WCWS 2018: Road to Oklahoma City

[Laramie]

NCAA® Women's College World Series®

Welcome to the NCAA Women's College World Series microsite. The 2018 NCAA Women’s College World Series will once again be held at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium - OGE Energy Field in Oklahoma City, May 31- June 6, 2018. We hope you experience this great championship as well as all the other great things Oklahoma City has to offer.

Oklahoma City is home to the NCAA Women's College World Series through 2035: https://www.okcallsports.org/wcws/

[Laramie]

NCAA DI Softball Championship bracket to be announced Sunday, May 13 at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2: https://www.ncaa.com/news/softball/a...nday-may-13-10



Softball Hall of Fame Stadium to begin $21 million expansion: http://kfor.com/2018/04/10/softball-...ion-expansion/
Officials say the improvements are part of a contractual obligation that will keep the World Series in town through the 2035 season.

[Laramie]

WCWS 2018 Road to Oklahoma City
State schools' regionals scheduled

2018 NCAA softball tournament schedule and road to the Women's College World Series: http://www.espn.com/espnw/sports/art...hedule-results

NORMAN REGIONAL: Host - University of Oklahoma Sooners
May 18-20 | Norman, Oklahoma

Friday, May 18
Game 1: Missouri (28-27) vs. Tulsa (33-23),, 4:30 p.m., (ESPN3)
Game 2: (4) Oklahoma (50-3) vs. Boston U. (39-18), 7 p.m.(ESPN2)

Saturday, May 19
Game 3: TBD
Game 4: TBD
Game 5: TBD

Sunday, May 20
Game 6: TBD
Game 7: TBD (if necessary)

FAYETTEVILLE REGIONAL: Host - University of Arkansas
May 18-20| Fayetteville, Arkansas

Friday, May 18
Game 1: Wichita State (30-21) vs.Oklahoma St. (38-20), 2:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Game 2: (13) Arkansas (39-15) vs. DePaul (35-15), 5 p.m. (SECN)

Saturday, May 19
Game 3: TBD
Game 4: TBD
Game 5: TBD

Sunday, May 20
Game 6: TBD
Game 7: TBD (if necessary)

[Laramie]

Sports > NCAA Softball Around the Regionals: http://www.espn.com/espnw/sports/art...ment-regionals

State teams:

Norman Regional (No. 4 Oklahoma)

Results/schedule:

Friday, May 18
Game 1: Tulsa 9, Missouri 1 (5)
Game 2: (4) Oklahoma 9 vs. Boston U. 0 (5)

Saturday, May 19
Game 3: (4) Oklahoma 8, Tulsa 0 (6)
Game 4: Missouri 10, Boston U. 8 (Boston U. eliminated)
Game 5: Missouri (29-28) vs. Tulsa (34-24), 10:44 p.m. (TBD)

Sunday, May 20
Game 6: Oklahoma (52-3) vs. Game 5 winner, 5 p.m. (TBD)
Game 7: Repeat Game 6 (if necessary), 7:30 p.m. (TBD)

Fayetteville Regional (No. 13 Arkansas)

Results/schedule:

Friday, May 18
Game 1: Wichita State 8, vs. Oklahoma St. 2
Game 2: (13) Arkansas 2, DePaul 0

Saturday, May 19
Game 3: (13) Arkansas 5, Wichita State 0
Game 4: Oklahoma St. 6, DePaul 0 (DePaul eliminated)
Game 5: Wichita State 5, Oklahoma St. 4 (Oklahoma St. eliminated)

Sunday, May 20
Game 6: Arkansas (41-15) vs. Wichita State (32-22), 2:30 p.m. (TBD)
Game 7: Repeat Game 6 (if necessary), 5 p.m. (TBD)

[Dustin]

OU on to the supers. This team is fun to watch!

[Laramie]

Norman Regional (No. 4 Oklahoma)

Sunday, May 20
Game 5 (resumed): Missouri 6, Tulsa 5 (Tulsa eliminated)
Game 6: Oklahoma 7, Missouri 0 (Missouri eliminated)
Oklahoma (53-3) advances to host super regionals against Arkansas.

Fayetteville Regional (No. 13 Arkansas)

Saturday, May 19
Game 3: (13) Arkansas 5, Wichita State 0
Game 4: Oklahoma St. 6, DePaul 0 (DePaul eliminated)
Game 5: Wichita State 5, Oklahoma St. 4 (Oklahoma St. eliminated)

Sunday, May 20
Game 6: Arkansas 6, Wichita State 4 (Wichita State eliminated)
Arkansas (42-15) advances to Norman super regional

[mugofbeer]

Fabulous renditions of the improvements to be made before next year. Very impressive.

[SoonerDave]

We were watching quite a few of the regionals and I was surprised to see a lot of not-very-full parks. Is there something going on with softball attendance or is this just a fluke of when I watched?

[dankrutka]

We were watching quite a few of the regionals and I was surprised to see a lot of not-very-full parks. Is there something going on with softball attendance or is this just a fluke of when I watched?

Is softball attendance usually very high? I suspect OU has one of, if not, the best fan bases so maybe that skews the local perception.

[Urbanized]

^^^^^^^^^
Typically sold out or near it even when OU not playing. HUGE attendance. For local hotels, restaurants and attractions it is the best sporting event in OKC. By a lot.

[Urbanized]

Also by the way, as an alum and fan I of course want OU to be in or win every possible sport. But from a business standpoint I’d almost rather they not make it. That is a slot that could be filled by another team which either travels a lot of fans no matter what (Arizona, Alabama, Florida, UCLA, Michigan, etc) or a team that is new to the tournament and so has tons of fans excited to be here.

If OU makes the tournament (which obviously they will this year) I hope for a deep run. The worst is when OU gets eliminated early and the fans - who’ve soaked up a bunch of the tickets - bail. Fans of other teams usually stick around for games even after their own teams are eliminated.

[dankrutka]

^^^^^^^^^
Typically sold out or near it even when OU not playing. HUGE attendance. For local hotels, restaurants and attractions it is the best sporting event in OKC. By a lot.

Yep. OU softball has great attendance and the WCWS has been getting great attendance. But my point was that I'm not sure if teams around the country get great attendance. I have no clue.

[Laramie]

Your major conferences (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac 12 & SEC) have increased attendance. OU, Oregon, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State & UCLA have experienced virtual full capacity sellouts for 2018 with an increase in temporary seats.

The popularity of the WCWS in OKC has gained a base following of strong fan support even whenever OU doesn't reach the top 8 ticket qualifiers. There are fans who continue to frequent the event when their university doesn't qualify. Our Softball Hall of Fame, Firefighters Museum, Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, OKC Zoo & Omniplex have experienced great attendance when the WCWS is in action along with our downtown & Meridian corridor hotels.

Look for another Hall of Fame Stadium expansion following 2020.

As Urbanized mentioned:

^^^^^^^^^
Typically sold out or near it even when OU not playing. HUGE attendance. For local hotels, restaurants and attractions it is the best sporting event in OKC. By a lot.

Eight teams from seven more states come to play & bring over 80,000 fans to watch. An estimated 25-28 million dollars in economic impact in just these two weeks the WCWS in staged in OKC.--Oklahoma City All Sports Association.

An Economic Home Run: https://www.okcallsports.org/newsblo...nomic-home-run

[Jersey Boss]

Yep. OU softball has great attendance and the WCWS has been getting great attendance. But my point was that I'm not sure if teams around the country get great attendance. I have no clue.

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/SB_Rec...Attendance.pdf
As of now, the most recent numbers for team attendance are from 2017. OU was 10th on the list nationally (first in conference) averaging 1303. Alabama was first at 2927. It should be noted that Dave had inquired about attendance at regional playoff sites for the regional playoffs. The replies about regular season numbers, WCWS, have not answered the question about the regional games. Any info on those games?

[dankrutka]

^^^
Interesting to see some numbers. Too bad they didn't include capacity in addition to attendance to help answer our empty seats question. Also, those numbers are from 2016, not 2017, but I'm sure they're similar to today.

[jccouger]

^^^
Interesting to see some numbers. Too bad they didn't include capacity in addition to attendance to help answer our empty seats question. Also, those numbers are from 2016, not 2017, but I'm sure they're similar to today.

Its also possible you were seeing games on TV that didn't include the host team. Not a lot of fans are going to travel to see their team play in regionals, and the host teams fans for the most part aren't going to show up to those games either.

[Jersey Boss]

^^^
Interesting to see some numbers. Too bad they didn't include capacity in addition to attendance to help answer our empty seats question. Also, those numbers are from 2016, not 2017, but I'm sure they're similar to today.

Good catch. The numbers came from a NCAA link on this page of 2017 Softball records. http://www.ncaa.org/championships/st...ftball-records

[Laramie]

May 25, 2018
Super Regionals-OU Softball Complex, Norman, Oklahoma: https://www.ncaa.com/game/softball/d...ansas-oklahoma

Oklahoma Sooner 7 - Arkansas Razorbacks 2

HR: Alo 1 (27), Knighten 1 (8)

[Laramie]

May 26, 2018
Super Regionals-OU Softball Complex, Norman, Oklahoma: https://www.ncaa.com/game/softball/d...ahoma-arkansas

Oklahoma Sooners 9 - Arkansas Razorbacks 0

HR: Alo 1 (28), Aviu 1 (5)

Oklahoma Sooners advance to the 2018 WCWS in Oklahoma City.

[Laramie]

2018 Women’s College World Series: Game times
Women’s College World Series (8 teams in double-elimination)

Thursday, May 31

Game 1: No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 8 Arizona State | 11 a.m. CT | ESPN

Game 2: No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 5 Washington | 1:30 p.m. | ESPN

Game 3: No. 2 Florida vs. No. 7 Georgia | 6 p.m. | ESPN

Game 4: No. 3 UCLA vs. No. 6 Florida State | 8:30 p.m. | ESPN

Conference breakdown & WCWS tournament seeding:

4-PAC 12: 1-Oregon, 3- UCLA, 5-Washington, 8-Arizona State
2-SEC 2-Florida, 7Georgia
1-ACC 6-Florida State
1-BIG 12 4-Oklahoma

2018 DI Softball Bracket: https://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bra...ftball/d1/2018

ESPNW http://www.espn.com/espnw/sport/ncaa-softball/

[Dustin]

It's going to be HOT HOT HOT. Pack the sunscreen.

[kukblue1]

It's going to be HOT HOT HOT. Pack the sunscreen.

Man Friday and Saturday 100 I wonder if that will hurt attendance. Has it ever been this hot for the world series before?

[SoonerDave]

Man Friday and Saturday 100 I wonder if that will hurt attendance. Has it ever been this hot for the world series before?

The west-coasters won't like the hot temps, particularly the Oregon/Wash crews. Could be an advantage for the Sooners.

[Laramie]

Yep. OU softball has great attendance and the WCWS has been getting great attendance. But my point was that I'm not sure if teams around the country get great attendance. I have no clue.

You can feel the popularity of softball increase especially in the mega college football schools like UCLA, OU, ASU, Georgia, Washington... ESPN's push to make the Hall of Fame Stadium bigger and more tv viewer friendly has to be a blessing. The games on ESPN's super regionals played to packed venues; surprised at the 'emphasis' put on a trip to OKC . Super raves for getting to OKC to the WCWS.

The growth of college women's softball (Daddy's little girl) will proportionately outgrow soccer's tv viewership popularity. IMO the WCWS will outgrow this venue's expansion in 3 years; we need to focus on the potential growth this could have on the Adventure District--need some hotels, restaurants etc.,in this area.

OKC has built up the horse-show industry; therefore save any leftover MAPS money; we may need it.

[Laramie]

Just want to add that ESPN will be airing the NPF pro-fast pitch league. Oklahoma City has got to be back on the NPF league's expansion radar.

Fastpitch league targets Oklahoma City for expansion team: https://newsok.com/article/2816566/f...expansion-team

National Pro Fastpitch Reaches 16-Game Deal with ESPN: Six Games to Air on ESPN2; Additional 10 Games Streamed Live on ESPN3: https://profastpitch.com/national-pr...live-on-espn3/

We've invested in a venue, so it's logical to think OKC will be back on the league's radar. Akron, OH has a team. ASA Hall of Fame Stadium could handle the WCWS, World Cup of Softball & a NPF league franchise.