Is OKC ready for an NBA all star weekend?

[kwash]

With the unreal success of the thunder and the city for the most part going crazy for the thunder, is it a real possibility okc could see an all star game in its future? I mean we sell the arena out daily and the playoff atmosphere here has been compared to that of only sacramento's arco arena back in their playoff days. David stern and even kobe bryant said the other night that this city is big league, with that being said, i say bring us an all star game stern by 2012, who agrees?

[bronchoman]

lol hold on there night train, its been an awesome year but i dont know if we are even close to being ready for an all star game. Dallas said the allstar game brought over a million plus visitors to their city this past yr, by far the biggest event in sports. It brings in more people than a super bowl. OKC doesnt have the hotels or quite the support yet for the thunder. Its crazy here but give it 5 more yrs or so, let that map 3 deal develop and also it may take another arena and then maybe okc can go to stern for a deal for an all star game, but no way not any time soon

[nik4411]

yea, nice post but no way are we near ready for an all star weekend.

[wsucougz]

From the stories I hear we may be better off not hosting an allstar weekend.

[ljbab728]

From the stories I hear we may be better off not hosting an allstar weekend.

I agree. Las Vegas had significant problems when they hosted.

[redhat]

i second that to all that was said in the previous post, also as a black man that went to the nba all star game a few yrs back, do you realize all star weekend is like a black woodstock/ hip hop woodstock coming out party. Hotels in the dfw metroplex area were full from dallas all the way down to waco for the all star game, and waco is damn near an hr from dallas. Your talking every rapper on the face of the earth was there, if it was hip hop culture in 2010 they were in dallas for all star weekend. Can you seriously seriosly imagine that being in okc? lol no way, i would love to see snoop dogg try to book a hotel in yukon or shawnee and throw a party, he'd get run out of town. There are still some i feel that dont seem to truly get that we have a team here yet and refuse to jump on the nba bandwagon here, they prefer to keep this city all ou all the time. So yea its gonna be a while before this whole city is ready for an all star game, we have to get the city to be hands down all in it for the nba before we can convince david stern we're ready. Its crazy right now but i still feel like there about 40% of the city that could care less about the thunder.

[onthestrip]

If we could host an all star game that would be great, but it wont happen. We wont be hosting it anytime soon. The all star game is a big deal, and we just arent there yet. I mean, what this guy says pretty much sums it up.

i second that to all that was said in the previous post, also as a black man that went to the nba all star game a few yrs back, do you realize all star weekend is like a black woodstock/ hip hop woodstock coming out party. Hotels in the dfw metroplex area were full from dallas all the way down to waco for the all star game, and waco is damn near an hr from dallas. Your talking every rapper on the face of the earth was there, if it was hip hop culture in 2010 they were in dallas for all star weekend. Can you seriously seriosly imagine that being in okc? lol no way, i would love to see snoop dogg try to book a hotel in yukon or shawnee and throw a party, he'd get run out of town. There are still some i feel that dont seem to truly get that we have a team here yet and refuse to jump on the nba bandwagon here, they prefer to keep this city all ou all the time. So yea its gonna be a while before this whole city is ready for an all star game, we have to get the city to be hands down all in it for the nba before we can convince david stern we're ready. Its crazy right now but i still feel like there about 40% of the city that could care less about the thunder.

[Richard at Remax]

I would say until the new convention center and hotel as well as core to shore are built, then maybe a 4% shot.

[Larry OKC]

That is a ways away, Core to Shore completion is 30 to 50 years away...LOL

Besides hotel space, another thing is the relative lack of direct flights at the airport (two of the "challenges" cited by the Chamber's Convention Center Study that is holding us back from being a Tier II city).

[betts]

Besides hotel space, another thing is the relative lack of direct flights at the airport (two of the "challenges" cited by the Chamber's Convention Center Study that is holding us back from being a Tier II city).

It's true, we don't have the required hotel space and I think it would take more than a convention center hotel to get there. 30,000 rooms is the figure I remember being a minimum. I'm not sure direct flights would be required, as many private jet is the transport of choice for many of the people attending who would care about a direct flight. But, after holding the game in a domed football arena and selling it out, that may be the new venue of choice for the NBA, which makes getting the All Star game an impossibility for OKC.

[Larry OKC]

It's true, we don't have the required hotel space and I think it would take more than a convention center hotel to get there. 30,000 rooms is the figure I remember being a minimum. I'm not sure direct flights would be required, as many private jet is the transport of choice for many of the people attending who would care about a direct flight. But, after holding the game in a domed football arena and selling it out, that may be the new venue of choice for the NBA, which makes getting the All Star game an impossibility for OKC.

Betts is back and posting all over the place! You've been missed, hope everything is well.

Can't recall the room amount myself but vaguely recall Stern mentioning both the hotel and direct flights a couple of years ago? My be totally wrong on that.

On the domed football stadium subject. When Mayor Cornett was going thru the MAPS 3 survey and "checking off" the top items (either thru MAPS 3 or bond issues) that we had just about everything covered except for the NFL stadium. He made an interesting comment, something to the effect "It would be nice but why would we build a stadium when we didn't have a team to play in it?" Ummmm, we didn't have an NHL or NBA team when we built the arena either. Had to laugh at that.

[metro]

Betts is back and posting all over the place! You've been missed, hope everything is well.

Can't recall the room amount myself but vaguely recall Stern mentioning both the hotel and direct flights a couple of years ago? My be totally wrong on that.

On the domed football stadium subject. When Mayor Cornett was going thru the MAPS 3 survey and "checking off" the top items (either thru MAPS 3 or bond issues) that we had just about everything covered except for the NFL stadium. He made an interesting comment, something to the effect "It would be nice but why would we build a stadium when we didn't have a team to play in it?" Ummmm, we didn't have an NHL or NBA team when we built the arena either. Had to laugh at that.

I don't think that was all of his answer, but the thing is we MET all of the minimum NHL and NBA requirements, we can't currently meet the NFL minimum requirements, we don't have the population or TV market.

[betts]

Sorry, duplicate post.

[mugofbeer]

I was in Denver when they hosted the all star game. Trust me, its not something you really want in your city if you want a quiet, peaceful and safe weekend. Plus, OKC doesn't have enough quality venues for all the private parties that take place. No, OKC isn't ready for, or should desire the NBA all-star game.

[NickFiggins]

Hold up, NBA newbie's! OKC is NOT an All-Star ready team. The hotels and convention space, also flights. And think about this OK has been in the national headlines twice this week Lakers-Thunder and Abortion bills. Just as you think the perception of OK is changing it really isn't. A bunch of east and west coast owners would never want to knowingly have an event in OKC. Sorry, and this comes from as big a Thunder fan as there is, I am just being realistic here.

[metro]

I agree. Las Vegas had significant problems when they hosted.

I was there when it was in Vegas. Lots of problems, but we don't have Vegas sized amenities to host one either.

I was in Denver when they hosted the all star game. Trust me, its not something you really want in your city if you want a quiet, peaceful and safe weekend. Plus, OKC doesn't have enough quality venues for all the private parties that take place. No, OKC isn't ready for, or should desire the NBA all-star game.

Yeah, lots of crime and gangbanger reports from the one in Vegas. I was there at the tail end of it and it was crazy.

Hold up, NBA newbie's! OKC is NOT an All-Star ready team. The hotels and convention space, also flights. And think about this OK has been in the national headlines twice this week Lakers-Thunder and Abortion bills. Just as you think the perception of OK is changing it really isn't. A bunch of east and west coast owners would never want to knowingly have an event in OKC. Sorry, and this comes from as big a Thunder fan as there is, I am just being realistic here.

Nick, it doesn't matter about the "team" as much as the City. We don't have near the hotels we'd need, as well as the caliber of hotels. Sorry OKC but a Motel 6 on I-40 and Meridian doesn't cut it. We need more hotels like Downtown has, Waterford Marriott, Crowne Plaza and Marriott on NW Expressway, etc. We have very few midrise hotels in this city. Same goes for the quotes about the nightlife, retail options, and other things that we'd need to host one. The good news is, we could probably attract a Nike & Adidas flagship type store to Downtown if we were to host one. I disagree with you about the abortion story in the news, stupid crap happens everywhere and this isn't the crowd that really pays attention to that or even cares. Same could be said for when we got the NBA team or of other cities, that's just a lame excuse some locals use for everything.

[rcjunkie]

The same saying were not big enough or ready to host the NBA All Star Game are the same ones that were saying we weren't big enough or ready to have an NBA Team

[andy157]

The same saying were not big enough or ready to host the NBA All Star Game are the same ones that were saying we weren't big enough or ready to have an NBA Team

For Heavens sake rcjunkie, give up dude, the constant negativity will destroy you from the inside.

[rcjunkie]

For Heavens sake rcjunkie, give up dude, the constant negativity will destroy you from the inside.

Andy my good friend, sounds as though you speak from experience.

Pot calling the kettle black alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[andy157]

Andy my good friend, sounds as though you speak from experience.

Pot calling the kettle black alert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

come on danielf you can do better than that.

[icecold]

The same saying were not big enough or ready to host the NBA All Star Game are the same ones that were saying we weren't big enough or ready to have an NBA Team

Not an ALLSTAR city??? Didnt OKC host the AAA "all-star" game a few years back....take that haters.

But seriously, I like how people pointing out realistic things that it takes to host an All-Star game some how turns into that you are not a believer in the city.


I mean is everyone going to be at Skyy Bar and Rok Bar. I am sure Snoop and Co. et al would be real impressed with the VIP areas. And I dont think Russells in the Marriott is exactly quite the hotel bar that clientele is accoustomed too.

Who knows though, maybe I am just skeptical, see you all at the LIL WAYNE concert at the Diamond Ballroom....OKC ALL STAR WEEKEND 2012

[LIL_WAYNE_2012_PREZIDENT]

Not an ALLSTAR city??? Didnt OKC host the AAA "all-star" game a few years back....take that haters.

But seriously, I like how people pointing out realistic things that it takes to host an All-Star game some how turns into that you are not a believer in the city.


I mean is everyone going to be at Skyy Bar and Rok Bar. I am sure Snoop and Co. et al would be real impressed with the VIP areas. And I dont think Russells in the Marriott is exactly quite the hotel bar that clientele is accoustomed too.

Who knows though, maybe I am just skeptical, see you all at the LIL WAYNE concert at the Diamond Ballroom....OKC ALL STAR WEEKEND 2012

see ya there

[dcsooner]

No

[chuckdiesel]

We are barely accepted as an NBA city. There is a big leap between that and hosting the all-star game. We are currently in the same category as Memphis and Sacramento in terms of the NBA pecking order. These are NBA cities but not places the NBA wants to host their all-star game. Miami, NY, LA, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Phoenix, Philly, Chicago, and even Las Vegas are oranges, we are apples. OKC can get there but it will take a lot of time and change. Give it 20 years.

[bigjkt405]

Although we won't host one anytime soon, I doubt we'd have nearly the problems that Vegas had. Being here in the middle of the country we don't have the same access that Vegas had (in terms of the crime and gang banging element). Also you wouldn't have the same type of turnout because in fact we are Oklahoma City. But alas... its not gonna happen anytime soon.