Oklahoma Indians Baseball ?????

[Lurker34]

Heard a rumor that the Cleveland Indians are it talks with Oklahoma City about relocation. Like I said, it's a rumor. Anyone hear anything concrete about it?

[thundersooner]

Where did you hear this? I can't find any info on this anywhere.

[venture]

Sounds like a bunch of bull, IMO. I can't see the Indians leaving Cleveland.

[onthestrip]

And where exactly do you think they would play games?

Pro sports teams dont move to cities that dont have proper stadiums/arenas. There is no way this is happening.

[jedicurt]

i seem to recall a story on the bleacher report a few months ago that showed the top X# of places that the Cleveland Indians should move to if they were to relocate (cause they have been at the bottom of attendance numbers for a few years... and i remember OKC being on that list (and very low on that list) so i think someone probably just saw that and thought it was something that people were actually thinking about doing

[dankrutka]

Zero chance of this happening. First, OKC would be a bad relocation destination. OKC could not support 30-40,000 fans for 81 games a year AND the Thunder. OKC is a perfect market for one major sports team and it would be a mistake to dilute the Thunder support now, which is already bolstered by their tremendous success. The real test for OKC is how well fans support the team once they're not new anymore or successful. It's not easy to get up for Milwaukee Bucks games 81 times a year. Second, the Indians are not leaving Cleveland.

[Bellaboo]

Heard a rumor that the Cleveland Indians are it talks with Oklahoma City about relocation. Like I said, it's a rumor. Anyone hear anything concrete about it?

Seriously doubt it, on the other hand, it could be for their AAA affiliation after the Houston contract is up.

[milkmandude]

What about Tulsa? Driller games are always way more packed than Redhawk's games from my perspective. The ONEOK Field is new, but was a fight between Jenks to do so. If they did something similiar to OKC with MAPS to get the Thunder, would they pull it off? There is no other MLB in range from KC to Dallas.

[dankrutka]

I don't think Tulsa could support a MLB team, but maybe... One sports towns have to be passionate and I'm sure Tulsans would be. Having said that, they probably don't have the corporate support necessary. There are too many better city options. I see MLS or NHL as the best fits if Tulsa could ever get a big league team.

[OKCisOK4me]

Zero chance of this happening. First, OKC would be a bad relocation destination. OKC could not support 30-40,000 fans for 81 games a year AND the Thunder. OKC is a perfect market for one major sports team and it would be a mistake to dilute the Thunder support now, which is already bolstered by their tremendous success. The real test for OKC is how well fans support the team once they're not new anymore or successful. It's not easy to get up for Milwaukee Bucks games 81 times a year. Second, the Indians are not leaving Cleveland.

And thirdly, there is no support for the Redhawks or whatever they're called now in their whatever it's called park. That stadium has never been filled to capacity. The owners of the Indians aren't going to build a new stadium here and OKC isn't going to have an impromptu vote on a MAPS 3 1/2 tax to build a stadium. If they were looking to relocate, they'd pick somewhere that already has the facilities in place.

[Hawk405359]

There's probably a better chance of them relocating to my backyard than to OKC, honestly. We really can't be that high on the list as potential MLB destinations.

[Snowman]

What about Tulsa? Driller games are always way more packed than Redhawk's games from my perspective. The ONEOK Field is new, but was a fight between Jenks to do so. If they did something similiar to OKC with MAPS to get the Thunder, would they pull it off? There is no other MLB in range from KC to Dallas.

Like our stadium, their's is well below capacity for a MLB team but it would not have to have as many comprises as ours to add upper decks and outfield seats.

Since there is a school of thought that a city should have a million people per pro team it would be right on the edge of supporting a team. Though due to the respective CBA's it is much harder for Tulsa (who would be the smallest market in the league) to build a competitive MLB team compared to the NFL or NBA and practically impossible to build a dominate team.

Tulsa already has a thing similar to MAPS which runs through 2017, getting more tax given the current economic climate and and risk of loosing current jobs from American Airlines would make raising that higher difficult now, granted the mix of projects was a bit iffy but they just turned down an extension on it this year. If there is a window to get the team it probably will not last, in any case the first thing you need to look at with relocation talks is if the team is just using other cities to get better teams on leases, tax breaks or a new stadium in the city they are in.

[ljbab728]

Tulsa already has a thing similar to MAPS, so could be an option.

Probably not. Tulsa's Vision 2 vote recently failed.

[dankrutka]

Obviously Tulsa would have to build a new stadium. People might change their tune if a MLB team was a realistic option. Just sayin'. It's obviously not happening.

[bluedogok]

There was an Oklahoma City Indians minor league team over the years before the 89'ers. They were a farm club for many teams including the Cleveland Indians during the 40-50's.

Baseball is a sport that has no salary cap and your local television contract is key to financial success. The Red Sox and Yankees own their own networks (NESN and YES), the Cubs may still own theirs. Fox has paid big money for the Rangers and Dodger broadcasts, the smaller market teams are at a severe disadvantage even with the luxury tax. Basketball at least has some revenue sharing and a salary cap in place to equalize the revenues to some extent. I would think San Antonio would have a better chance, they have actively pursued some teams in the past, notably Miami before the new stadium initiative was passed. The populations numbers in Central Texas are much more favorable.

[Spartan]

This thread makes me laugh.

[ljbab728]

Everyone is always pleased to put you in a jolly mood, Spartan.

[Spartan]

I wonder if anyone knows what my avatar for most of this year is

[ljbab728]

I wonder if anyone knows what my avatar for most of this year is

Looks like Slider to me.

[Spartan]

Looks like Slider to me.

Good job Lj! Or as I like to call him, PURPLE THING!! Such a lovable mascot

[skanaly]

I go to three or four Redhawks games a year, and the stadium is never pact. I don't think we're a baseball city. I mean if we got a proffesional team, I think things would change a bit, but from my opinion they're better off staying in Cleveland.

[SoonerDave]

The Redhawks nee 89ers were a great draw when there was little else compelling to visit during the summer, but that's changed these days. Besides that, in terms of notoriety, I don't think the current owners do much beyond squat to promote the Redhawks. That's where I fondly recall the days of Patty Cox Hampton, widow of the venerable old Bing Hampton, who knew how to market minor league baseball in OKC.

Decades ago, they did a fabulous job of marketing affordable, family-friendly entertainment, not just baseball. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, many of their marketing methods became all-but textbook models for how other cities marketed their similar teams. What they realized quickly: You can't just sell baseball, particularly minor league baseball, as a product by itself because the team won't stay together. That's the basic, inviolate nature of farm-team ball. So you market a broader product - family entertainment. And that's what made the 89ers marketable and successful downstream, and now as the Redhawks, but less so after a move - guess what - to devoting what little advertising I do see back to selling baseball rather than entertainment.

Now, don't get me wrong, to say that's the sole reason interest in the Redhawks has possibly ebbed would be a ridiculous oversimplification. But I do believe its an important element. Baseball in Oklahoma has been on the slide IMHO because neither of the state school teams have been anywhere near what they were in their heyday...OSU's past successes and contemporary troubles are well documented, and OU is obviously a long way from its great days under Enos Semore. OU-OSU baseball used to pack 15K+ SRO into old One Sport Stadium, and 13K in the early days of The Brick, but not anymore. Pro sports in OKC right now is obviously Thunder-centric, making a Redhawks sell just that much harder. And that we lost the affiliation with the Rangers in favor of one with one of the worst organizations in pro ball - the Astros - doesn't help perceptions.

Don't know if or how you can rebuild that interest. And I don't think there's two chances in heck you'd ever spin up enough interest around here to sustain a full MLB franchise for 81+ games per year....eventually, you just run out of discretionary sports dollars.

[Spartan]

I go to three or four Redhawks games a year, and the stadium is never pact. I don't think we're a baseball city. I mean if we got a proffesional team, I think things would change a bit, but from my opinion they're better off staying in Cleveland.

I would say so, with 3 million in the Cleveland-Akron metro and 6 million in NE Ohio, and a populace with an insatiable appetite for losing franchises

[venture]

I go to three or four Redhawks games a year, and the stadium is never pact. I don't think we're a baseball city. I mean if we got a proffesional team, I think things would change a bit, but from my opinion they're better off staying in Cleveland.

I thought the Redhawks were professionals?

[skanaly]

I thought the Redhawks were professionals?

You know what I mean haha. An MLB team. I think we have a better chance of getting a hockey team because we already have two arenas to choose from, with a baseball team, we would have to build a new arena or add on to the one we already have.