You took a picture that excludes two lawn areas, half of the stands and two supporter sections. We get it, you're a bitter Athletics fan. Stop taking pictures above three sections that are not sold due to views and bastardizing the conversation on here.
I took a picture of the areas of the stadium that are not routinely shown on the Tulsa Roughnecks' YouTube feed. IMHO, the picture in no way bastardizes the conversation on here; in fact, it may actually clarify the limitations of that venue in regards to attendance if anyone should ask why we can't draw crowds of over 8k anymore the way we did for the 2015 season opener. But yes, a part of me will always be bitter about how the deal went down between a previously uninterested Tulsa Drillers FO and Bob Funk's Energy FC. I'll just add that having to choose between the Drillers/Bob Funk/USL/OneOK Park and Jeff Lund/Brad Lund/NASL/Chapman Stadium made me feel a bit like Lindsay Graham having to choose between Trump and Cruz. The pic I posted highlights the limitations of using a smaller ballpark with 7,833 in fixed seating for soccer. I really wished that the newly constructed downtown ballpark had been built using angles closer to 90 degrees with pro soccer in mind, a new version of what Rochester had back when they played at Frontier Field. Or at least a field that would have offered the option to remove the pitchers mound so the field could be closer to the fans like Slugger Field in Louisville. It could have been designed to better accommodate soccer, but it wasn't. For those not familiar with the setup at OneOk, the upper deck seating at OneOk offers some good sightlines but is very small and reserved for corporate suites... those seats aren't available to the general public. The $10 cheap seats aren't actually seats-- they're either on the lawn or at the picnic tables behind the south goal. The distance between the third baseline seating on one side & the west lawn seats from the field itself detaches fans from the action and negates a true "home field advantage." Even from the west lawn, you still have to look over the bullpen and part of the outfield.
You're so full of shit. The front office for the Roughnecks is actually awesome to us fans and the supporters group. I'm around it year around as fan while you linger around the stadium taking picture, being antisocial and being delusional. You are not active with this club at all. Your club doesn't even have a stadium to play in. Go figure that out and then maybe I'll consider your opinion on a club that pulls 5 times more than yours on our worst night and your best night.
Listen, David. I support both teams. I'm simply a skeptic and I have my reasons. I will always support the community based Tulsa Athletics. So far, the Drillers are doing a reasonably good job in their double-duties presenting the Roughnecks. But then again, the WNBA Tulsa Shock organization seemed very committed for their first five seasons... BTW, just so you know, this is what a home field advantage looks and sounds like...
Drillers are locally owned. OKC guys have a minority stake. I live in Tulsa proper and am very involved. I don't need lectures on what is community based. If you don't like the club, then stay home and wait for the Athletics season. I don't go watch teams that I don't like then half pretend to be a fan while also bashing everything about it.
I live walking distance to OneOk Park and will continue to go to whichever games I feel like going to, thank you very much. Being skeptical and pointing out weaknesses in stadium setup is not the same thing as "bashing everything about it" so you might want to stop airing dirty laundry and get back to the topic of USL attendance... Louisville's ballpark has a listed 13k capacity for baseball but realistically only about 8k for soccer. Tulsa's ballpark only has 7,833 in fixed seating. Both were chosen for their higher profile locations and amenities.
And I'll continue to question the longterm wisdom of playing all home games at this ballpark rather than the old one or at Chapman Stadium.
Frontier field was the spot back in the late 90s, early 2000's. there wasnt a bad seat their for baseball or soccer, as it usually was sold out for soccer matches. sat up to 14k i think. its really important for the league to advance stadium builds, they said all teams will be in soccer specific stadiums by like we have now in rochester by 2020. we will see if that happens, if it does it would be great for the leagues independent teams,
Announced attendance for 7/1 game on ESPN3: 3,323 http://www.tulsaroughnecksfc.com/latest-news/three-first-half-goals-fuel-roughnecks-win I took the pix below at 7:25pm, while the players were marching onto the field and a couple of minutes before the singing of the national anthem... Five minutes to start of the USL match on ESPN3 @RoughnecksFC v @ArizonaUnited .. @EmptySeatsPics pic.twitter.com/gvssszZlMm— Rufnex (@TulsaRoughnecks) July 2, 2016
Why not wait until the game had started? I understand that you hold some sort of grudge vs Tulsa Roughnecks. But taking pictures of empty stands before the game has started just makes you look silly.
I have other pics taken during the game and will post them as well... five minutes before game time is not "silly." My point stands. My grudge? The ownership (both majority & minority owners) have clear conflicts of interest, that's my grudge. At the half... ?!?
They are having major attendance issues right now. A lot of us have jumped ship because of the ownership/front office.
Tulsa are last in their conference, with play off hope gone, but no one is ever jumping ship for that reason. The excuse is always about front office/ownership/stadium or whatever. I guess that is what separates hardcore fans from fairweather fans.
They struggled last year until the second half. It's way more layered than that. You've got a supporter owned club right down the street that know and care about the game.
I remember seeing the setup which extended well past the pitcher's mound with stands setup in the outfield as well... however, NWSL retro night was a little different, lol... https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...sh-seattle-reign-carli-lloyd?CMP=share_btn_tw