New Downtown Arena

[mugofbeer]

What a terrible argument. Rather than grapple with their claims, you simply name call and insult.

Oh do l remember the days how this is pot calling the kettle......... smh

[mugofbeer]

Speaking of nerds, 21 economic professors from Oklahoma universities signed a joint letter against the stadium vote, citing a lot of the literature that's been shared here a lot

Signed letters of this ilk haven't exactly proven themselves to be very reliable lately, have they?

[vaflyer]

Speaking of nerds, 21 economic professors from Oklahoma universities signed a joint letter against the stadium vote, citing a lot of the literature that's been shared here a lot

While 21 economics and finance professors at Oklahoma universities signed this letter, there are many more economics and finance professors at Oklahoma universities that did not sign this letter. Academics have political opinions too and some of them use their credentials to promote their political views.

[PhiAlpha]

What a terrible argument. Rather than grapple with their claims, you simply name call and insult.

LOL. What about his post was “name calling” ya NERD?!? He was just disagreeing with your group of SUPER NERDS!

That’s name calling since I guess you don’t know what that phrase means.

[Plutonic Panda]

It’s also funny I’m at the hospital right now in Edmond and I was talking to a nurse and one of the doctors about the new arena and they both said they support it and agreed it’s basically OKC’s biggest ambassador. Many people wouldn’t even know about OKC if it wasn’t for the Thunder. The nurse specifically chose UCO to go to school at in 2013 when he had other options but chose OKC because he was from Côte d'Ivoire. Thunder was his favorite team. It’s not the first time I’ve heard a story like that.

Talk to people. Go outside of Oklahoma. See what people know about OKC. Look at Instagram or really any social media hashtags and you’ll see Thunder makes up for a huge amount of word of OKC spreading around. I’m just not buying the arguments discounting the massive investment this team brings.

[Cocaine]

I wonder why these Economist are saying “you could do a lot of other things.”

[Laramie]

^ ^ ^
For every center piece MAPS project, like the $89.2 DT arena in the original MAPS $350 million in 1993, you could say "you could do a lot of other things."

In 1993, OKC had the Myriad which accommodated 11,200 seats (Rodeo), 13,399 seats (ih), 14,005 seats (bb), The Myriad was -built to keep the NFR in OKC which we eventually lost out to Las Vegas' Thomas & Mack Center's 17,000 for Rodeo. The Myriad was first
proposed to have a minimum of 15,000 seats.

Had we built the Myriad with 19,500 seats, we would probably still have the NFR and possibly an ABA or NHL franchise in OKC as early as the 90s.

US Metropolitan Area Population: 1990-2000: http://www.demographia.com/db-usmet2000.htm Note: Oklahoma City in 1990 had a larger MSA than Las Vegas. Also, our city's central city population was showing growth when other cities were losing population. In the 1980s Central cities population https://www.biggestuscities.com/1980

The Myriad was too small when it was finally built. We (OKC) fell short on the DT arena which was suppose to seat 19,599 originally in an effort to bring NHL to OKC and possibly make another bid for the NFR; however, in l985 the NFR moved to Las Vegas to take the event to another level and provide a different variety of December entertainment in LV . Recall, Las Vegas in 1985 did not have any major league sports franchises because of the gambling.

.

[Bellaboo]

What we didn't have was several casinos making large block ticket purchases to finance the rodeo. I remember the early years in LV the rodeo was not close to full. The underlying reason they went after the NFR was it was held during the 'slow time' in LV.

[Pete]

Another 'Vote Yes' mailer from the Chamber today.

The frequency and related expense tells me they are worried about the vote. Usually for MAPS, you get one or two. I've already received four with a week to go.

Also, Mayor Holt left the City Council meeting early yesterday to go campaign for the arena.

[chssooner]

The original MAPS would likely have failed if there was social media. Think about that. Constant doom-speech about taxes or supporting the wealthy (so from both sides). No chance it passes with that much social media.

[PoliSciGuy]

The original MAPS would likely have failed if there was social media. Think about that. Constant doom-speech about taxes or supporting the wealthy (so from both sides). No chance it passes with that much social media.

Nah that's a false comparison. There was no wealthy group profiting from the outlay of public funds - the Ford Center didn't have a professional anchor tenet that was going to reap millions from the outlay of public money, and the Myriad Center was clearly on its last legs, and it's not like the OKC Dodgers are worth a ton of money, especially not back in 1993. The original MAPS also included money for a ton of other civic and revitalization projects, while this vote seems to be entirely for a new stadium and nothing else. MAPS 3 and MAPS 4 all occurred in the era of social media and passed easily.

Blaming this all on social media, and not the proposal itself, kinda misses the point.

[Laramie]

The original MAPS would likely have failed if there was social media. Think about that. Constant doom-speech about taxes or supporting the wealthy (so from both sides). No chance it passes with that much social media.

OKC didn't have an NHL or NBA franchise when MAPS passed in 1993, we were aspiring to get an NHL franchise for the upcoming NHL expansion.

OKC lost out on a United Airlines Maintenance Center in 1991 to Indianapolis because although OKC out bided Indy to get the maintenance center, OKC then Mayor Ron Norick was told that Indianapolis was selected because of its 'quality of life.'

Since that time, 'quality of life' will continue to be the standard by which Oklahoma City's MAPS projects will be measured. A $900 million arena will include 'quality' because IMO can't see our city spending that much on an arena if it doesn't address the deficiencies of Paycom Center Arena; also put OKC's arena among the top ten among the 30 team NBA.

BTW I've received four mailers so far about the arena vote.

[Thunderbolt]

Another 'Vote Yes' mailer from the Chamber today.

The frequency and related expense tells me they are worried about the vote. Usually for MAPS, you get one or two. I've already received four with a week to go.

Also, Mayor Holt left the City Council meeting early yesterday to go campaign for the arena.

Worried about the vote or wanting to do everything in their power to secure it passes? I would think they'd still do this approach if internal polls had them at 80%.

They know they can't afford to lose this.

[Pete]

Worried about the vote or wanting to do everything in their power to secure it passes? I would think they'd still do this approach if internal polls had them at 80%.

They know they can't afford to lose this.

I can't remember getting more than a couple of mailers for any MAPS vote.

[Thunderbolt]

I can't remember getting more than a couple of mailers for any MAPS vote.

My wife had no idea the city was about to vote on a new arena until she saw a mailer last week and asked me about it. Some people don't live their lives on OKC Talk, OKC social media or consuming local news. MAPS has name recognition for many of those voters who aren't as in the know - the arena concept doesn't.

A more comparable vote would be the school bond last year. The campaign was mostly a hard push in the final two weeks before the election.

[Anonymous.]

I don't check my mail every day, but I have also received probably 5 YES mailers in the last week. I am in 73104.

Anyone attending the last two home games before the vote? GSW this Friday and Jazz the night before the vote. I am wondering if there will be a heavy vote reminder inside/outside the arena.

[Pete]

My wife had no idea the city was about to vote on a new arena until she saw a mailer last week and asked me about it. Some people don't live their lives on OKC Talk, OKC social media or consuming local news. MAPS has name recognition for many of those voters who aren't as in the know - the arena concept doesn't.

A more comparable vote would be the school bond last year. The campaign was mostly a hard push in the final two weeks before the election.

Again, don't think there were 5+ mailers for the school bond vote.

Are you somehow involved in this campaign?

[citywokchinesefood]

My wife had no idea the city was about to vote on a new arena until she saw a mailer last week and asked me about it. Some people don't live their lives on OKC Talk, OKC social media or consuming local news. MAPS has name recognition for many of those voters who aren't as in the know - the arena concept doesn't.

A more comparable vote would be the school bond last year. The campaign was mostly a hard push in the final two weeks before the election.

Most people have absolutely no idea what is going on at the local level for politics. It only gets slightly better for state level issues, and slightly better again for national politics. It is not about living your life on OKC talk or OKC social media. It is about being informed, which unfortunately most people are not. We have so many potential distractions now that it is easier than ever to be disengaged from your community. Around election season I always break out the voter applications and encourage my staff to vote. I do not encourage them to vote one way or the other, but I do push them to participate. Even when I expedite all the "hard parts" I still only see 2-3 out of every 10 new voters actually go out and get their sticker regularly.

I am not a huge fan of how this arena proposal has been handled, but if it does not pass I will seriously look at relocating. This vote failing is OKC taking a step back from progress. I see recruiters for different companies every single day. The Thunder, the arena and the events it offers are a huge asset for recruiting talent into the city. Without it we will most certainly lose a major part of this city's X factor. I hope all of you get out to vote, and I also hope your vote is yes. Future MAPS style projects will be more successful if we make the right decision and vote yes on this arena.

[jn1780]

Its going to be a close vote, plus any of the past maps projects would struggle if being voted on individually. A lot of people don't care one way or another about the outcome, they would if something was there to interest them. So yeah, it makes sense that they would need to be more aggressive with the campaigning.

[john60]

I don't know if the campaign is more worried than before. Maybe, maybe not. It does seem to me that they were extremely quiet before Thanksgiving and seemingly spent very little, and have ramped it up after Thanksgiving. I have to think the last-minute blitz was the plan all along rather than a steady stream over the past several months.

[Thunderbolt]

Again, don't think there were 5+ mailers for the school bond vote.

Are you somehow involved in this campaign?

No, I just assume that 1) it will pass; and 2) its in the city/chamber's best interest to do everything it can to help it pass.

The consequences for MAPS/school bonds failing is that we miss out on big improvements to our city. The consequences for the arena vote failing is we lose the only major sports team our state will ever have. I can see why they would print more mailers than for MAPS!! This is the only such campaign where the city LOSES something (besides momentum) if it fails.

[Laramie]

.

The Guardian

But there is concern now that if the team’s on-court growth cannot be matched by the local government’s willingness to provide it with a suitable home, Oklahoma City could lose its only major-league sports franchise.

Oklahoma City Thunder are the team of the future. But where will they play? https://www.theguardian.com/sport/20...s%20franchise.

[jn1780]

No, I just assume that 1) it will pass; and 2) its in the city/chamber's best interest to do everything it can to help it pass.

The consequences for MAPS/school bonds failing is that we miss out on big improvements to our city. The consequences for the arena vote failing is we lose the only major sports team our state will ever have. I can see why they would print more mailers than for MAPS!! This is the only such campaign where the city LOSES something (besides momentum) if it fails.

A no vote doesn't mean the Thunder immediately leaves. It means the ownership will be more aggressive in signaling their intent to move if they don't get a new arena. The city would try the vote again later down the road.

[caaokc]

A no vote doesn't mean the Thunder immediately leaves. It means the ownership will be more aggressive in signaling their intent to move if they don't get a new arena. The city would try the vote again later down the road.

Holt has said multiple times that another vote or deal won't happen if this fails - it's one shot

[chssooner]

A no vote doesn't mean the Thunder immediately leaves. It means the ownership will be more aggressive in signaling their intent to move if they don't get a new arena. The city would try the vote again later down the road.

A no vote means the owners call that prospective buyer back and tell him they are selling now. Why do you think this all started so randomly? It wasn't random at all.

There will be no second vote.