Summer Olympics 2024 - Oklahoma City

[Luke]

As I've been watching the Olympics, I've been thinking about how Oklahoma City would be a great fit. I mean, the sports scene in OKC is top notch. Sure, there aren't any professional teams, but the teams we do have are the top in the nation in their respective sports. Plus, with Norman nearby, the possibilities are that much greater.

My plan to bring the 2024 summer Olympic games to OKC would include a metro area team effort. Each suburb would have to take on the resonsibility of building venues for at least 2 or 3 or more of the sports. Each suburb should have some connection to the sport as to make it a matter of personal pride for their city. The plan would center around downtown OKC which would have the main athletic complex as well as Olympic Stadium and Olympic Village (where the athletes live for two weeks).

For example, Edmond, home of Shannon Miller, could commit to building the gymnastics hall. Edmond could also prep UCO's football field to host soccer. Del City has an archery range at Trosper Park. They could build the required facilities around the range to make it Olympic quality. Lake Hefner or Arcadia could be used for sailing. Norman, in conjunction with OU, could host several events in their different facilities. And so on...

OKC would build Olympic Stadium for all track and field events as well as the opening and closing ceremonies (Also, if there is no NFL team by then, this would finally be the lure!). OKC would also host the rowing competitions on the Oklahoma River. The Brick would be the baseball headquarters. The Ford Center and Cox Convention Center could be used for various events as well.

Once the Olympics had completed, OKC would always be in the history books as well as on the sports map. Each venue could host yearly national and world championships or at least be on the tour. Plus, there are plenty of high schools and colleges that could use many of the facilities.

Finally, the Olympic Village would be situated on the Oklahoma River. It needs to be an apartment complex essentially, so the athletes could live there for two weeks. When they're gone, hello residential neighborhood. "The Olympic Village Apartments".

A rail transit system from Edmond, to downtown, to Norman and from El Reno, to Yukon, the Airport, downtown, Del City and Midwest City would connect most of the venues as well as give many Oklahoma Citians what they want in public transit.

Obviously there is a lot of money involved, there would need to be a lot of venues built, roads widened, hotels built... But, I really think the metro area would rally around something like this. And as much positive activity is going on here now, can you imagine if the city announced a bid for the 2024 Olypics over the next few years, just to stir up even more development.

Yes, I'm a dreamer. But this could work.


Luke

[HOT ROD]

Luke,

There is nothing wrong about your dream. In fact, your dream is the model that Vancouver BC is using when it will host the Winter 2010 Olympics. Everything you mentioned is in their plan.

Athletes will stay in a village close to downtown which will be a 15,000 person neighbourhood when the games are over. Vancouver will expand its subway system called skytrain with new lines from downtown to the airport and to a few new suburbs to the NE. Events will take place at the major stadiums downtown (BC Place stadium, GM Place [arena], and the Plaza of Nations complex), Grouse Mountain and Mt Seymore (in suburban N Vancouver) will have events as will Wistler BC, which will have most alpine related events.

Vancouver will upgrade the freeway to Wistler (if you have never been to Van City), the freeway to Wistler Ski Resort is a twisty, tretcherous, two lane affair on cliffs that if you fall - you are into the Pacific Ocean kind of thing. They want to build tunnels there to prevent this and expand the lanes, of course, in addition to offering additional rail transit from downtown Van to Wistler.

As you can see, everything you listed in your dream is being done in Vancouver (and Beijing China as well). Even though Vancouver already has a subway, already has major league sports, already has the densest downtown population in N America, so on .. Van will still implement everything you suggested.

So, oftentimes dreams are not just dreams, they are visions! Visions that others also have and implement! The good news is, since they are not just dreams but instead are visions - then WE can implement them too in Oklahoma City - once we realize that our dreams are visions if we realize it! And that would be a true renaissance!

[HOT ROD]

Oh, another thing,

Oklahoma City has over 4 professional teams already (Blazers, Redhawks, Ballhawgs, Yard Dawgz) [there is also OKC Lightning and a few other lesser known professional teams as well]. OKC has NO Major League teams yet but OKC has many professional and minor league teams!

OKC is the largest city in the nation without a major league sports team. Hopefully that will soon change (hopefully we will know on Aug 26)!

[Patrick]

Luke, I think your ideas are outstanding. And it's grea to see that another dreamer has joined this board. When you get some time, you might dig through some of our other threads on MAPS III and the like, and let us know your dreams for those topics as well. We'd love to hear them! Steve Lackmeyer and a few other city leaders that I've contacted (including Mick Cornett) look at this board and read our ideas.

Your idea for an Olympics in 2004 is very interesting and could definitely be feasible. It sounds like you've already suggested great venue ideas for all of the events. Of course for the swimming events we already have a fine facility which could be upgraded with more seats at Oklahoma City Community College.

I like your idea of having the Gymnastics complex in Edmond. That would be very fitting and give tribute to Shannon Miller.

OU's Norman campus could definitely fulfill many needs.

Since I-40 will probably already be relocated by then, that will open up alot of new space downtown for development. We could build the main stadium there, along with the housing. As Hot Rod mentioned, the housing could be converted to residential space after the olympics.

The Brick would be a nice venue for baseball. Of course it would need to be expanded, but the parking garage to the north could be removed, and new seating could be built to surround the north and east sides of the stadium, to being capacity up to at least 40,000, if not more. Possibly a third upper deck could be added, extending the Brick out on the west and south sides.

The Ford Center would be great for Olympic Basketball, and the Cox Center could be used for indoor volleyball. A sand volleyball facility could be built on the Oklahoma River.

You know, I don't really think not having any major sports teams makes a difference. Salt Lake City has the Utah Jazz, but other than that, they're really not on the major league sports map. If they can pull off a winter olympics, I know we can pull off a summer olympics.

Bring on the olympics!

[Patrick]

Here's downtownguy's take on this issue from his daily blog. I thought this was interesting. For more information on downtownguy's blog, please check out his site...it's listed below:

-----------------------------
From http://www.downtownguy.blogspot.com/

"Olympics in OKC? Or How About a World's Fair?
Never discourage a soul from dreaming big for our city. And I won't mock the idea expressed on www.okctalk.com about Oklahoma City someday hosting the Olympics.

But if you watch the coverage from Greece, you've got to conclude that maybe the heyday for the Olympics is behind us. Empty seats can be seen at almost every event.

As Oklahoma prepares to celebrate the 2007 centennial celebration, it's helpful to look back to the planning that went on for the 1989 Land Run centennial celebration. You might remember, the party was capped off with the 1989 Olympic festival (the runner and torch statue, by the way, that was put up that year in front of the Myriad has been put back up in front of Ford Center, though the torch is not lit).

City fathers had something bigger in mind - Oklahoma City as the spot for a Worlds Fair. These were big events, drawing millions through the 1970s. San Antonio, with its Riverwalk, is a stand-out example of how the fairs in their heyday could boost a city to greatness.

The fair was a fixture of fantasy, invention and excitement for almost a century. Here's some history I've gathered from across the 'web:

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, 100 years ago in St. Louis, introduced the ice cream cone, iced tea and French's mustard; popularized the hamburger and cotton candy; brought the first demonstration of telegraphy between ground and air; and inspired the musical "Meet Me in St. Louis."

Television first was shown in the United States 65 years ago at a New York fair that promised a glimpse of "The World of Tomorrow." The 1964 fair in New York, which tried to deliver on the promise, stirred enough imagination to draw Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters on the cross-country trip Tom Wolfe chronicled in "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test." Eclectic as well as electric, the fair played host to Michelangelo's Pieta and introduced the Ford Mustang.

Movie posters for "It Happened at the World's Fair" promised that Elvis would be "swingin' higher than the Space Needle" which still stands in Seattle from the Century 21 Exposition of 1962.

The setting of the best-selling "Devil in the White City" is the gigantic 1893 Chicago fair where Cracker Jack, Shredded Wheat and the Ferris wheel first appeared. That event was staged partly in answer to 1889's Exposition Universelle in Paris, whose legacy is the Eiffel Tower. The most successful fair, Expo '67, drew 50 million visitors and left its name with the Montreal Expos.

So Oklahoma City in the early 1980s took a shot at getting the Worlds Fair - and the international organization handling the events seemed preapred to give it to us. What we failed to realize at first is that the event we were pursuing was rapidly loosing its luster.

The 1982 Knoxville world's fair drew only 11 million people, while New Orleans' disastrous 1984 exposition had only 7 million visitors and lost $110 million. Even the San Antonio fair lost money, even though the improvements launched for the celebration have benefited that city by turning it into a convention destination.

These fairs also drew millions in federal dollars for rebuilding, with Knoxville getting $260 million from Jimmy Carter; Ronald Reagan wasn't so generous, and New Orleans received only $10 million.

The demise of the Worlds Fair was hastened by the age of cable television and the end of massive federal innercity public works projects. Oklahoma City, in the depths of the oil bust in the mid-1980s, said "whoa" and pulled out.

And to this day, no American city has dared attempt a Worlds Fair since 1984. In 2007, we might see an expanded "expo" at the state fair, but at best, it will be promoted as a regional event.

With the Olympics losing its audience due to corruption, frazzled international affairs, and a plethora of other woes, it's time to dream of a way to draw the world's attention that fits in with the new milinium.

Think about it... and keep dreaming.

-The Downtown Guy
www.downtownguy.blogspot.com"

[downtownguy]

Thanks for posting my entry, Patrick.
A visitor to the "blog" left a comment about NASCAR that should be taken very seriously. Having no NASCAR track here is akin to having no college football stadiums. NASCAR is one of the hottest sports going, Oklahoma has a huge base of fans, the tv market is growing by leaps and bounds, and we don't have a track. Ron Norick would be the natural leader for an effort like this - all we need are some people to start encouraging him to follow what is surely already an fullfilled dream for who is arguably one of the city's most accomplished dreamers.

[Patrick]

downtownguy,

Not a problem! I really look forward to reading your blog every day, and I hope others will take the time to visit your site as well! Not only are you very up with your information, but you're an awesome writer!
I'll probably post a few more entries from your blog, I just haven't had time yet.

I want to encourage the readers of this forum to visit downtowguy's blog...he has some great information there about our city, Tulsa, and the state in general.

In regards to NASCAR, I'm with you completely. Many people don't realize jsut how big car racing is in this state. I think some of our city and fair leaders found that out when they threatened to tear down the Grandstand!

Anyways, NASCAR would be a great addition to our market. Not sure if OKC alone could support it, but I know the entire state could. I always thought the site where the old Tanger Outlet Mall was in Stroud, right off the Turnpike, would've been a great location for such a track, as it would've been supported by both Tulsa and OKC. But, I guess Stround is going to be building their new hospital on that track of land.

I'll mention it to Mick Cornett next time I talk to him. I know he can't act on it now, as we're tied down with MAPS for Kids, but he can think about it for a future Master Plan. You know how Mick loves sports!

[Luke]

More evidence that OKC could support a summer Olympics:

http://www.newsok.com/article/1302181/

Judging from surging TV ratings, Oklahoma City has become a hotbed for viewers of the 2004 Olympics.
Ratings

Metered market ratings after Day 11 of the 2004 Olympics*:

1. Salt Lake City26.9

2. Portland, Ore.23.4

3. San Francisco23.2

4. Indianapolis22.5

5. Denver22.4

6. Columbus, Ohio22.2

7. Oklahoma City22.0

8. San Diego21.8

9. Minneapolis21.1

10. Sacramento, Calif.20.9

*55 metered markets (Fort Myers, Fla., excluded because of hurricane)

By Mel Bracht
The Oklahoman

Prime-time ratings for NBC affiliate KFOR-4 are up 22 percent over the 2000 Sydney Games, and KFOR ranks seventh among the network's metered affiliates with a 22.0 rating (percent of TV households).

Interest peaked Thursday night with a 27.9 rating and 40 share (percent of the viewing audience) when American gymnast Carly Patterson won the women's all-around title.

In Oklahoma City, the Olympic ratings trail only the Super Bowl and University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State football games among televised sports events.

"I think one of the reasons Oklahomans are tuning in is because we're very patriotic and feel strongly about supporting the U.S. athletes," KFOR Sports Director Bob Barry Jr. said. "Everywhere I go, people are talking about the Olympics and our coverage of the Oklahoma athletes."

Mayor Mick Cornett credited gymnast Shannon Miller for spurring local interest in the Summer Olympics. Miller, a former Edmond resident, won a total of seven medals in the 1992 and 1996 games.

"I also think as a community, Oklahoma City is more patriotic than most," said Cornett, who was a sportscaster at KOCO-5 for 15 years.

KWTV NEWS 9 Sports Director Dean Blevins said he was surprised by the strong ratings because of the long delay from when events occur and air on NBC. The results are available through radio and TV sportscasts and on Internet sites.

"If ESPN tells us who won it, I don't really care about watching it," Blevins said. "I think that's a sign of the incredible sports interest in our market."

Nationally, NBC's prime-time ratings are up 7 percent to a 15.8 rating over the Sydney Games, and viewership is up 12 percent. NBC researchers estimate that 188 million viewers, or 68 percent of the U.S. population, have watched part of the games.

Among the interested viewers is OU women's gymnastics coach Steve Nunno, who coached U.S. gymnasts in the past three Summer Games, including Miller.

"I've been glued to the set to experience it from a spectator standpoint," Nunno said. "It's been really fun for me to watch and to spend a little bit of time with my family."

Nunno said he has enjoyed following the dramatic turnaround of the U.S. gymnastics team. After failing to win a medal in Sydney, American gymnasts have thrived in Athens. Paul Hamm and Patterson earned all-around titles, and the men's and women's teams won silver medals in team competitions. Guard Young, an OU assistant gymnastics coach, contributed to the runner-up finish.

"Anytime anybody wins any medal, it's a tremendous accomplishment," Nunno said.

The gymnastics competition also has been embroiled in controversy, including charges by some officials of some countries that Hamm should give up his all-around gold medal because of a judging error. Monday night, spectators booed for 10 minutes after the scoring for Russian Alexei Nemov on the high bar. The booing paid off when the score was improved, but Nemov still finished fifth.

"The majority of the booing was from the Russian and European countries," Nunno said. "The kind of cheating that went on when I was around (the Olympics) was all about the Russians."

In Tulsa, viewers aren't nearly as excited about the Olympics. NBC affiliate KJRH-2 has averaged a 15.6 prime-time rating to rank 43 out of 55 metered markets.
===============

I say we get an OKC olympic committee together and see what we can do!

[HOT ROD]

More evidence that OKC could support a summer Olympics:

http://www.newsok.com/article/1302181/


Metered market ratings after Day 11 of the 2004 Olympics*:


7. Oklahoma City22.0

I say we get an OKC olympic committee together and see what we can do!

Ditto that. It certainly does not hurt to look into it! Could certainly turn-around our popular worldwide claim-to-fame of recent memory (namely the OKC Bombing/terrorism). If NYC can capitalize on it, so could we!

[Luke]

Had to bring this one back.

Just saw this article on OKC.gov:

http://okc.gov/news/2004_09/redman_triathlon.html

This could be the beginning of OKC's quest for 2024 Summer Olymipcs!

[Patrick]

You know, with a mayor like Mick Cornett, who loves sports, I think the sports quality in this city will continue to improve. If not the Olympics by 2024, at least maybe a few pro teams, and definitely more sporting events in general.

[Luke]

Things are progressing nicely for the Summer Olympics 2024. Hotels are coming. We continue to bring sporting events like softball, tennis and extreme sports like BMX biking and skateboarding. Not to mention the big target on OKC for a basketball team. Things are on the up-and-up and I still think this is do-able!


Luke

[okcpulse]

I know Oklahoma City can pull this off. With everything happening in the city right now, and what we have in the planning stages and drawing boards, just imagine Oklahoma City in 2024!

Houston lost its bid for the 2016 Olympics. None of the media here specified why. But Houston is very scattered, even for a metro of 5 million.

One quality Oklahoma City should work on is light rail transit connecting OKC to Edmond, Norman, Moore, Yukon and Midwest City. Such a move would benefit Olympic visitors, not just metro residents.

[ETL]

I concur, we have a shot! The only thing I don’t agree with in Luke’s ideas is putting the sports village on the river. I think the river by then will be developed, but what would be great is for the river to have a five star hotel, a HUGE convention center, maybe a mall or tones of shopping along the river on both sides, and have the sports village a little ways out behind the shopping. I like the idea of shopping and places to hangout along the river with the some squares and then (within walking distance) the village that will later be condos or apartments.

Oh and if the 2024 Olympics don’t work, then a NEW, MODERNIZED, WORLD-CLASS world’s fair with a major sporting venue might work!!!!!!!

[venture]

Keep in mind the amount of money that will need to be raised. The biggest expense, facility wise, will be Olympic Stadium. Obviously existing facilities should be able to handled other venues. A project like this is when OU becomes a major player in this.

[Luke]

I'll bet Boren would dig this. Don't know if he'll be around in 2024, but he could definitely help get this ball rolling.

[Kerry]

Two things OKC doesn't have that are necessary for the summer games - hotel rooms and direct international air service. Even if OKC could build enough hotel rooms who would stay in them after the Olympics left? Several of you mentioned Vancover and Salt Lake City as examples of why OKC could host the Olympics. Those were the winter games that attract a small fraction of the number visitors the summer games bring. Here is a list of summer game host cities (not exactly in the same league as OKC):

Amsterdam
Antwerp
Athens
Atlanta, Georgia
Barcelona
Beijing
Berlin
Helsinki
London
Los Angeles, California
Melbourne
Mexico City
Montreal
Moscow
Munich
Paris
Rome
St. Louis, Missouri
Seoul

Dream - but try to be realistic.

[Luke]

Getting direct international flights would not be a problem, especially if OKC could dangle the Olympics in front of the carriers. They'd be clamoring to earn the business of travelers from all over the world.

And if St. Louis can do it, we can.

[ETL]

And if St. Louis can do it, we can.[/QUOTE]

What year was that?

[Kerry]

St Louis was in 1904. Getting international flights isn't as easy as just flying a plane from Paris to OKC. The infrastructure is not in place. Where would 400 people arriving on a 747 wait to get their luggage or back on the plane when they leave? How big would the rental car fleet have to be for hundreds of thousands of visitors and where would you park all of those cars? What about signs at the airport in 32 languages? It can't be done.

Awarding the Summer Olympics to OKC would be like giving the Super Bowl to West Moore High School.

[ETL]

Light rail could help with that, but what were the demographics of St. Louis in 1904?

[Luke]

It's not in place now, but we have 18 years to do it. That's plenty of time... if we get serious about it now.

[ETL]

It's not in place now, but we have 18 years to do it. That's plenty of time... if we get serious about it now.

What do you mean?

[Luke]

Getting international flights isn't as easy as just flying a plane from Paris to OKC. The infrastructure is not in place. Where would 400 people arriving on a 747 wait to get their luggage or back on the plane when they leave? How big would the rental car fleet have to be for hundreds of thousands of visitors and where would you park all of those cars? What about signs at the airport in 32 languages? It can't be done.

We're talking about an 18 year time frame between now and 2024, when the Summer Olympics would be. Surely we would have all this accomplished by then... if the city is seriously going to consider a bid for the olympics, that is.

Also, can you imagine a rail system from the airport to Meridian to downtown? You have most of the hotels along that route and nary a rental car necessary, especially if this rail connects all the Olympic venues. Additionally, Olympic Bus systems would definitely be there to accommodate the extra traffic.

It's not impossible. It just has to be planned.

[ETL]

If we act anything we want can happen! IMO