Tulsa eyeing 2020 Olympics?

[cattleman]

It would be great for the whole state of Oklahoma, but it does seem a little far fetched.

Tulsa World: Committee eyes possible Tulsa bid for Olympics

[Luke]

It would be great for the whole state of Oklahoma, but it does seem a little far fetched.

Tulsa World: Committee eyes possible Tulsa bid for Olympics

In my pre-libertarian days, I pushed for OKC 2024. There's probably a thread lyin' around here about that still.

While it would be great to see Tulsa get it, the financial burden it brings seems to be not very worth it.

[OKCisOK4me]

I was laughing as I read that. Not that it would be great for Tulsa, but seriously? What are the facilities available? Where's their Olympic size swimming pool like the one China had?! If it's there now, I've never seen it. If they're going to build that, who pays for it? Where's their world class track? And even if they build all of this for 2020, who's gonna use it afterward?

Good luck T-town.

[Steve]

Nobody has the facilities prior to landing the Olympics; it's basically an event-driven Urban Renewal effort that when done right can produce benefits for years to come.

[USG '60]

China is stuck with some useless masive dinosaurs. Tulsa better have a solid plan for re-use. Surely they will see the light.

[dalelakin]

Nope zero nada nill none not even in a remote possible bizzaro universe does this have a chance. I am not even going to go into the venues that are not there then consider the lack of hotels and transportation limitation oh my the list is WAAAAAYYY to long to even consider why it will not happen.

It was good for a good chuckle though.

[venture]

Most cities that host the Olympics get done in by mountains of debt afterwards. Tulsa also doesn't have the infrastructure to support something like this. Honestly, if they want to pull this off, they MUST partner with OKC to do such a thing. There are plenty of situations where events are held a hundred or so miles away from the main host city. Whether that is OKC or Tulsa, both cities can host numerous events.

But then after spending the billions in dollars for such facilities, security, housing, etc...what are you going to do afterwards? Olympic Stadium in Atlanta was chopped in half and became the new Braves home. What are we doing to do with a 100,000 seat stadium here? The only thing we have close to that now is Memorial Stadium and I don't see OU playing home games in OKC or Tulsa.

Now thinking more OKC instead of Tulsa here...you'll need a large events center for the indoor competitions - gymnastics and basketball. The smaller indoor events or basketball games could go to the Cox and Ford centers.

An aquatics center would be needed for the swimming and other water competitions. We have nothing that can meet that right now. A venue for the track cycling events, unless another facility can adapt. Tennis stadium for those matches.

I suppose we could do something to where existing venues can get upgraded...such as the Cox and Ford centers, the Bricktown Ballpark, Hall of Fame Stadium, but we still need additional venues. Though if something like this would take place, the newly built venues could be used after the fact such as for a new downtown convention center and such.

Regardless of all those high hopes...how do you pay for it? The state is already hurting and the city doesn't have that much dough. And what if they do come up with the funds? Ticket sales have been weak at these events and the government will be crushed by the burden of debt. Not to mention the infrastructure is not even there to support this. Unless they can justify increasing the terminal and customs capacity at Will Rogers and Tulsa for such a short time, we'll have to rely on funnel passengers from other domestic hubs. Then you can get into hotel rooms, ground transportation, mass transit, etc.

[DM1031]

alot of cities put in bids, its like the lottery, you dont think you'll win, but you gotta play.

[USG '60]

But the ones who "win" are the losers in the end.

[hipsterdoofus]

I laughed out loud - sorry - I also laughed at OKC hosting them anytime soon and OKC has a hundred times better chance. Do they have any idea what they lack? Hotel rooms, international airport....etc etc. They have to just be doing this as a gimmick. It isn't even close to realistic.

[Richard at Remax]

the more logical thing for me would be dallas metroplex to host it and have all the rowing stuff here. Now that would be fine by me

[hoya]

While it's certainly far-fetched, some of you are acting as though hosting the Olympics would be a bad thing. I'll tell you now, if they approached us and said "We'll give it to OKC in 2020 if you want," we'd be crazy not to take it.

[krisb]

Maybe by then we'll have high-speed rail between OKC and Tulsa. Then we can share facilities, hotel rooms, infrastructure, debt. Can't see how they'd do a Tulsa olympics without including the Oklahoma River. Also, they could have the BOk Center for some events and the Ford Center for others. Would such a partnership even be possible or are the Olympics strictly one-city?

[Pete]

The Atlanta Olympics was considered somewhat of a failure because of the limited transportation system, among other things. The general fear -- expressed before the games -- was more of less realized: That Atlanta just didn't have the infrastructure as a city (apart from sports venues) to be a good host.

There was constant outcry regarding logistics and horror stories of bus-jams and taking hours just to get from one place to another.


Now, compare Atlanta to even the Tulsa/OKC combination. Atlanta has one of the busiest airports in the world and a decent subway system, plus a much more compact setting served by a well-established bus system.

Our state, unfortunately, has none of these things -- or anywhere close to them.

[soonerguru]

No offense to Tulsa, but what a joke.

[hipsterdoofus]

the more logical thing for me would be dallas metroplex to host it and have all the rowing stuff here. Now that would be fine by me

Now there is a wonderful (and just slightly more attainable) idea.

[brianinok]

the more logical thing for me would be dallas metroplex to host it and have all the rowing stuff here. Now that would be fine by me

A voice of reason in the midst of this ridiculous story.

[Spartan]

It would be great for Tulsa but they don't meet a single one of the thresholds in the host city application and the 2020 Summer Games are already going to Africa, most likely. Cape Town and Durban are competing so far, but Johannesburg could throw its hat in the ring, too. It will be either Cape Town or Jo'burg, if they apply. Not Tulsa..

[metro]

I suppose we could do something to where existing venues can get upgraded...such as the Cox and Ford centers, the Bricktown Ballpark, Hall of Fame Stadium, but we still need additional venues. Though if something like this would take place, the newly built venues could be used after the fact such as for a new downtown convention center and such.

COX center will be 50 years old in 2020. Even with renovations, it won't be Olympic caliber. I suppose we could turn it into "The Cube" as an aquatics center, but after the Olympics, again it's not really the best use of land space. Sorry, but all of those venues are a joke when it comes to the Olympic stage.

I laughed out loud - sorry - I also laughed at OKC hosting them anytime soon and OKC has a hundred times better chance. Do they have any idea what they lack? Hotel rooms, international airport....etc etc. They have to just be doing this as a gimmick. It isn't even close to realistic.

True, but they'll probably get some positive press just for applying. I'm sure that's what they are really trying to do, turn a few eyes to Tulsa since OKC has been stealing the spotlight for quite sometime. Might get a few eyes looking at Tulsa and our state.

Maybe by then we'll have high-speed rail between OKC and Tulsa. Then we can share facilities, hotel rooms, infrastructure, debt. Can't see how they'd do a Tulsa olympics without including the Oklahoma River. Also, they could have the BOk Center for some events and the Ford Center for others. Would such a partnership even be possible or are the Olympics strictly one-city?

BOK and FORD center would have to host smaller events, they aren't Olympic size or caliber for the larger events.

The Atlanta Olympics was considered somewhat of a failure because of the limited transportation system, among other things. The general fear -- expressed before the games -- was more of less realized: That Atlanta just didn't have the infrastructure as a city (apart from sports venues) to be a good host.

There was constant outcry regarding logistics and horror stories of bus-jams and taking hours just to get from one place to another.


Now, compare Atlanta to even the Tulsa/OKC combination. Atlanta has one of the busiest airports in the world and a decent subway system, plus a much more compact setting served by a well-established bus system.

Our state, unfortunately, has none of these things -- or anywhere close to them.

I was at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics for the entire duration and volunteered at some of the events. I didn't see them as a failure in any way. MARTA seemed to run on time (although full plenty of times). I thought they hosted it very well and crowds were decent but respectable. Highways could get ridiculously congested at times, but nothing Atlanta hasn't experienced before or after Olympics. I used car, bus, and rail when I was there and we never had to wait much that I can remember. I lived outside Atlanta for a year a few years after the Olympics as well. I agree the entire state of Oklahoma's infrastructure doesn't even compare to Atlanta's so unless California falls into the ocean and everyone moves to Oklahoma, I don't see us having a realistic chance of hosting it, knowing first hand what it takes. I agree with Pete.

[Jesseda]

tulas smart at just putting the bid in, look we are all talking about tulsa now

[adaniel]

the more logical thing for me would be dallas metroplex to host it and have all the rowing stuff here. Now that would be fine by me

For what its worth, DFW put in a bid for the 2012 olympics and was turned down. Also, I don't know how true this is, but I heard that the Olympic Committee would be hesitant to host an event in the American South becuase they found Atlanta to be too hot.

[Pete]

I was at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics for the entire duration and volunteered at some of the events. I didn't see them as a failure in any way

That is not the overriding view and certainly not that of the Olympic committee.

It was the most criticized games in recent history.

[metro]

I'm not arguing that, but from my perspective and the people I interacted with (fans and people on the street) everyone seemed to be pleased. I didn't run into one person who seemed upset about the Olympics. But I understand where the Olympic committee might be coming from and the park bombing didn't help the positive PR.

[BDP]

Oh, I don't know, they did just get a Hard Rock and maybe there's a Congressman from Utah that can funnel some infrastructure money back this way...

; )

[OKCMallen]

Most cities that host the Olympics get done in by mountains of debt afterwards. Tulsa also doesn't have the infrastructure to support something like this.

They don't have the infrastructure to handle rush-hour on I-44 on 31st - 81st and Memorial.

This is a retardedly stupid stupid idea.