NBA All-Star game for Oklahoma

[bige]

Anybody think we will ever get an NBA All-Star game here in Oklahoma City? After all this city has done to support this the Thunder i don't see why not!

[betts]

We don't have enough hotel rooms. I believe they need 30,000. They have held the All Star game in Salt Lake City and Charlotte, however. Maybe the room requirement has increased recently.

[BrettM2]

We don't have enough hotel rooms. I believe they need 30,000. They have held the All Star game in Salt Lake City and Charlotte, however. Maybe the room requirement has increased recently.

Do you know, off hand, how many we have? Also curious as to how close they have to be.

[G.Walker]

They just don't look at hotel rooms, they also look at entertainment options, transportation infrastructure, and amenities. But hotel rooms play a big part. I could see Oklahoma City hosting NBA All-Star weekend after the convention center, convention center hotel, and street car are all completed, so we are looking at another 7-8 years!

[G.Walker]

Moreover, I wonder how Oklahoma City will fare hosting the NBA Finals! Since the NBA Finals is the second biggest event in the NBA, especially if we have home court advantage, and we host 4 games.

[Snowman]

Moreover, I wonder how Oklahoma City will fare hosting the NBA Finals! Since the NBA Finals is the second biggest event in the NBA, especially if we have home court advantage, and we host 4 games.

Unless someone finds a way to beat Chicago, we will be hosting may be 3 of the finals games.

[G.Walker]

Unless someone finds a way to beat Chicago, we will be hosting may be 3 of the finals games.

What could happen is we end up with the same record, but we will have the tie breaker because we beat them in our only time we played them this year!

[okcpulse]

Do you know, off hand, how many we have? Also curious as to how close they have to be.

I believe Oklahoma City has ~13,000 hotel rooms total.

[Stan Silliman]

NBA finals is no problem. 90% of the fans will be season ticket holders, so rooms won't be a problem. Media will double or triple but that's only about 300-500 additional folks. Jimmy Goldstein will bring three girlfriends with him but since their models they should all be able to fit in one Marriott Courtyard suite.

[dankrutka]

Unless someone finds a way to beat Chicago, we will be hosting may be 3 of the finals games.

Uh, did you see what Miami did to Chicagom in the playoffs last year. I'll believe Chicago can beat Miami in a playoff series when I see it. Besides, we have plenty worry about before then too (e.g., Spurs, Grizzlies, maybe Mavs IMHO).

[SoonerBoy18]

I believe there will be one here once the Maps 3 projects and core to shore prejects are complete, Which is decades in the future.

[dankrutka]

I believe there will be one here once the Maps 3 projects and core to shore prejects are complete, Which is decades in the future.

OKC will need to grow at an even faster pace to see an All Star game in the next 25 years IMHO.

[ljbab728]

OKC will need to grow at an even faster pace to see an All Star game in the next 25 years IMHO.

Obviously growth isn't a signficant issue. New Orleans was awarded the next All Star game and it is smaller than OKC.

[dcsooner]

Not gonna happen! move on

[BoulderSooner]

Obviously growth isn't a signficant issue. New Orleans was awarded the next All Star game and it is smaller than OKC.

New Orleans has over 36k hotel rooms and tons of late night options

[Bellaboo]

I heard David Stern address the question of OKC hosting the All Star game to a reporter the last time he was in town.....His reply was ' A requirement is to have 6,000 hotel rooms within a mile radius of the arena, when that happens, you have a chance'.

We don't have 6,000 rooms within a 2 mile radius.

[Tydude]

we do have 6,000 rooms but not all in downtown

[Jersey Boss]

2 mile radius, not downtown. As far as downtown it does not even have a place to get a meal after 10. Roach coaches do not count. OKC does not meet the requirement. Time to move on.

[king183]

2 mile radius, not downtown. As far as downtown it does not even have a place to get a meal after 10. Roach coaches do not count. OKC does not meet the requirement. Time to move on.

It's not time to move on. If this is something we want--and I don't see why it shouldn't be-- then we should continue discussing what we need to get there and prepare. True, there's no way we're getting the All Star game next year, the year after that, or maybe even within 5 years, but I could definitely see us getting it in about 10 years if things continue to go well with growth downtown. We're just now starting to get a mass of apartments built and building a few new hotels. This will eventually lead to more night options and more business downtown, which will hopefully begin a continuous cycle of downtown growth.

So, we know for a fact we need greater hotel capacity, more entertainment options, and a better transit system at the very least. We're well on our way toward at least of those. Let's keep the growth going and maybe by 2020 we'll see an All Star game.

[ljbab728]

New Orleans has over 36k hotel rooms and tons of late night options

I certainly understand that. I was responding to a comment that OKC would need to grow faster, whch implies a larger populaton being a deciding factor, which it isn't.

[BoulderSooner]

2 mile radius, not downtown. As far as downtown it does not even have a place to get a meal after 10. Roach coaches do not count. OKC does not meet the requirement. Time to move on.

you might want to get out more okc has tons of places to get a meal after 10 ...

[betts]

There certainly is a possibility of getting an All Star game at some point in time. If SLC can host one, I don't think we have to worry about our amenities. By the time we have enough hotel rooms to be competitive, there will be enough amenities, enough restaurants, etc to make us marginally acceptable. However, we should expect complaints from the media, regardless. I remember all the complaints when Jacksonville hosted the Superbowl.

I suspect we haven't had an NBA team long enough to be considered, regardless. We have to pay our NBA dues by supporting a team well for a few more years.

[dankrutka]

I certainly understand that. I was responding to a comment that OKC would need to grow faster, whch implies a larger populaton being a deciding factor, which it isn't.

I didn't say growth in population. I meant growth in general - downtown population, amenities, hotel.

[jedicurt]

you might want to get out more okc has tons of places to get a meal after 10 ...

not downtown, or even in bricktown... i think almost every kitchen in bricktown is pretty well closed by 10, even if the establishment is still open. I remember the guys from ESPN making this very complant that after the game there is no place in the area around the arena for the crew to go and eat. I could be wrong, and if i am, can you please list the places that would be within this 6k hotel rooms in a one mile radius of the arena?

[Laramie]

Hosting an NBA All Star Weekend of Events is going to require:

Where to eat after 10 p.m.(?), LOL Bobos' roach coach, Mama Lou's, Skyline and there's more that I wouldn't recommend.

Seriously, here are some of the major accommodation requirements:

18,000 - 20,000 quality hotels rooms and not counting Motel 6 or the I-35 hotel corridor or those rooms which rent by the hour if you know what I mean.

Many of our few quality eating establishments in Bricktown could adjust their closing times for an NBA All Star Event.

Where we stand? Oklahoma City has about 13,000 hotel rooms in the metro area. As for quality (?), that is the question.

We will definitely need at least two anchor hotels downtown with in excess of 700 rooms; something double the size of the Marriott Renaissance or the Marriott on the Northwest Expressway.

How do we increase hotel development? Building the Convention, Exposition & Trade events in our area--downtown and fairgrounds.

The new downtown convention center is going to be the key to spur a lot of development; we're just getting started and on the right track.

Right now, Tulsa would have a better chance of landing the NBA All Star Weekend than Oklahoma City. Ouch! We've got a lot of building ahead.