Tulsa World: Arena dates available

MAKE US YOUR HOMEPAGE | Saturday, November 21, 2009 | WIRELESS

Home > News > Article

Newspaper View Print this story

Comment

RSS

Bookmark

Arena dates available

An aerial view of the BOK Center in the foreground. How will the Shock moving to the BOK affect the venue? Tom Gilbert/Tulsa World

By MATT BAKER World Sports Writer
Published: 10/21/2009 2:25 AM
Last Modified: 10/23/2009 4:11 PM

The BOK Center has been a hit in its first year in Tulsa and has become one of the top concert venues in the country.

Don't expect that to change with the arrival of the WNBA team.

The WNBA team will play in the summer and try to get many of its 17 home games on the weekend, said Jerry Goldman, the arena's assistant general manager. Both are light times for concerts at the BOK Center because summer tours usually take place outdoors or in large arenas.

Tulsa isn't a large enough destination for weekend anchor dates, so big-name acts like Britney Spears or Bruce Springsteen will pass through during weekdays on their way to major markets. That leaves weekends available for the WNBA.

The BOK Center ranks 14th in the world and fifth nationally in arena ticket sales, according to Pollstar Pro.

"We're not going to see this affect our concert load," Goldman said. "This fills out dates that potentially could have sat empty."

The bigger scheduling problem will come with the Tulsa Talons, Goldman said. When the new Arena Football 1 kicks off in 2010, the league will look to play many of its summer games on Saturday.

"It's going to be a juggling process," Goldman said. "Not everyone is going to get to play on Saturday."

League officials and team owners praised the center as one of the top facilities in the league.

"The WNBA has a new home at the beautiful, state-of-the-art BOK Center," NBA commissioner David Stern said in a recorded video statement.

The

BOK Center's deal with the WNBA team isn't based on attendance, but the team needs to fill seats to pay its lease. The BOK Center would like to see the team average about 8,000 fans per game, Goldman said, but the team could survive with fewer than that.

To be successful financially, the team needs its attendance to be between 5,000 or 6,000 per game, said Eric Newendorp, vice president of Cameron/Box Sports.

The BOK Center will likely curtain off the upper deck during WNBA games, restricting available seats to the lower bowl and suites. That would make about 8,600 tickets a sellout, Goldman said. The team could open the upper deck if ticket sales are in higher demand for top opponents or playoff games.

"It depends on how the team does and if it catches on," Newendorp said. "We hope to get more."

The team hasn't released all of its ticketing information and is still forming plans for partial season tickets and holiday packs. Season ticket sales picked up the last few days before the official announcement, and the team has sold about 1,000 season tickets — about one-third of its goal, Newendorp said.

"The key is real simple," said Michael Neal, the president and CEO of the Tulsa Metro Chamber. "You've got to put fans in the stands."

Matt Baker 581-8358
matt.baker@tulsaworld.com By MATT BAKER World Sports Writer

Newspaper View Print this story

Comment

RSS

Bookmark

Reader Comments

Show: Most Recent Comment First

Add your comment

0 comments have been made on this story so far. Tell us what you think below!

Reporting Comments

If you see a comment that violates our terms and conditions, please help us by clicking the "Report this Comment" link next to a comment. That will alert the web staff to review the comment. Thank you. -- Web Editor Jason Collington

Add Your Comment
In order to post a comment on this article, you must sign in to Tulsaworld.com. If you do not have a site account, you can create an account for free.