Thunder Stadium Vote

[SoonerP226]

 

[tynyphil]

let me think about it...................Oh HELL NO. And I'll be voting.

Ooops. I thought some more. I’m an OKC resident but I spend 0 dollars in OKC. We shop almost exclusively in Midwest City and Shawnee. So OKC sales tax is a non-issue to me. Therefore for my family the upside far outweighs the downside.

 

[elwoodtrix]

The Oakland A's owner wanted a new stadium. Now Las Vegas has a new MLB team coming soon.

 

[CoronaBorealis]

Personally, I would vote "hell no" because the NBA can suck it as far as I'm concerned, especially since they saw fit to insert themselves into Oklahoma politics to help kill a pro-2A bill a few years back. If the entire NBA folded and went down in flames, I wouldn't shed a single tear; I'm not at all interested in using tax money to help them.

Then again, I don't live in OKC, and I stay as far away from it as possible, so it doesn't amount to a hill of beans to me.

My retirement goals.

 

[CoronaBorealis]

I think and am sure a lot of small business in the area get great benefit from the Thunder being in OKC. Hotels, bars, restaurants and so on.
If they build a new location, businesses will follow. I've been all over the country seeing all the small businesses that flourish around the stadiums. It becomes destinations for those out of towners similar to bricktown although I hear you don't want to be down there after dark now.

Thunder has brought a lot on activity to OKC. If they left, there would be many small, medium businesses fail. Thunder has made many significant donations to schools, fitness activities, social development, etc. so, yes, having a NBA team is a very significant asset to the community. Continuing the tax for a few more years ends up being a small investment with a very large return.

I haven’t made my decision yet, but I’m leaning toward voting yes.

What am I missing on why the Paycom Center is no longer suitable? And if a new stadium is built, will they bulldoze the Paycom and build over it?

I'm tired of politicians passing a sales tax for XYZ project, then when that tax expires, finding a new project for the money so that they can sell it as "not raising taxes", except that if the new project was voted down your taxes would decrease. I don't live in OKC, but I'd be voting NO on this if I did. There are a lot of ways $900 million could improve OKC, and a new basketball arena is at the bottom of that list, if it makes it at all.

 

[DavidMcmillan]

The Paycom center is the smallest of the NBA arenas, and is smaller than most of the sites that big name talent and special type performances require. OKC has lost many events to the BOK in Tulsa. OKC is growing and with the Riversports area, the First American Museum, and the tribal resort center under construction, we will have a much better opportunity to bring more events, more conventions, and more tourism.

 

[CoronaBorealis]

The Paycom center is the smallest of the NBA arenas, and is smaller than most of the sites that big name talent and special type performances require. OKC has lost many events to the BOK in Tulsa. OKC is growing and with the Riversports area, the First American Museum, and the tribal resort center under construction, we will have a much better opportunity to bring more events, more conventions, and more tourism.

According to this, there are 10 arenas (out of 30 total) smaller than the Paycom, including those in Atlanta, Phoenix, Brooklyn, Houston and San Francisco. Those cities dwarf OKC in size. That means despite OKC being one of the smallest NBA markets, the Paycom is in the mid-tier of arenas by capacity.

List of NBA arenas - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[HoLeChit]

The Oakland A's owner wanted a new stadium. Now Las Vegas has a new MLB team coming soon.

That's exactly how we got the thunder from Seattle. They'll do it again.

The raiders, chargers, and rams have all moved under similar pretenses.

 

[elwoodtrix]

That's exactly how we got the thunder from Seattle. They'll do it again.

The raiders, chargers, and rams have all moved under similar pretenses.

I would hate to go to an A's game in Vegas. It's supposed to be climate controlled with a retractable roof, but still.... screw that! I lived in the desert and played baseball in 110 heat. Ain't no way I'd pay for it, LOL.

 

[Pstmstr]

The Paycom center is the smallest of the NBA arenas, and is smaller than most of the sites that big name talent and special type performances require. OKC has lost many events to the BOK in Tulsa. OKC is growing and with the Riversports area, the First American Museum, and the tribal resort center under construction, we will have a much better opportunity to bring more events, more conventions, and more tourism.

Some consider more events, conventions, and tourism a good thing. We have a short handed police force, crime is higher than ever, and potholes in most major streets now. I'd prefer fewer people, less crime, and tax dollars used to repair streets instead of building arenas for millionaires to play a game in but that's just my opinion.