Tulsa 66er's to move to OKC

[zookeeper]

I remember when the Oklahoma City Cavalry of the old Continental Basketball Association played at the Myriad. They curtained off a large portion of the arena and made the crowd sizes look respectable. Whatever happened to Chip Land?

[bombermwc]

The Cavies were good too (for their class) and won the league a few times. The upper section was curtained off for the Davis Cup tennis matches. This was the OOOOld days before there were screens in there too so they carted in screens that they stuck up at the upper levels. The place actually looked better with the curtains than it did with the walls visible back then!!!!

Tossing the Blazers was the #1 worse sports decision made in OKC. The Barons just never caught on. It's one thing when you lose your team because they move or the league closes down. But when the owners make a conscious decision to kill it off to "up a level" in league, the fans don't follow. It's not NHL <- which isn't doing great anyway. We had history and loyalty with CHL Blazers...we just don't care about the Barons the same way. I just hope the renovations made for the Barons will transfer over to the 66ers in a meaningful way so we don't just lose a lot of cash on the deal. That's city money, so I'd really prefer the 66ers make money so the city gets a good bang out of our renovation bucks.

[Laramie]

Oklahoma City Redhawks game attendance is better than most, less than others:

BaseballAmerica.com: Stats

2012 Baseball Attendance by Average | News

Here is an updated site on PCL attendance:

Pacific Coast League Attendance | Pacific Coast League Stats

love this move, it's great for the organization

Not surprising as this is going to start being a trend for farm teams in all sports.

This will be the trend of major professional sports teams (MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS) to have their top feeder organizations close to the parent club.

"Oklahoma City looks oh-so pretty... ...as I get my kicks on Route 66." --Nat King Cole.

[bombermwc]

I guess they aren't doing as bad comparatively as it feels. The place just looks so empty at a game these days and all of my experiences in the past were of a full house...of course that was back at the fairgrounds and when the Brick was new. When you do go to a game for 10 years, the "newness" wares off a lot for the public. Middle ground isn't terrible considering we're consistent with Memphis and Salt Lake (other cities of similar size with only a pro team, being NBA). And doing better than most cities that have the PCL team as their "major" sports club. It is interesting how many NBA cities are on that list though....

[Zuplar]

I went to a Redhawks game 2 weeks ago on a Tuesday and it was pretty dead. No idea what attendance was though. Unfortunately for OKC, I expect the Astro's to no longer be the affiliate (thank goodness) and even if we do get picked up by the Rangers (hopefully), I doubt it lasts long (shucks). I think the Rangers want their AAA nearby.

[Pete]

The Redhawks have not been very competitive and that doesn't help.

Also, there is simply a lot more to do now in OKC than just a few years ago.

There is much more competition for entertainment dollars these days, and I don't see the Redhawks promoting themselves nearly as well as the Energy.

[zookeeper]

I went to a Redhawks game 2 weeks ago on a Tuesday and it was pretty dead. No idea what attendance was though. Unfortunately for OKC, I expect the Astro's to no longer be the affiliate (thank goodness) and even if we do get picked up by the Rangers (hopefully), I doubt it lasts long (shucks). I think the Rangers want their AAA nearby.

I hear this talk a lot, but I don't understand. Has ownership changed with the Redhawks? I didn't think the major league teams actually own their AAA teams, they only sign affiliate agreements. Not sure about AA or A. Am I wrong? Have things changed? If nothing has changed, there's no worry about losing the Redhawks, as we would only lose and/or pickup affiliations. Last I knew, the Redhawks were owned by Mandalay Entertainment.

[bradh]

Redhawks are over .500 this year, and made the playoffs last year I think? The Astros farm system is loaded right now, if you want to catch some good young players moving through, these next couple years are your shot.

[Pete]

Redhawks are over .500 this year, and made the playoffs last year I think? The Astros farm system is loaded right now, if you want to catch some good young players moving through, these next couple years are your shot.

Yes, you are completely right. I retract my statement about them not being competitive because I looked back several years and they've done pretty well.

[shawnw]

Redhawks attendance is up and down depending on the day of the week. My daughter works for the team and says Thrusday through Sunday is always "decent" attendance (Thursday is packed because of $1 beer night) but Monday-Wed is always almost empty and if it rains forget about it.

Disclaimer: This is from a 16 YO girl, so... "decent" for her means who knows what... except to say that she gauges things based on if there are enough people for her to choose from regarding the skits she has to do...

[BG918]

Tossing the Blazers was the #1 worse sports decision made in OKC. The Barons just never caught on. It's one thing when you lose your team because they move or the league closes down. But when the owners make a conscious decision to kill it off to "up a level" in league, the fans don't follow. It's not NHL <- which isn't doing great anyway. We had history and loyalty with CHL Blazers...we just don't care about the Barons the same way. I just hope the renovations made for the Barons will transfer over to the 66ers in a meaningful way so we don't just lose a lot of cash on the deal. That's city money, so I'd really prefer the 66ers make money so the city gets a good bang out of our renovation bucks.

They used to nearly pack the house for Blazers games. The CHL rivalry with the Tulsa Oilers was huge in the 90's. But as someone mentioned minor league sports have been on the decline for awhile.

[KenRagsdale]

I hear this talk a lot, but I don't understand. Has ownership changed with the Redhawks? I didn't think the major league teams actually own their AAA teams, they only sign affiliate agreements. Not sure about AA or A. Am I wrong? Have things changed? If nothing has changed, there's no worry about losing the Redhawks, as we would only lose and/or pickup affiliations. Last I knew, the Redhawks were owned by Mandalay Entertainment.

The Texas Rangers attempted to buy the Oklahoma City Redhawks franchise earlier this year, but Mandalay turned down the offer:

Oklahoma scene: Texas Rangers tried to buy RedHawks, according to report | News OK

With that kind of money sloshing around, Oklahoma City is in no danger of losing its AAA status.

The parent club owns performance contracts for all minor league players in the United States. The players are "assigned" to minor league franchises at the various levels, with one exception.

AAA, AA, High A and Low A players are assigned to the various franchises under agreement with the parent club. Rookie leagues are located in Arizona and Florida. The teams are owned by the respective Major League Baseball clubs.

[zookeeper]

The Texas Rangers attempted to buy the Oklahoma City Redhawks franchise earlier this year, but Mandalay turned down the offer:

Oklahoma scene: Texas Rangers tried to buy RedHawks, according to report | News OK

With that kind of money sloshing around, Oklahoma City is in no danger of losing its AAA status.

The parent club owns performance contracts for all minor league players in the United States. The players are "assigned" to minor league franchises at the various levels, with one exception.

AAA, AA, High A and Low A players are assigned to the various franchises under agreement with the parent club. Rookie leagues are located in Arizona and Florida. The teams are owned by the respective Major League Baseball clubs.

I still don't understand. If Mandalay Entertainment owns the Redhawks, how are the minor league teams owned by their respective MLB teams?

[theparkman81]

I think this is a great move, but we'll wait and see if they play some place after the Cox is gone, it be great to see them move to the suburbs, my question is whats next, will the Tulsa Shock move down here next.

[Snowman]

Honestly I bet this has more to do with the team and organization than anything.

Now all operations will be in OKC - no more traveling the turnpike (although it wasn't hard).

Now the players on the active OKC roster can easily attend and coach and be involved with the D leaguers without making a trip out of it.


This is a good move for the overall chemistry.

It could allow players that are doing only one or two games in the d-league to continue practicing with the full squad.

Might be interesting if they could use the 66ers like a scout team.

[Plutonic Panda]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, by saying The Redhawks are done, is that saying they are moving out of OKC?

[KenRagsdale]

I still don't understand. If Mandalay Entertainment owns the Redhawks, how are the minor league teams owned by their respective MLB teams?

The rookie leauge teams are owned by their respective MLB clubs. The players you watch at the AAA, AA, HighA and Low A level are under contract to/with the MLB clubs, but assigned to minor league franchise teams. Most US minor league teams have affiliate agreements with a MLB club. In addition, there are a handful of independent US leagues and teams, with no affiliation whatsoever.

[Urbanized]

Is this thread about the Redhawks or the 66ers?

[zookeeper]

Is this thread about the Redhawks or the 66ers?

I think it (quite naturally) spread into a "minor league" discussion. Sorry, if it was off-topic. Back to regularly scheduled programming.

[Richard at Remax]

Should re-brand them the 89ers

[Snowman]

Should re-brand them the 89ers

I would rather leave it named after the road and leaving the 89ers to my childhood memories.

I had not realized till this move that Tulsa's founding date was actually pretty vague, I had kind of expected it might have been around OKC in a similar manor but had never looked it up before, it was apparently settled between 1828 and 1836 and only later incorporated in January 18, 1898. It seems kind of shocking that even in the 1820's/1830's they could not pin it down to at least the month of a year or even a season of a year.

[Jake]

The Oklahoma City 66ers is quite the tongue-twister.

[warreng88]

The Oklahoma City 66ers is quite the tongue-twister.

Anybody with a lisp would be pissed...

[Mel]

It will make the call up a quicker trip.

[Snowman]

It will make the call up a quicker trip.

While I knew that there was clearly not much limits to the transition time, since guys had gone down and up within 48 hours playing only one game, I did not realize it was pretty just on the parent teams wim (well I guess they might not be able to after the game starts). In any case if it ups the rotations of our 1st & 2nd year players, it should up the watch ability of the games.

On another note, given how well the school field trip seemed to work last year (nearly a quarter of all attendance for the 66ers season in one game), it seems like that might indicate a good way to use the team, I do not know how many schools were involved but that could probably be expanded. I could see it also being a convenient add on for Thunder season ticket holders with smaller children to bring children to a cheaper game.