Will Rogers World Airport

[Bellaboo]

Am I the only person here who, while I think it would be cool, doesn’t really care at all whether we get an international flight? Not that it’s an either/or situation but if I had to choose, I’d rather we beef up our domestic non-stop options before moving beyond the borders. There seems to be an obsession with getting even a single international vacation option that I don’t really understand. Would it be cool? Sure. But does anyone here go to Cancun multiple times, or even once, a year?

It might not matter, but the NBA requires some international flights as a host for the All Star game.

Like I said, it might not matter anyway.

[Richard at Remax]

It might not matter, but the NBA requires some international flights as a host for the All Star game.

Like I said, it might not matter anyway.

Yeah it said you need a minimum of 20 international flights so we are DOA

[HOT ROD]

surely Indy doesn't have 20 International flights.

[Richard at Remax]

From what I read they got awarded the game in 2017 for the 2021? season and it got postponed to this year due to covid. That new rule came in after it was awarded. So no Indy moving forward

[HOT ROD]

thanks for clearing that up.

I personally think that rule is ridiculous and guarantees that the All-Star game will ONLY be in the top NBA markets; to the detriment of all small markets. Portland, probably the best positioned small market to have international flights - doesn't have 20. SLC, a delta hub, also likely doesn't have 20 (they may be THE exception though). New Orleans, a traditional tourism destination, likely doesn't have 20 (but they may?). Why have such a ridiculous International requirement when I seriously doubt droves of "fans" from outside the US are clamoring to the NBA All Star game aside from the usual gateway cities that already have the bulk of international flights. ....

[kukblue1]

thanks for clearing that up.

I personally think that rule is ridiculous and guarantees that the All-Star game will ONLY be in the top NBA markets; to the detriment of all small markets. Portland, probably the best positioned small market to have international flights - doesn't have 20. SLC, a delta hub, also likely doesn't have 20 (they may be THE exception though). New Orleans, a traditional tourism destination, likely doesn't have 20 (but they may?). Why have such a ridiculous International requirement when I seriously doubt droves of "fans" from outside the US are clamoring to the NBA All Star game aside from the usual gateway cities that already have the bulk of international flights. ....

NBA all-star game will pretty much be New York, Chicago, LA, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, Philly, Miami, Vegas. Throw one more city in there and you have your 10 year rotation.

Does anyone know were the International Terminal area will be? What is going on with the land for where the hotel used to be?

[Jeepnokc]

thanks for clearing that up.

I personally think that rule is ridiculous and guarantees that the All-Star game will ONLY be in the top NBA markets; to the detriment of all small markets. Portland, probably the best positioned small market to have international flights - doesn't have 20. SLC, a delta hub, also likely doesn't have 20 (they may be THE exception though). New Orleans, a traditional tourism destination, likely doesn't have 20 (but they may?). Why have such a ridiculous International requirement when I seriously doubt droves of "fans" from outside the US are clamoring to the NBA All Star game aside from the usual gateway cities that already have the bulk of international flights. ....

Just for giggles, I looked at MSY (New Orleans). Per their website, they have 5x per week to London, 4x per week to Montreal, 3x per week to Honduras (how odd!), 1x daily to Toronto and 4 airlines offering seasonal 1x per week to Cancun and one airline offering 4x per week to Cancun.

[scottk]

.

Does anyone know were the International Terminal area will be? What is going on with the land for where the hotel used to be?

My understanding was that Gate 32 in the new East Terminal was built with the proper space for holding/customs area needed for international flights?

[bison34]

Just for giggles, I looked at MSY (New Orleans). Per their website, they have 5x per week to London, 4x per week to Montreal, 3x per week to Honduras (how odd!), 1x daily to Toronto and 4 airlines offering seasonal 1x per week to Cancun and one airline offering 4x per week to Cancun.

The London and Toronto ones have to be subsidized. I can't see 5 full flights from New Orleans to London or 7 to Toronto.

[unfundedrick]

I agree that i just want more non stops to any major destination domestic or international. However, I think more people would go to Cancun or other major destinations if it was easier to get to. I have friends that live in detroit and they do 3-4 day weekends to paris several times a year as it is easy for them to get there. We have started going to NYC more now that Delta has the non stop to LGA. Our second trip this year is planned for June for Billy Joel at MSG.

Many here may not remember but OKC had a nonstop flight to Cancun offered for a while. It was a charter flight. The return flight did have to make a stop to clear customs and immigration before continuing back to OKC. I believe the stop was in San Antonio.

[bombermwc]

If im the NBA, well i'm trying to make a big buzz for my game, this is an easy way to create buzz by ensuring that it only goes to those large markets. People from all over honestly want to go to those places and not any of the smaller markets. Do we want them to come here? Absolutely. We want to show off what we have. But I would put money on that feedback from people with influence (ie money) either as owners/spectators/etc has been that they dont want that particular game to be anywhere other than the largest of cities.

And for only one game that is really just about fun more than anything, is it worth a lot of extra effort to push for it? I'd personally say no. I'd rather have the Softball Tourney stay here...it brings in a LOT more to the actual city than that one game would. That's just an example, but I'm just saying that it's not that big of a deal.

For international, for me there isn't going to be much attraction because the planes themselves are going to be crappy little regional jets going to Mexico or maybe Canada. You're not going to fly from London to OKC. Honestly, where do we think we're going on these flights? I absolutely hate being on little regional jets for flights with OKC. I really wish all the airlines would stop using them and only use the smaller Boeing and Airbus planes. Overhead bins are my #1 annoyance and those regionals dont have room for crap. Then you want to ride one of those for an international flight? YUK!

I dont think we're ready for this in terms of flight volumes, to be honest.

[PhiAlpha]

If im the NBA, well i'm trying to make a big buzz for my game, this is an easy way to create buzz by ensuring that it only goes to those large markets. People from all over honestly want to go to those places and not any of the smaller markets. Do we want them to come here? Absolutely. We want to show off what we have. But I would put money on that feedback from people with influence (ie money) either as owners/spectators/etc has been that they dont want that particular game to be anywhere other than the largest of cities.

And for only one game that is really just about fun more than anything, is it worth a lot of extra effort to push for it? I'd personally say no. I'd rather have the Softball Tourney stay here...it brings in a LOT more to the actual city than that one game would. That's just an example, but I'm just saying that it's not that big of a deal.

For international, for me there isn't going to be much attraction because the planes themselves are going to be crappy little regional jets going to Mexico or maybe Canada. You're not going to fly from London to OKC. Honestly, where do we think we're going on these flights? I absolutely hate being on little regional jets for flights with OKC. I really wish all the airlines would stop using them and only use the smaller Boeing and Airbus planes. Overhead bins are my #1 annoyance and those regionals dont have room for crap. Then you want to ride one of those for an international flight? YUK!

I dont think we're ready for this in terms of flight volumes, to be honest.

I actually love it if I'm on one of the regional jets that has all the single seat rows on the left (port) side of the plane and I can snag one of those. Might only be the EMB 145 that has that arrangement outside of first class but I enjoy it. I'm also fairly short so that probably helps.

[jn1780]

Am I the only person here who, while I think it would be cool, doesn’t really care at all whether we get an international flight? Not that it’s an either/or situation but if I had to choose, I’d rather we beef up our domestic non-stop options before moving beyond the borders. There seems to be an obsession with getting even a single international vacation option that I don’t really understand. Would it be cool? Sure. But does anyone here go to Cancun multiple times, or even once, a year?

No I agree with this as well. Sure, one less flight to Mexico is nice, but its not like I would be using it every year. Let's be honest, were not really talking about anything beyond Mexico or Canada.

[Laramie]

My understanding was that Gate 32 in the new East Terminal was built with the proper space for holding/customs area needed for international flights?

Correct!

KFOR-TV Channel - 4 https://kfor.com/news/local/will-rog...ional-flights/
.

[BDP]

And for only one game that is really just about fun more than anything, is it worth a lot of extra effort to push for it? I'd personally say no. I'd rather have the Softball Tourney stay here...it brings in a LOT more to the actual city than that one game would. That's just an example, but I'm just saying that it's not that big of a deal.

NBA all star weekend is much more than just the one game. It's actually much more than all the stuff you see on TV. It's basically a huge international convention that would probably be the biggest single event in the city's history if it were to come here. It would bring in more people and money than the softball tournament by at least a factor of 10.

I'm not trying to say the softball tournament isn't a great event for the city and I want it to stay here, as well. It's just that the two events aren't even comparable in terms of scale and economic impact.

That being said, it certainly may not be worth it to subsidize all it would take for the city to be considered for the game, especially given how far the city is from meeting just the minimum requirements it takes to host such an event, and because even then, it's not a guarantee.

[Richard at Remax]

I actually love it if I'm on one of the regional jets that has all the single seat rows on the left (port) side of the plane and I can snag one of those. Might only be the EMB 145 that has that arrangement outside of first class but I enjoy it. I'm also fairly short so that probably helps.

I really like the E175 and E170. 4A is one of my favorite seats in any plane (not including lie flat seats lol)

[gopokes88]

We'll get an NBA All Star game in the early 2030s for building a new arena with taxpayer $. NFL does the same thing with Super Bowls. They'll have their rotation yes, but it's par for the course new arena = all star game.

[Bellaboo]

We'll get an NBA All Star game in the early 2030s for building a new arena with taxpayer $. NFL does the same thing with Super Bowls. They'll have their rotation yes, but it's par for the course new arena = all star game.

I agree with this. Dallas is so close, plenty of international flights and a short trip to OKC might get a requirement compromise.

[jn1780]

The 30 international flights is not a requirement set in stone. Hosting white water rafting may help.
https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.co...nal%20flights.

[bison34]

The 30 international flights is not a requirement set in stone. Hosting white water rafting may help.
https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.co...nal%20flights.

Or else Indianapolis, who held it this year, would fall miserably short.

[BDP]

The 30 international flights is not a requirement set in stone. Hosting white water rafting may help.
https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.co...nal%20flights.

The hotel room situation is probably the thing that makes OKC a long shot at this point. There's only about 5,000 rooms rooms downtown, a lot of which aren't full service. We would most likely need to see at least 3-4 omni size hotels come online before then, with one of them being a 5 star hotel.

For perspective, the NBA contracted 7,000 rooms at 30 different hotels in Salt Lake City :

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.co...023/02/14.aspx

Same with Indianapolis:

https://www.ibj.com/articles/hotel-r...f-nba-all-star

Even if getting here is a little more inconvenient than cities with multiple international flights, they'll all still need a place to stay.

[BDP]

Or else Indianapolis, who held it this year, would fall miserably short.

Yes, Indianapolis would not have qualified under the new requirements published by the Oklahoman. But it has about 8,000 rooms downtown, half of which are connected their convention center.

[bison34]

Yes, Indianapolis would not have qualified under the new requirements published by the Oklahoman. But it has about 8,000 rooms downtown, half of which are connected their convention center.

Oh no doubt. They are a convention haven. Just means international flights don't matter.

[Laramie]

Story link: https://www.news9.com/story/65d03808...ord%20numbers.

[Bellaboo]

My wife and I both did that survey waiting on a flight. Lots of general questions and they give you a $15 uber gift card to boot.