NBA's Seattle Supersonics relocate to Oklahoma City.

[Laramie]

OKC’s Ongoing Transformation: https://www.405magazine.com/okcs-ong...ransformation/

48. Oklahoma City, OK MSA 1,083,346 958,839 124,507 13.0%
US Metropolitan Area Population: 1990-2000 - http://www.demographia.com/db-usmet2000.htm

IT Infrastructure
The Oklahoma City Thunder: https://interworks.com/case-studies/...-city-thunder/

Oklahoma Gazette - May 15, 2012: https://www.okgazette.com/news/thund...-image-2960122

The Oklahoma City Thunder is another quality-of-life amenity, a big-league entertainment option. As we recruit employers and employees from other parts of the country, they think one of two things as they consider relocation: “I have to move to Oklahoma City” or “I get to move to Oklahoma City.” We believe these types of amenities and cultural opportunities are moving the needle toward the latter.

Sports Economics - The Economic Impact of the NBA's Thunder
on Oklahoma City: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/cgi/vi...ontext=econuht

Devon Energy CEO Larry Nichols looks back at company's 40 years: https://www.oklahoman.com/story/busi...s/61247072007/

"When we were trying to recruit people to come to Oklahoma City, even a decade ago, it was very difficult. Now it’s a very interesting proposition, and the city has grown incredibly and the reputation of the city has grown incredibly.

"Now in the last year or two we’ve gotten so much press, the effort to get them down here is less than it was five years ago. They’ve read about us, they’ve seen the stories about the Hornets, about the Thunder — that gives us credibility in being major league. They read stories in the New York Times about the growth of downtown or they’ve talked to someone who has been here. It’s a gradually changing yet perceptively changing momentum.”

"When we went public in 1988, we had a market capitalization of about $80 million. We were told by investment bankers if we could get that up to $200 million, we will have arrived. A couple of years later we got up to $200 million, and then we were told get to $500 million and we would be in the big leagues. And then we got there. But if (in 1988 when we went public) you told me we would end up a $1 billion market cap company, much less a $30-plus billion market cap company. ... I would have laughed. I would have just plain laughed.”

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[jn1780]

OKC’s Ongoing Transformation: https://www.405magazine.com/okcs-ong...ransformation/

48. Oklahoma City, OK MSA 1,083,346 958,839 124,507 13.0%
US Metropolitan Area Population: 1990-2000 - http://www.demographia.com/db-usmet2000.htm

IT Infrastructure
The Oklahoma City Thunder: https://interworks.com/case-studies/...-city-thunder/

Oklahoma Gazette - May 15, 2012: https://www.okgazette.com/news/thund...-image-2960122



Sports Economics - The Economic Impact of the NBA's Thunder
on Oklahoma City: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/cgi/vi...ontext=econuht

Devon Energy CEO Larry Nichols looks back at company's 40 years: https://www.oklahoman.com/story/busi...s/61247072007/





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I see an NBA team as fertilizer to growth. The Thunder ownership certainly saw the benefits the Thunder would bring to the companies they owned. I scored several free thunder tickets when I worked Loves. I'm sure Chesapeake employees had even more opportunities than I had.