Oklahoma AD has gone crazy, wants an off campus basketball arena / facilities ... with a $1B entertainment district development ...

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NateDawgUM said:
Yes, but did you read the article? The OU president said if the Norman City Council doesn't approve the TIF measure then they'll threaten to move the teams to another city.
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No I didn't read it. Just finished most of the article. I think Stillwater might be a good alternative location ;)
 
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Is there really $1B worth of entertainment to be had in Norman, OK? Sounds like a white elephant.

Oklahoma is pretty close to the most boring and worthless state in America. You couldn't pay me enough to live there. Sooner football is about the best thing it has going.
 

fmlizard said:
Is there really $1B worth of entertainment to be had in Norman, OK? Sounds like a white elephant.

Oklahoma is pretty close to the most boring and worthless state in America. You couldn't pay me enough to live there. Sooner football is about the best thing it has going.
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Yeah the whole situation seems like taxpayers subsidizing private investment for some office park / "entertainment district" and ... if this was such a great and profitable idea why didn't these guys just do it with their own money?
 

Word said:
Curious, did you go to the U?
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4+ years! Football Season ticket holder for over 20 years. Go to basketball games every year and have had wrestling and hockey season tickets in the past.
 
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A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Yeah this is a basketball + other facilities, but I think it is also about the changing face of college sports or ... at least how this AD thinks it should change.

It's totally wild how this seems to just be a copy paste idea from the NBA (and those plans have hardly been proven successful yet) AND he wants other Oklahoma sports to be "tenants" for their practice facilities in this development. Because if anything that's what your sport needs ... to pay commercial real estate market prices for your gymnastics practice facility!??!?

And screw the students attending games I guess....

www.oudaily.com

OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. talks proposed entertainment district, intercollegiate athletics

President Joseph Harroz Jr. says OU could look elsewhere to build its proposed arena and entertainment district and talks NIL, reaffirms commitment to DEI.
www.oudaily.com www.oudaily.com
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Yep, always own your building(s).

The most amazing thing about the article was the 1% sales tax enacted to build the Thunder owner a new facility. The corporate entity kicked in 5.5% of the cost 🙄. I’d have called their bluff - walk on…

The odd part here is the threat to take the arena out of Norman if THIS PROJECT isn’t approved. That should raise a lot of eyebrows. That doesn’t make sense on any level for a university president. I don’t know much about this Joseph Harroz except he gained the job on a temporary basis after Boren was fired for cause then was later given the permanent position. I’m not saying his permanent hire was conditional or in any way linked to pushing for projects linked to XYZ and members of the BOR…but I might take a look as an armchair journalist. Saw a blurb awhile back on a case out in Palm Springs. The mayor accepted $375K to help green light private developments. Not unusual.


Former Palm Springs Mayor and Two Developers Charged in Public Corruption Scheme | California City News

Their alleged quid pro quos have created a mess for the City of Palm Springs.
www.californiacitynews.org www.californiacitynews.org
 


MNVCGUY said:
Just a guess/assumption on my part but assume the arena would have fewer seats for fans but more suites and high end areas for the people with money. Because those are the only people they really care about getting to the games anyway.
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Sad but true.
 


Dave H said:
You think students are going to drive 30 minutes to attend games? I have a bridge to sell ya...
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I'm not supporting it, but I'm surprised by some of the ideas being pushed around. Shuttle busses to the games.

Marguette plays games off campus and it's about a 25-minute walk from campus, which is doable.
 

Dave H said:
You think students are going to drive 30 minutes to attend games? I have a bridge to sell ya...
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ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!?!?!

Of course these students are going to:
- Buy a car.
- Drive 30 minutes and pay $25 to park.
- Enjoy the centerpiece of the new entertainment district, a new craft brewery for $12 per beer (hey happy hour).
- Probably eat at the local fusion restaurant that is $40 a person (at least).
- Somehow store the new car back on campus...

That's totally a college student thing to do!

/S
 



A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!?!?!

Of course these students are going to:
- Buy a car.
- Drive 30 minutes and pay $25 to park.
- Enjoy the centerpiece of the new entertainment district, a new craft brewery for $12 per beer (hey happy hour).
- Probably eat at the local fusion restaurant that is $40 a person (at least).
- Somehow store the new car back on campus...

That's totally a college student thing to do!

/S
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Ya know I had a buddy that used to work for the of Miami...back when they were on the tail end of their glory. Students didn't like driving or taking a bus to the friggin Orange Bowl and that was closer...and Miami Football has way more cache than Oklahoma Basketball.

Its going to be funny in a few years when people around here are clamoring for us to move off campus again...Sid would be so proud!
 

Dave H said:
Ya know I had a buddy that used to work for the of Miami...back when they were on the tail end of their glory. Students didn't like driving or taking a bus to the friggin Orange Bowl and that was closer...and Miami Football has way more cache than Oklahoma Basketball.

Its going to be funny in a few years when people around here are clamoring for us to move off campus again...Sid would be so proud!
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People have quickly forgotten about the dome.
 

This would be like if the U built a new arena at the West End.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!?!?!

Of course these students are going to:
- Buy a car.
- Drive 30 minutes and pay $25 to park.
- Enjoy the centerpiece of the new entertainment district, a new craft brewery for $12 per beer (hey happy hour).
- Probably eat at the local fusion restaurant that is $40 a person (at least).
- Somehow store the new car back on campus...

That's totally a college student thing to do!

/S
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Big time sports administrators don’t give a rip about students. They don’t have any money.
 






bleedsmaroonandgold said:
The dome was still close enough to walk to games from campus (I know they had the busses, but I walked to and from a fee times).
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Certainly possible to do.

But I think as far as real numbers and convenience goes ... I think the dome proved that "fairly close" for most folks may as well have been "on the moon" compared to actually being on campus.

One of those weird things.

Arguably there's a shopping area close to my house, but I have to go through a few stop lights and cross the interstate and I just don't visit it if I can help it. If i was on the other side I'd go more often.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Certainly possible to do.

But I think as far as real numbers and convenience goes ... I think the dome proved that "fairly close" for most folks may as well have been "on the moon" compared to actually being on campus.

One of those weird things.

Arguably there's a shopping area close to my house, but I have to go through a few stop lights and cross the interstate and I just don't visit it if I can help it. If i was on the other side I'd go more often.
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Yeah I walked to the dome once....took the buses other times. But a lot of students just chose not to go, plus it really killed the vibe on campus.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
What vision is this though? An off campus stadium? Bills for renting commercial real-estate for unprofitable college athletics?

They don't own any of the real-estate ... this "vision" seems more like vision for vision's sake.

Meanwhile the history of off campus stadiums is pretty clear as far as support goes.
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Norman OK is 6 miles by 5 miles, 30 square miles. You can walk out of the center of town to unincorporated Cleveland County in an hour.
 

A_Slab_of_Bacon said:
Certainly possible to do.

But I think as far as real numbers and convenience goes ... I think the dome proved that "fairly close" for most folks may as well have been "on the moon" compared to actually being on campus.

One of those weird things.

Arguably there's a shopping area close to my house, but I have to go through a few stop lights and cross the interstate and I just don't visit it if I can help it. If i was on the other side I'd go more often.
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Don't disagree with you at all, off campus is awful. But outside of walking distance would be even worse
 


Word said:
People have quickly forgotten about the dome.
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I had student tix at the Dome...I honestly never minded going there. But it was a struggle to find others and really outside of Move In Day (which would always have a game to go to) or the bigger games the attendance was hindered. It was helped by the price though...

Off topic...but after the Wisconsin blocked punt game I decided against taking the shuttle home and walked. By the time I made it home my frustration was gone and so was my support of Mason ;)
 

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