When the Arena opened the city signed a contract with SMG that tied all 3 venues capable of hosting Ice Hockey. The Arena, Myriad and State Fair Arena. It was SMG's decision that NO MORE sports events would be held in the Myriad. The deal sounded sweet to OKC. they were promised SMG would bring in all the big concerts, Conventions...stuff like that.
When the Blazers were forced to the Arena, costs went up tenfold. The first few games The whole 3rd level was open, all the concesions, restrooms, ushers. Arena staff outnumbered fans. The Blazers (Bob Funk) was at SMG's mercy. It was agreed to close the top level & curb costs.
The State Fair Arena was built especially to accomodate Ice Hockey (NHL sized rink) The seating & sight lines were great. The Myriad was
very friendly for Hockey, the height level between rows & offset seats made visibliity good.
The arena was built to get the maximum number of seats on a minimum footprint. The seats are much smaller than the Myriad, so moving after you're seated is tough, most rows it's near impossible for somone to cross infront of you while you're seated. I had great seats for Blazers games, but was unable to view the whole ice.
After the way Blazers fans were abandoned, no Hockey at all for a year and serious price increases, I attend 1-2 Hockey games a year.
I would not attend at all if they were forced to move across the street.