NFL in OKC

[jedicurt]

No disrespect, but no.. We don't have to just build for the sake of building. We at least had a plan for an achievable goal when we set out to build the Ford/Chesapeake center. We had a plan when we built the Bricktown Ballpark. But what's the plan for this NFL-to-be destination? How are you financing it? Which franchise are you targeting? How do you appeal to the NFL to expand if you're not acquiring an existing one? And how do you overcome the built-in obstacle of avoiding the small-market stigma that is every bit the reason why Jacksonville is struggling as an NFL city?

So if you insist that we "have" to start "somewhere," what specifically are you suggesting? That we build some sort of a 25K seat "starter" stadium, but hope someday we can expand it to 100K? And build the 25K seat facility on a site capable of supporting four times that much? Keep in mind, too, that your 2020 NFL future is only 6.5 years away, and if your "starter" place broke ground tomorrow it'd be at least a year - possibly two - before it could be ready, but we'd have to be ready to turn the shovels and expand it to NFL-caliber in less than three more years - assuming we find an ownership group that's even financially capable of holding a NFL franchise?

The point is there's a critical, critical difference between a dream and a plan. We have no NFL plan, because I believe most of the business people who know a lot more about the dollars and cents side of that business know that an NFL franchise in OK is a very tough idea to float. I remember just a few years ago when Arena Football was big, and some investors thought about bringing a team to OKC. They didn't, and I remembered reading very clearly that the reasons they didn't were because, quite simply, the numbers didn't add up. Another group tried it, got an AF2 team, and guess what - it didn't work. The numbers tell us that population areas like a large city can support about one major sports franchise per million residents - and that's exactly what we have now. One great franchise, about one million greater central OK residents. We've realized that dream. We've got it in our hands. Now we're wanting more. At some point you go from dreaming big to overdriving your headlights.

As someone who enthusiastically voted for the original MAPS, and someone who loves football (although college moreso than pro) its frustrating to be equated with a "naysayer" merely because there's an insistence that we bring some rationality to the notion of dreaming big. Getting the NFL in OKC is a drastically larger financial project and long-term commitment, both from the civic side in terms of the prospect of financing a stadium, and on the corporate side in terms of buying and operating a franchise, than our NBA situation is or ever has been.

Sorry, but I just can't get behind it.

What he said!