unlikely that it's a multi-million dollar annual investment that is going to return multi-million dollar revenue streams, but I think there are some opportunities. Maybe Love's has another initiative they want to kick off and this is a way for them to both partner with the Thunder while also bringing some brand recognition as they're making a change to their stores.

At any rate, I tend to agree with you that people aren't going to care or think less of OKC just because of the name on the arena. Also, unless NBA partners are contractually obligated to say "Love's Travel Stops Arena" this will only rarely be called something other than "Love's Arena".

How exactly do you audit to ROI of your name on an arena? "Make money" is a very strange term.

For example: If it weren't for Oracle arena, most people in this part of the country might not know anything about them. I've got a friend who lives on ESPN and is also in sales. He ended up working for Oracle during a brief period of time, but I have to ask myself - if it weren't for GSW and sports television, would my friend have even known enough about the company to apply for the position? What if someone like that onboards with a company and becomes a top producer/contributor/innovator etc.

Not that Love's is that kind of company vis-a-vis Oracle, and even if you quantify that it still seems unlikely that it's a multi-million dollar annual investment that is going to return multi-million dollar revenue streams, but I think there are some opportunities. Maybe Love's has another initiative they want to kick off and this is a way for them to both partner with the Thunder while also bringing some brand recognition as they're making a change to their stores.

At any rate, I tend to agree with you that people aren't going to care or think less of OKC just because of the name on the arena. Also, unless NBA partners are contractually obligated to say "Love's Travel Stops Arena" this will only rarely be called something other than "Love's Arena".

You have to disclose earnings on certain investments (even if just justifiably reasonable estimates) depending on the amount.

But the name hasn't been announced, or even leaked. People are wanting the worst to happen so they can complain more. No one will think any differently about OKC because of the name of the arena.

You have to disclose earnings on certain investments (even if just justifiably reasonable estimates) depending on the amount.

But the name hasn't been announced, or even leaked. People are wanting the worst to happen so they can complain more. No one will think any differently about OKC because of the name of the arena.


chssooner, unfortunately, these are the kinds of postings we see occurring with more frequency.

We all want what we think is best, realistic and achievable for OKC, because we care--this is our city. Lately, it seems as though whatever is being proposed or designed is being met with skepticism.

Well what about Dallas... Making comparisons of Oklahoma City to Dallas a city that is 5x larger in metro population (7.5 million/1.45), has 10x the corporate base power is not the gauge you should be using. Whereas we should gauge OKC on cities of similar size like Jacksonville, Milwaukee (above), Memphis & New Orleans (below), IMO would be a more challenging gauge. Many of the new proposed projects create enthusiasm for all; however, you're doing great as a city if 25% of these projects come to fruition.

Also agree. People in other NBA cities, do not give a rats ass about an arena name. OKC is fortunate to be one of 30 communities with an NBA franchise.


,

I wonder if they'll be public showers available

I wonder if they'll be public showers available

Well played sir…

I hope whoever ends up with the naming rights gives them to Sonic and then names it the Supersonic Center..... It's the only right thing to do!!!

Wonder if I could raise enough on GoFundMe to make this happen?

The Thunder’s logo and branding, in general, is awful. Arguably the worst in the whole league.

And the branding was made even worse by the addition of the Love’s Patch on the jerseys.

So it’s understandable that folks are concerned. Do we continue to cement the team’s reputation for minor-league branding, or do we start making some actual big-league city moves?

Just stop. It’s not even a thing except for the insecure Okies with an inferiority complex who always believe everyone is looking down on them.

The Thunder’s logo and branding, in general, is awful. Arguably the worst in the whole league.

And the branding was made even worse by the addition of the Love’s Patch on the jerseys.

So it’s understandable that folks are concerned. Do we continue to cement the team’s reputation for minor-league branding, or do we start making some actual big-league city moves?

Big-league city moves? Like what? In this case, what is a "big-league city" move?

Just stop. It’s not even a thing except for the insecure Okies with an inferiority complex who always believe everyone is looking down on them.

This times 100

It's not an inferiority complex - it is just a poor image. It's the absolute most visible part of our city when it comes to press coverage. And it is potentially going to be named after a truck stop. Love's is a decent enough truck stop. I use them when it's convenient. But the first thing people think of with truck stops is sticky grimy floors, bathrooms you wouldn't want to use even in a Code Brown Level 5 emergency, disgusting roller grills that haven't been cleaned since the Nixon administration, and racks of overpriced beef jerky.

I am not saying Love's is necessarily any of those things (I have been into some that fit that description), but that is what people think of with truck stops, and our arena on national and international TV feeds is going to be sponsored by that image. I personally think that is a poor image to display of our fine city. Paycom would be great!

It's not an inferiority complex - it is just a poor image. It's the absolute most visible part of our city when it comes to press coverage. And it is potentially going to be named after a truck stop. Love's is a decent enough truck stop. I use them when it's convenient. But the first thing people think of with truck stops is sticky grimy floors, bathrooms you wouldn't want to use even in a Code Brown Level 5 emergency, disgusting roller grills that haven't been cleaned since the Nixon administration, and racks of overpriced beef jerky.

I am not saying Love's is necessarily any of those things (I have been into some that fit that description), but that is what people think of with truck stops, and our arena on national and international TV feeds is going to be sponsored by that image. I personally think that is a poor image to display of our fine city. Paycom would be great!

But again, the ONLY people who give more than 1/1000th of a crap about this are people on this board. That is it! Literally, no one outside of here will care at all. It will not move the needle either way. Paycom would not move it positively, at all. Like, are people seriously thinking it matters?

And no one will care if it is named based off a truck stop company. People in Minneapolis won't be saying "thank goodness our arena isn't named that." Image does not matter in arena name. Not 1 iota. Just seems like people on here want to piss on OKC whenever they get. Loves, Paycom, Hobby Lobby, no one outside of OKCtalk.com will give a single bad word about it.

You are 100% correct. No one is going to really care. But OKC, being located where it is that has no shortage of embarrassing press coverage thanks to our elected leaders, does not need to add any more negative stereotypes into its imaage. Playing in a truck stop arena is just one more negative.

No one will care, but the same people who say dumb things like "does OKC even have streets" (you know they're still out there) or wonder if there are cows at pasture downtown will propagate the stigma that OKC is a podunk truckstop town or whatever. I mean, who cares about THAT (not me), just throwing wood in this fire I guess...

You are 100% correct. No one is going to really care. But OKC, being located where it is that has no shortage of embarrassing press coverage thanks to our elected leaders, does not need to add any more negative stereotypes into its imaage. Playing in a truck stop arena is just one more negative.

^^^

no one outside of OKCtalk.com will give a single bad word about it.

If this ends up being Love's Travel Stop Arena, just wait to see the backlash on social media.

If this ends up being Love's Travel Stop Arena, just wait to see the backlash on social media.

+1

The Twitterati will be merciless. It would be a major setback to the City, just as we’re starting to build some positive momentum.

If this ends up being Love's Travel Stop Arena, just wait to see the backlash on social media.

Then what should it be? You are quick to bash what hasn't been announced, why not offer your take? Want OKC to have Microsoft sponsor it, or Dell, or Apple, or some other "forward" company? Just honestly curious what it should be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vim4ZKuNm6k