Daily Oklahoman Link: http://www.newsok.com/cgi-bin/show_article?ID=903268&pic=none&TP=getmoresports ARTICLE EDITED BY MODERATOR. NOTE: DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES RE-PRINT ARTICLES FROM WEBSITES. POST A LINK. THIS IS NOT ONLY A COPYRIGHT VIOLATION, IT IS A VIOLATION OF THE TERMS OF SERVICE OF THIS WEBSITE! THANK YOU.
How Wantland Stadium might look after expansion: This is how Wantland Stadium at the University of Central Oklahoma might look after expansion: Can you tell me where this stadium is located?
Re: How Wantland Stadium might look after expansion: Yeah, I just right-clicked on the image to look at the name in its properties, and I figured out it was Princeton Stadium: http://www.princeton.edu/football/pustad.htm - Paul
Appreciate the update, I wasn't aware of the copyright violation or the terms of service of this website. --Laramie
Interesting quote: Either Tulsa is further along than we thought, or someone is blowing serious smoke. I've scoured everything I can, including zoning records and land purchases, but haven't been able to find anything on Tulsa. What is curious about this is how public the OKC process is compared to Tulsa, or for that matter, Miami or Chicago. Sachin
Very interesting... Saturday's Tulsa World had a story which is quoted on another thread with more details on who the mysterious Tulsa people are. Looks like a group that included the new mayor and some councilmen/chamber of commerce types went to Columbus last Wed. and were given a tour by Hunt. There'll be a meeting of potential investors by the end of the month... There's been a lot of conjecture on these boards (myself incl.) about the why's and wherefore's... Just a few facts please-- Around a month ago, from the OKC newspaper, not only do we discover Express Sports/OKC's interest for the first time, we're also told that MLS officials have visited with Tulsa 5 or 6 times, later finding out that OKC's bid (if you can call it that) is months behind Tulsa's. Then we find out the OKC mayor doesn't have a clue about a possible bricktown SSS (he's been out of town) but Brad Lund/Express Sports say they contacted the mayor's office... then out of nowhere comes the Edmond angle, also reported in the OKC paper and on TV... still months behind Tulsa's mysterious lurkings... then Garber's State of the League speech including Tulsa... we hear later he apologizes to Lund for slighting OKC (was Lund the only official at the allstar game representing OKC???)... Now for some truth inspired conjecture-- Brad Lund/Express Sports is flying by the seat of his/their pants. Lund diverts an MLS official from a trip to Tulsa and gives him a lovely tour of Bricktown. Brad summons the local media. Then blindsides the OKC mayor, who's never heard of the idea. Then, grasping at straws, Mr. Lund discovers a nice little situation in Edmond for a new stadium officials would want to build anyway (hmmm... curious that UCO's Wantland Stadium wasn't part of the "magical mystery tour" when the MLS official was here). Meanwhile, quiet diplomacy is going on in Tulsa with a new mayor who just started his term in Apri amid budget turmoil. The purpose of MLS's visit is to see if anything has changed since Tulsa's last serious bid. I presume this dates back to a serious offer of some sort around 8 years ago when the league decided instead to place teams in Dallas and KC. I think MLS might have been counting on WC publicity to spur an effort to find cities & O/Is for future expansion. Since Tulsa had a previous effort in place, it also probably had previous investors lined up. With the new mayor and budget problems, I'm sure city officials were not in a hurry to give publicity to any possible stadium project. And so, we have yesterday's Tulsa World article where Mayor LaFortune talks about a finding the funds for a "30,000 seat stadium at a cost of $38M." Lund/Express Sports has forced Tulsa's hand. If Edmond/Wantland Stadium is do-able, MLS will expand to OKC. If Tulsa can get its "ducks in a row" for a SSS in the Brady District, I predict they'll get the team. And, in the strangest of all outcomes, if a bond issue puts Tulsans in direct competition with OKC for a MLS team, THAT ALONE could put it over the top... Should make for an interesting year or so in T-Town and OKC... Thus ends this mornings rantings...
interesting... where did you read this qoute talking of a 30,000 seat soccer stadium, can you post a link?
Is there anyone with access to the Tulsa World archives? There is an article dated 21 July with the following headline: OC moves in on soccer franchise while Tulsa being courted. and another article from 16 August: Tulsa group looks at soccer franchise You can get links to both articles from this page: http://commerce.tulsaworld.com/search/AdvancedSearchResults.asp?PageNumber=1&HitsPerPage=25&Hits=50 If anyone already has access, it would be great. Thanks, Sachin
Alright, I plunked down $5 for the team... I need my Tulsa news fix anyway... Today's paper has another Tulsa World story by Dave Sittler stating on the very first sentence basically this: No stadium, no team. It's got some great quotes from Lamar Hunt about Tulsa's bid and some info on OKC's... Got some errands to run but I'll be back and at least post alot of the quotes from Hunt, Tulsa mayor Bill LaFortune, and Sittler... I would bet that KRMG.com would start having some message boards on the subject soon and start discussing possibilities for a stadium and a team. Looks like a 22-25,000 proposal at $38 million on city-owned land in the Brady district around downtown. Meeting with Tulsa mayor and possible investors to explain MLS's salary structure, etc. on Aug 29... Hunt will not be an I/O... Later.