Wow!! Marlins Baseball To Oklahoma City?

[El Gato Pollo Loco!!!]

The whalers owner won't nah. The AEG group will get someone to own it since they already own the kings and the new arena being built in KC. I would like them go to portland because that area of the country has a rich hockey history and there has been no team put in that neck of the woods since the early 1900's. Winnipeg has a really small arena (15,000) and I doubt they'll move there, they also have no ownership group. The only places I've read about that have all the pieces in place are Houston (owner of the rockets has been wanting a team for years) and KC.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL...03347-sun.html (Story on Winnipeg)

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hocke...na-issue_x.htm (Mentions KC, Portland, and Houston)

Just a couple of stories on this, but from I'm reading, they are trying desperately to keep the Pens in Pittsburgh.

[El Gato Pollo Loco!!!]

Ya, we root for the NHL Vancouver Canucks in this neck of the woods (Pac NW).

My condolences.

[Boston]

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL...03347-sun.html (Story on Winnipeg)

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hocke...na-issue_x.htm (Mentions KC, Portland, and Houston)

Just a couple of stories on this, but from I'm reading, they are trying desperately to keep the Pens in Pittsburgh.

There are people in CT who believe that they'll get the whalers back, I really doubt it, but hey why rain on someone elses parade right?

[El Gato Pollo Loco!!!]

There are people in CT who believe that they'll get the whalers back, I really doubt it, but hey why rain on someone elses parade right?

Either way, I believe this is the most hockey talk that this place has ever had!

[Jack]

Right now Mary Fallin is trying to do anything and everything to help her cause in the race for District 5 Rep. Even if it means doing ridiculous, pointless things like this. She has an uphill battle.

[metro]

an article from the Oklahoman:

MLB in OKC just a dream

By Berry Tramel
The Oklahoman

The notion of major-league baseball in Oklahoma City is quite romantic. Opening Day at Bricktown. A warm June night with the Cardinals in town. A Sunday afternoon in late September with just a hint of autumn in the air.
Close your eyes and dream. That's your only ticket to the bigs in Oklahoma.

The NBA's success at the Ford Center does not mean the same thing could happen on the diamond. All sports are not created equal.

Here's a rudimentary primer on how the three major sports work.

NFL: Franchises make money without selling a ticket. The network TV package is so lucrative, local revenues are just gravy.

NBA: Arena revenues are paramount. Television packages are a nice supplement, but you've got to make money at the gate.

Baseball: All hands on deck. Fill up the stadium and sell your TV rights at a premium price.

Uh-oh, OKC.

Let's say we have a suitable ballpark -- which we don't, in case no one has noticed. You would have to triple the size of the Brick, get it in the 39,000-seat range, to make it major-league viable, but that's not architecturally feasible.

But give us a flyer on the ballpark and still we can't handle baseball. Simply put, we don't have enough TV sets.

Oklahoma City is the nation's 45th-largest television market, with 655,000 TV homes. Kansas City, which is dying on the vine as a baseball city, is the 31st-biggest market, with 903,000 TV homes.

Yet Kansas City is avalanched in baseball revenue. The Royals have taken to the streets, asking alms for the poor, because their television contract is so meager compared to the big boys.

The Yankees' annual rights fees for TV and radio generate close to $100 million a year. The Royals' don't approach $10 million.

Thus Kansas City starts far behind the Yanks and Red Sox and other franchises that can count on big local revenues.

Oklahoma City's TV package would be even worse than KC's. Even if we nightly filled a 39,000-seat stadium, which we wouldn't, baseball in OKC would be doomed to fail.

[mranderson]

Right now Mary Fallin is trying to do anything and everything to help her cause in the race for District 5 Rep. Even if it means doing ridiculous, pointless things like this. She has an uphill battle.

Mary is not doing this to win an election. She will be elected. It will be a runoff between her and Denise Bode for the Republican nomination, however, Mary will win the Congressional seat. She is doing this because she truly feels Oklahoma can grow, and just maybe MLB will be an answer. If not, at least we get a lot of press coverage we would not get had it not been for the Hornets.

[Midtowner]

Mary is not doing this to win an election. She will be elected. It will be a runoff between her and Denise Bode for the Republican nomination, however, Mary will win the Congressional seat. She is doing this because she truly feels Oklahoma can grow, and just maybe MLB will be an answer. If not, at least we get a lot of press coverage we would not get had it not been for the Hornets.

Mary is not doing this to win an election. That statement assumes that she's doing it for another purpose.

So what you're saying is that she's stupid? In other words, she actually thinks that OKC can put 30,000 butts in the seats for 80 or so games each season with a so-so team?

I find it doubtful.

I'd like to hope that she's not just going 'out on a limb,' but that she or someone has actually conducted a study to determine whether MLB is feasible. I doubt it though as the results of that study would have been published alongside the solicitation to the Marlins.

At this juncture, this is just not realistic -- so what end does her press conference serve? The response of the Marlins organization was the best --ever--. They essentially said that they have been contacted by many people about moves.

This means that the standard behavior is to make that contact, but not hold a press conference. She made contact, then held a press conference.

To illustrate:

A) Marlins state that many have contacted them. Fact is that many have and none have had press conferences.

B) Mary contacts the organization (through an unsolicited communication), then holds a press conference. The press apparently has nothing to do with her CD5 campaign, it's just because we the people have a right to know.

Mary has never been that great a politician. She's only where she is because no one cares who the Lieutenant Governor is and Mary's from all the right places. As to what she's done in that office, the list is very, very short.


How are you getting from A to B??

[metro]

Mary is not doing this to win an election. She will be elected. It will be a runoff between her and Denise Bode for the Republican nomination, however, Mary will win the Congressional seat. She is doing this because she truly feels Oklahoma can grow, and just maybe MLB will be an answer. If not, at least we get a lot of press coverage we would not get had it not been for the Hornets.

Midtowner, I find your counterpoints to mranderson very possible.

mranderson if you think Fallin's not doing this for a political stunt, your only fooling yourself. I've even talked with many politicians in the same party and they all agree as well. mranderson how do you know she will win the election? we haven't even had primarys yet. If your thinking she won't mix personal motivations with politics I would have to agree to disagree. Anyone who has been in politics that long whether they've accomplished major milestones or not (that's another issue entirely) they are going to have personal motivations in mind to some degree. The main reason she is running for District 5 is she knows she can't win the governors seat, hence her deciding not to run for it after it was considered.

Midtowner has a point. Do you and/or Mary actually think that because of an unsolicited letter to a former OKC buddy who manages the Marlins can actually guarantee to support the Marlins like the investors are with the Hornets? It's a completely different ballgame so to speak, and an area I don't think she has any expertise in unlike Cornett and Bennett who do have expertise in these areas. At a minimum we would need to fill 40,000 seats for 75+ games (more than double the Hornets games and capacity) and have a lucrative TV contract just to break even. The MLB is struggling on a national level in much bigger markets. I wish it were feasible but realistically its not for another 10 years or so and until the league reforms. Not to mention we don't have a stadium in place. I don't want to talk to downgrading on any candidate but it is a

POLITICAL STUNT !!!!

On another note, can anyone list her major accomplishments?

[writerranger]

After giving this some thought, I have to throw my lot in with those who say it's all about the congressional campaign.

[Jack]

I'd be curious to know Mary's accomplishments as well. She's been in there what, like 2 or 3 terms now. LT. Govt. is supposed to market the state to corporations and the like. Have we seen her bring in any major corporations?

[Jack]

BTW, This political stunt only makes Mary look like a doofus. I hope Denise Bode beats her.