Big 12 baseball tourney

[Pete]

Oklahoman reporting that after four decades, the tournament will be moving to Arlington's under-construction Globe LIfe Field starting in 2022 and running at least 3 years.

Will be a big loss for Bricktown and the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Globe Life Field will have a retractable roof to guard against weather issues.

[HangryHippo]

Big loss.

[BoulderSooner]

Oklahoman reporting that after four decades, the tournament will be moving to Arlington's under-construction Globe LIfe Field starting in 2022 and running at least 3 years.

Will be a big loss for Bricktown and the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Globe Life Field will have a retractable roof to guard against weather issues.

it was also held in arlington in 2002 and 2004 and in tulsa in 2015

also the first year of this tourny was in 1997

the big 8 tourny (a fully seperate conf) was held at all sports in okc from 76-96

[Midtowner]

That's really unfortunate as Bricktown is a tailor-made host for that tournament. I guess we can count on a retractable roof for our stadium as part of MAPS V?

[Laramie]

They'll be back, as if they didn't learn from their lure to The Ballpark in Arlington before; because every time the tournament moved to the DFW area it has failed; high operational costs, the stadium will look vacant in a venue that will appease the players--fan wise, 10,000 will appear sparse in a 48,000 seat MLB cyber tech venue.

Love the Metroplex area, however it has always been a greedy b*tch; wants everything--going after OKC's horse shows. Predict they'll eventually return home to The Brick, Big 12 baseball you're always welcome in Oklahoma City.

[amocore]

That is going to be a lot of empty seats ! Plus the experience will take a hit. You will be stuck in a sea of parking in Arlington instead of being able to go around Downtown OKC.
Bad idea and not good for OKC.

[onthestrip]

Seemingly always having severe weather in OKC at the time of the tourney doesnt help us.

[kukblue1]

They'll be back, as if they didn't learn from their lure to The Ballpark in Arlington before; because every time the tournament moved to the DFW area it has failed; high operational costs, the stadium will look vacant in a venue that will appease the players--fan wise, 10,000 will appear sparse in a 48,000 seat MLB cyber tech venue.

Love the Metroplex area, however it has always been a greedy b*tch; wants everything--going after OKC's horse shows. Predict they'll eventually return home to The Brick, Big 12 baseball you're always welcome in Oklahoma City.

Parking won't be cheap. Getting there won't be cheap. Place will look empty. Don't see it being a good fit. Are there any hotels really near by. Bricktown has several within walking distance.

[Pete]

Right next door is Texas Live! with restaurants and a hotel.

There are other hotels very nearby.

[SoonerDave]

I'm amazed they didn't learn from their last debacle at Arlington - nearly empty stadium, voluminous disinterest.

[kukblue1]

I'm amazed they didn't learn from their last debacle at Arlington - nearly empty stadium, voluminous disinterest.

Had over 13,000 last time it was in Arlington. About 9,000 or 10,000 was the largest a few years ago in Bricktown.
http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/baseba...016/attend.pdf

[SEMIweather]

Seemingly always having severe weather in OKC at the time of the tourney doesnt help us.

I mean, that's just OKC in late May. The Women's College World Series is usually the weekend after and that never seems to dampen turnout or enthusiasm.

[SoonerDave]

Had over 13,000 last time it was in Arlington. About 9,000 or 10,000 was the largest a few years ago in Bricktown.
http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/baseba...016/attend.pdf

The largest Bricktown attendance was the 1998 tourney game between OU and OSU, back when it was called the Southwestern Bell Bricktown Ballpark. That was a sellout of 13,066, well beyond the 10,000 figure cited as the "largest a few years ago in Bricktown."

The recollection I had was from media reports at the tourney who pointed out at the time how the crowd was so small relative to the venue that the place seemed empty and inappropriate for a college venue.

[Laramie]

The Ballpark in Arlington: 49,178
Globe Life Park: 48,114

Globe Life Park: 15,000 in a 48,000 seat venue will look 1/3 full.
vs.
Bricktown Ballpark: 9,000 in a 12,900* seat venue will look 3/4 full.

Predict when the Globe Life newness wears off, the Big 12 baseball tournament will return.

*The Brick's capacity will be restored close to its original 13,000 seats when the city replaces all seats including the right field tarped upper deck seats with a $1.7 million upgrade.

IMO, this won't hurt the tournament; however it will affect Bricktown Entertainment District for the period/years the tourney will be held in Globe Life Park.

[dankrutka]

With Texas Live! this has a much better chance of success than the previous years it was in Arlington. Having said that, Arlington is basically just a giant parking lot. It's an absolute nightmare to get there and the city has fought hard against public transportation. Bricktown is a better overall option, no doubt. But don't be surprised to see it do better this time and not move back.