![]()
Awesome view of the magnificent Tulsa skyline.
Broke ground: December 19, 2008
Opened: April 8, 2010
Construction cost: $39.2 million
Architect: Populous
Tulsa is AA, not AAA and is expected to draw smaller crowds. There's little to no star power in the players, but then the cost is lower to field a AA team. Anyway, Tulsa actually is drawing bigger crowds, but not by all that much. Tulsa is near the top in attendance for AA teams, OKC is upper-middle in AAA.
2024 Attendance so far:
Tulsa: 5,948 (ranked 20th of all 120 minor league teams)
OKC: 5,308 (23rd)
Both are down from last year, probably due to the hotter summer. And OKCs shockingly stupid branding choice.
Issue for both is paid versus live attendance. I don't think the weather is an issue. Summer is hot and water is wet. I think baseball just does not have a compelling product in the current US market.
As far as views go, home plate needs to be on the west side of any configuration, because the setting sun will broil any east side set up.
Yeah The View Apartments with the massive lounge area with a patio overlooking the field as well as the vast bank building with in the raw’s patio over looking OneOK Field really make you wonder what the F the hotel developers in Bricktown were doing/thinking when they decided to completely ignore the awesome baseball field behind them. Would’ve been really easy to stick a rooftop bar/restaurant in one of them over looking the field. Instead you have a massive brick wall with tiny windows. Just so stupid.
Duplicate.
Developers in OKC largely suck at the basics. Midtown R and Gary of FNC being a notable exception. But when I visit other cities, like your Tulsa example, they aren’t ignoring assets right next door.
I think the hotels have always been business focused, and were among the first built in the area, about 20 years ago. Coaches occupied the patio/restaurant space at the end of the 3rd base line for 10-15 years, and did pretty well. But, the overall entertainment scene in OKC has really grown since 2000, and baking in the summer sun looking at a minor league baseball park isn't a strong draw anymore
Tulsa developers did such a better job at designing for walkable interaction between surrounding businesses and the ballpark. Elgin Park sports bar opens right up to OneOK, the View apartments have a great balcony overlooking the field (unlike Bricktown hotels), and then the Vast Bank building has multiple restaurants just across the street. Most places in Brickton are just far enough out of site or around the corner that interaction really lacks with the ballpark. Also, OneOK being below street level make it much more integrated into the neighborhood. You can see the game just by walking by. However, I think there are a lot of ways to improve the Brickton ballpark experience. It's a good field in a good location.
Remember, Coach's restaurant and bar was integrated into left field at The Brick, with a big patio overlooking the field.
Had a decent run then gave way to the OK Sports HOF took that space.
I went to a game at Bricktown Ballpark last night. We have a 7 games a year package, and this was number 6. I was going to snarkily dissect your inaccurate claims, but, I think you should come back to OKC and refresh your memory. Take the train and spend a busy weekend without having to enter a vehicle.
Bricktown and Downtown were hopping last night. It was a Vibrant, Walkable Community,
I live 2 blocks from the ballpark in OKC now and lived 2 miles away for 8 years…I walk there to get to games. I also lived about 7 blocks from the ballpark in Tulsa for 4 years. I’ve been to both many times since both opened. Tulsa has done a better job designing its ballpark to fit with its surroundings and the developments around it compliment it a ton better than they do in OKC. OKC developers got lazy with the hotels on the north side and there’s still a big grass field and a parking lot across the street on both sides of the main enterance, the highlight on the southwest corner is the joke of a lazy design that is lower Bricktown, there is a huge parking lot and poorly designed hotel to the southeast, and two massive empty parking lots to the east. Contrast that with with OneOk where there is a cool sports bar and the vast bank building with a rooftop patio restaurant, two main floor restaurants and a coffee shop to the east; two nice apartment buildings to the south both with ground floor restaurants and one with a rooftop lounge for for the residents overlooking the ballpark, and greenwood avenue with a few restaurants where it’s west entrances opens out. The worst parts are the highway to the north which is blocked out by the stands/press box and the U-Haul building to the south and the stadium faces the downtown skyline instead of nothing like OKC’s. Everything built around OneOK interacts with it at the ground level and upper stories.
The restaurants around OneOk are for the most part better than the restaurants around the OKC ballpark right now. That area isn’t the best part of OKC’s culinary scene and the Greenwood/Brady area around OneOk is becoming one of Tulsa’s better ones. There are parts of downtown OKC that are far nicer than Tulsa but that part of Bricktown when compared to the area around OneOk field just isn’t one of them.
This dumb “Tulsa people should come down here sometime” stuff is just stupid when most of us commenting on it have lived in both cities for long periods of time or at least have experiences to compare that most people here, including you, clearly don’t. Dan visits both from out of state (I think). The statements that Bricktown is fun and vibrant and that Tulsa did a better job of designing its ballpark and everything around its ballpark can both be true (and are).
So you’ve lived downtown in both over the last 5 years during the time that the area around OneOk was fully developed? Based on your posts over the last few years, I find that hard to believe.
you can disagree but it’s an objective observation at this point unless you think development that almost completely ignores a stadium is better than developments that purposely incorporate it into their design.
ONEOK Field's home plate is on the NNW corner.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tu...a2N2?entry=ttu
The snark is that OKC built their AAA ballpark in the late 1990s. And our city is, and has been, a Big League City that doesn’t need to worry about how a minor league ballpark fits into our overall city experience. If Tulsa needs to proclaim how well their AA ballpark fits as the centerpiece of their Urban experience, so be it.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Bookmarks