My vote is not only yes, but hell yes!
This is an absolute no brainer even in God forsaken Oklahoma. If Oklahoma screws this up there is virtually no hope whatsoever for this desolate state which John Steinbeck addressed in his iconic novel The Grapes of Wrath.
It’s a yes vote. Duh.
Why in the hell would you send Clay Bennett to ‘borrow’ the Seattle franchise and move it to Oklahoma City if you weren’t prepared to eventually build an arena comporable to the other venues in the NBA?
You wanna be seen as a major league city…then act like a major league city.
Fifteen years ago before the Thunder arrived, Oke City ranked as the 31st largest city in the U.S.
Today…..Oklahoma City ranks as the 20th largest city in the country with lit/woke cities like Denver and Seattle in their rear view mirror. Granted, there are quite a few in Oklahoma who read at a 7th grade level and the state is a mecca for the Trump Proud Boy types, but as long the state is finding creative ways to re-brand itself diffently and create tax revenues it’s a great thing being an NBA city.
Even though there’s no way in hell I would buy season tickets….this coming season with my health much improved and Covid under control…I hope to attend maybe ten to twelve games when the Splash Brothers, Jamal Murray, Austin Reaves, Jimmy B, Bam, and Tyler come to town.
All the teams in the West are going to be great this season so as I’m not a Thunder zombie it doesn’t really matter to me how many games the Thunder win, but rather the fact I get to see the best basketball players in the world in person play a mere twenty-five minutes from my front door.
I have no idea how economists specifically gauge IROR (investment rate of return) on a city like Oke City which only has one major league sport tenant. But just think how Green Bay would be viewed without the Packers. Think about how much sales tax revenue would be lost if the Packers no longer existed. Or the residual benefits of NFL or NBA exposure which brands a city, improves the quality of life, attracts new businesses and retirees that comes with having a major league sports team.
MAPS has been a resounding success. This is not the time to balk. Do you think Sam Anderson would have written the NY Times bestseller Boom Town if not for the Thunder?
In closing, back in the day before Hurricane Katrina changed Oklahoma City, it came in second when a large United Airlines project location was being decided. The city then came second to Coloumbus, Ohio for a NHL team. Both times the city’s desolate downtown was cited for its poor level of overall of places to eat, things to do, culture to explore.
But through MAPS the city has changed while much of the state hasn’t. Oklahoma City cannot get it wrong on this one.
Vote yes…so Mike Jackson can see the Splash Brothers, Austin Reaves, Jamal Murray, Jimmy B, Bam, and Tyler Herro in person in the closing years of his life. So Mike Jackson can buy things, pay sales tax, feel the joy of Oklahoma City being an NBA city.