I know that Maps 4 is somewhere down the road; however, we do need to look at some options.

The City did take a look at building an NFL ready stadium; however, that was No. 10 on the list according to January 20 issue of Chicken Fried News Oklahoma Gazette.

Having a stadium financing plan in place around 2017 with a three year building and eventually opening around 2020-21 when our Central City population will be projected at 650,000-700,000 (metro 1.7 million) we need to begin now with the planning.

Maps III did initially look seriously at some kind of stadium plan:

City of Oklahoma City | Core to Shore (http://www.okc.gov/Planning/coretoshore/visualshistory.html)

Sure we did not give much thought to Okladome in the '80s; however, we are at the point where Oklahoma City will be able to capitalize on relocation of an NFL franchise. Who knows, one professional franchise might just land at our feet.

"What's next for OKC(?):"

http://blog.newsok.com/berrytramel/2008/07/05/whats-next-for-okc/

What are your suggestions & thoughts--10 years from now?

I guess this means the world won't end in 2012...

But in all seriousness, I thought that rendering was suppose to be some midsized field for something like MLS soccer? I still don't think that even in 2020 OKC will be able to support an NFL franchise.

Good Lord Laramie... what is up with all of these MAPS IV threads?

No one knows what MAPS IV will be, any discussion is pure conjecture.

I think public safety would be a major concern. Perhaps we could replace our current police force with something less likely to complain.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vY8I5HvOvk8/SVFS5x-ZKkI/AAAAAAAAAuo/8UqbP1yxH0I/s400/ed1.jpg

I bring you ED-209.

Good Lord Laramie... what is up with all of these MAPS IV threads?

No one knows what MAPS IV will be, any discussion is pure conjecture.

I think public safety would be a major concern. Perhaps we could replace our current police force with something less likely to complain.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vY8I5HvOvk8/SVFS5x-ZKkI/AAAAAAAAAuo/8UqbP1yxH0I/s400/ed1.jpg

I bring you ED-209.

I'm sure the OKC Police department will take a good look at what you have presented.

I needed a good laugh! :LolLolLol

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vY8I5HvOvk8/SVFS5x-ZKkI/AAAAAAAAAuo/8UqbP1yxH0I/s400/ed1.jpg

I bring you ED-209.

LOL - reminds me of the guy a while back complaining about getting the ticket for running the stop sign and making a comment about the police not having anything better do. I would like to see him say the same thing to this machine.

Okladome? NFL? Seriously? That is wayyy to premature to be talking about that. We won't be ready for it in the event we have a MAPS 4. MAPS 5 maybe, if we continue our progress and don't lose momentum.

Okladome? NFL? Seriously? That is wayyy to premature to be talking about that. We won't be ready for it in the event we have a MAPS 4. MAPS 5 maybe, if we continue our progress and don't lose momentum.


Yeah, and had we not been preprared for the NBA--we wouldn't be there now; thank God that city fathers had the foresight to look ahead.

We have a great stadium in norman and also a pretty nice one in stillwater in the event that the NFL decides that it wants to move to OKC. Think about how many NFL Teams do not have their stadiums in their so-called host city. Dallas, New York, Boston ie New England come to mind quickly but I am sure that there are others. Bloomington used to be the home of the vikings, the niners are looking at san jose, the raiders are looking at fremont, the new los angeles team is looking at pasadena or orange county where the rams moved to.....etc, etc, etc.

If there is going to be a MAPS 4, it must go to upgrade the infrastructure of the neighborhoods.

Yeah, and had we not been preprared for the NBA--we wouldn't be there now; thank God that city fathers had the foresight to look ahead.

The NBA and the NFL are completely different animals. All it takes for the NBA is an arena. It doesn't have to be dedicated for basketball by any means, and the Ford Center wasn't. So the New Orleans deal could have fallen into anyone's lap, OKC was just the lucky ones.

The NFL has much more of a specialty arena. There's no reason to be talking about it when this city isn't going to get a sniff at an NFL franchise above several other cities.

You know what I would rather see?

If we're going to be nearing 2 million people in the metro, we need more highways. Denver comes to mind on this...I lived there for a few years, and they need twice the highways to get their people around during rush hour. I hated driving there.

We have a great stadium in norman and also a pretty nice one in stillwater in the event that the NFL decides that it wants to move to OKC. Think about how many NFL Teams do not have their stadiums in their so-called host city. Dallas, New York, Boston ie New England come to mind quickly but I am sure that there are others. Bloomington used to be the home of the vikings, the niners are looking at san jose, the raiders are looking at fremont, the new los angeles team is looking at pasadena or orange county where the rams moved to.....etc, etc, etc.

If there is going to be a MAPS 4, it must go to upgrade the infrastructure of the neighborhoods.


I understand where you are coming from with this roads and infrastructure; however:

Avoid spending MAPS money on infrastructure or highways; these are done with bonds and you get Federal matching/grants money for projects like these. Expressways are Intra-Interstate and we get state money as well when we do it this way.

We have a great stadium in norman and also a pretty nice one in stillwater in the event that the NFL decides that it wants to move to OKC. Think about how many NFL Teams do not have their stadiums in their so-called host city. Dallas, New York, Boston ie New England come to mind quickly but I am sure that there are others. Bloomington used to be the home of the vikings, the niners are looking at san jose, the raiders are looking at fremont, the new los angeles team is looking at pasadena or orange county where the rams moved to.....etc, etc, etc.

If there is going to be a MAPS 4, it must go to upgrade the infrastructure of the neighborhoods.

It is really difficult to get the NFL to play in college stadiums because the colleges want 50-75% of the revenue stream (discourage NFL in their territory); unless a city has committed to building a future facility as was the case with Phoenix getting the Cardinals (St. Louis) and Nashville getting the Titans (Houston Oilers).

Oklahoma City needs to plan ahead and be in a position (poised) to get a team. Granted, San Antonio did build the Alamodome and doesn't have an NFL tenant and their facility is now deemed obsolete for any future NFL franchise--that's the reason Dr. Tom Benson (Saints owner, who resides in San Antonio) wasn't in a position to moved the Saints from the Big Easy to the Alamo City.

We need to build a flexible structure capable of hosting college football, major league soccer with future expansion capabilities to attract the NFL in the future.

As of today, Jacksonville and Minnesota (Minneapolis) are NFL franchises that will be eyeing new homes (within three to five years) if an attractive deal comes along. The Jacksonville market just isn't capable of long-term support for an NFL franchise and Minnesota Vikings will soon be holding the Twin Cities hostage if a new dome or retractable roof stadium isn't built.

Oklahoma City needs to be in a position to compete for an NFL franshise without relying on Stillwater or Norman for support; because as of now Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Orlando, San Jose, Norfolk-Virginia Beach and San Antonio would be our only competition.

It is really difficult to get the NFL to play in college stadiums because the colleges want 50-75% of the revenue stream (discourage NFL in their territory); unless a city has committed to building a future facility as was the case with Phoenix getting the Cardinals (St. Louis) and Nashville getting the Titans (Houston Oilers).

Oklahoma City needs to plan ahead and be in a position (poised) to get a team. Granted, San Antonio did build the Alamodome and doesn't have an NFL tenant and their facility is now deemed obsolete for any future NFL franchise--that's the reason Dr. Tom Benson (Saints owner, who resides in San Antonio) wasn't in a position to moved the Saints from the Big Easy to the Alamo City.

We need to build a flexible structure capable of hosting college football, major league soccer with future expansion capabilities to attract the NFL in the future.

As of today, Jacksonville and Minnesota (Minneapolis) are NFL franchises that will be eyeing new homes (within three to five years) if an attractive deal comes along. The Jacksonville market just isn't capable of long-term support for an NFL franchise and Minnesota Vikings will soon be holding the Twin Cities hostage if a new dome or retractable roof stadium isn't built.

Oklahoma City needs to be in a position to compete for an NFL franshise without relying on Stillwater or Norman for support; because as of now Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Orlando, San Jose, Norfolk-Virginia Beach and San Antonio would be our only competition.

Of the mentioned potential cities, only two are destined for NFL ahead of Oklahoma City. The other three are either too close to existing markets or are not viable.

San Jose: Within 20 miles of both Oakland and San Francisco
Orlando: Within 50 miles of Tampa
Las Vegas: All of the big four hesitate due to sports betting laws
Norfolk-Virginia Beach: Doesn't sound like a viable market

Only Los Angeles and San Antonio are viable markets and Los Angeles for sure is ahead of Oklahoma City. Look for the Los Angeles-Orange County market to get two teams.

Southern California tried it with two teams twice and both times failed.

in the 60s they had the rams and the chargers
then they tried the rams and the raiders

USC and one other pro team is about all they will support. Even then they have to be winners.

Not putting them down but I did live there for twenty years. Unless it is an event where people can see and be seen, there just isnt enough interest to deal with the traffic for the love of the game.

I was there a few months ago and dropped by Hollywood Park to watch the ponies on a Friday night. There were probably more people at Remington Park than at Hollywood Park that night despite much bigger purses at Hollywood.

> Norfolk-Virginia Beach: Doesn't sound like a viable market

Don't know their market in any sense, but after what's happened here in recent years bball wise, it's harder for me to dismiss less than obvious areas

> Norfolk-Virginia Beach: Doesn't sound like a viable market

Don't know their market in any sense, but after what's happened here in recent years bball wise, it's harder for me to dismiss less than obvious areas

That's all military. You can't swing a dead can in a circle without hitting 12 military bases between Dam Neck (VB) and Norfolk.

Of the mentioned potential cities, only two are destined for NFL ahead of Oklahoma City. The other three are either too close to existing markets or are not viable.

San Jose: Within 20 miles of both Oakland and San Francisco
Orlando: Within 50 miles of Tampa
Las Vegas: All of the big four hesitate due to sports betting laws
Norfolk-Virginia Beach: Doesn't sound like a viable market

Only Los Angeles and San Antonio are viable markets and Los Angeles for sure is ahead of Oklahoma City. Look for the Los Angeles-Orange County market to get two teams.

Orlando is within 50 miles of Tampa; however, many Floridans would do anything to keep the team (Jacksonville) in Florida with Orlando being an option; however, I agree with you, I wouldn't put them ahead of OKC.

Las Vegas is definitely the forbidden city for any major league franchise.

Norfolk-Virginia Beach is much like Oklahoma City (military); however, you can't ignore the fact that it is currently the largest metropolitan area without major professional sports.

San Jose was put on a list for a possible site if the Warriors were to leave Oakland; however, the Oracle Arena (Oakland) is better suited for basketball than the arena in San Jose and they don't have the NHL Sharks to compete with.

Los Angeles is for sure ahead of any city because of the large TV market; if Oklahoma City can get an NFL stadium on the boards with financing, I think the years after 2017 (MAP 3 pay off year) would be a great time to bring in an NFL franchise.

We are in a good position if we can get an NFL stadium on MAPS 4.

Our biggest drawback from getting the NHL in 1997 was that fact that (NHL board of governors) they couldn't believe that we could build an NHL-ready arena with only $90 million budgeted.

We did come though with the Ford Center renovations because the NBA said that we couldn't sustain an NBA long-term without the extra amenities.

Again getting that shell of a stadium built where it will allow us options will be the key.

The key is will we be prepared!

Who knows what could be available to fall in our laps by then!