Oklahoma City Thunder 2020-21 season

[jedicurt]

such a terrible choice ... 17 teams have or will have fans at games this month

literally best argument ever... others are doing it....

[OKCretro]

Well, if other teams are doing it then that for sure means we should!

There could be a lot of legitimate reasons for not allowing fans. An easy one that comes to mind: it may not be profitable or worth the trouble.

I read somewhere that this year the road team is winning more than usual. Many attribute that to no fans i.e. less of a home court advantage and since we are trying to lose, having fans might = more wins.

[Laramie]

Thunder become first NBA team to prohibit fans for entire season due to COVID-19: https://www.yardbarker.com/nba/artic...13132_34248767

[Laramie]

Disappointed that Oklahoma City didn't allow some percentage of fan capacity into the arena. We usually follow what our neighboring NBA franchises are doing:

Dallas Mavericks Dallas, TX American Airlines Center Yes 1,500 (7.8%)
Houston Rockets Houston, TX Toyota Center Yes 4,500 (25%)
Memphis Grizzlies Memphis, TN FedEx Forum Yes
New Orleans Pelicans New Orleans, LA Smoothie King Center Yes 750 (4%)
Oklahoma City Thunder Oklahoma City, OK Chesapeake Energy Arena No
San Antonio Spurs San Antonio, TX AT&T Center Yes 3,200 (Starting March 12)

Well, hopefully next season...

Which NBA arenas will allow fans during the 2020-21 season? https://ca.nba.com/news/which-nba-ar...3183pybejqkvmf

[kukblue1]

I assume no one listened to Traber and the sports animal today otherwise this forum would of blew up. Traber of course says it was a mistake and we are taking a step back and telling people they should live in fear. I don't always agree with Traber but on this one I lean his way. I think it was a little early to say no fans. There are a lot of games in April and May (12 in total) and by then thing might be getting better. Even Broadway in New York is opening back up starting in April.

[5alive]

^^^^Agree

[kukblue1]

Watching the Dallas game and turned it off. Kind of upset with all this the more I think about it. Dallas fans seemed to be having a good time. Everyone had on mask everyone was social distance. I just don't see this as a high risk activity to be honest. How can Big cities like New York, and Dallas figure out how to do it but OKC can't. I'm getting my second shot in less than two weeks and I was hoping to maybe be able to go to a Thunder game and finally get out of the house and do something. Maybe I am being a little selfish.

Also why should I brother trying to watch them when I know I will never seem them play in person. I always knew we were not going to be good this morning but was willing to go to see some of our young guys play in person. Now that I know that will never happen what is really the point of watching it on TV every night?

[Laramie]

Thunder 78 @ Mavericks 87

Box Score https://d2y1pz2y630308.cloudfront.ne...3U8148_new.jpg

[kukblue1]

https://www.nba.com/news/where-nba-t...ena-attendance Looks like up to 18 teams now letting some fans in.

[Laramie]

Thunder @ Spurs
Thursday, March 4
AT&T Center, San Antonio
Fox Sports Oklahoma, 8 p.m.

[OkiePoke]

I really doubt the fans decision was because of Covid, more along the lines if it made sense financially. If they were restricting enough, I could see them not being profitable.

[Celebrator]

If the team was better, they would be letting fans in. This is the perfect season to be in a rebuild because in-person fans won't be missing a playoff run which has made for some very memorable springs around here! I miss those days. Hopefully though, when we are ready to make some deep runs again, all will be back to normal and the arena will be rockin' once again on those late April, May and hopefully June nights in the future!

[BoulderSooner]

I really doubt the fans decision was because of Covid, more along the lines if it made sense financially. If they were restricting enough, I could see them not being profitable.

they pay rent either way .... now they are having to return money to fans .... this choice cost the team millions of dollars .

[OKCretro]

they pay rent either way .... now they are having to return money to fans .... this choice cost the team millions of dollars .

Are they returning money to fans. Pretty sure most if not all fans will take the credit for next year's tickets.

[Rover]

Are they returning money to fans. Pretty sure most if not all fans will take the credit for next year's tickets.

Either way, it is costing them millions of $

[BoulderSooner]

Are they returning money to fans. Pretty sure most if not all fans will take the credit for next year's tickets.

i bet a lot of fans will be done .... but as rover said that is money they are not getting in the future

[OkiePoke]

Not sure how the contract is written, but I suppose they don't have to pay for all the worker's associated with having fans in the building.

If we were going to the playoffs, there would be fans in the stands.

[dankrutka]

I read somewhere that this year the road team is winning more than usual. Many attribute that to no fans i.e. less of a home court advantage and since we are trying to lose, having fans might = more wins.

Definitely need to avoid that then! We've got to keep our competitive (dis)advantage to get this top 5 pick!

i bet a lot of fans will be done .... but as rover said that is money they are not getting in the future

lol. Why?

To the other questions, no, fans aren't being charged for games they didn't attend. If OKC loses any season ticket holders it's more likely going to be due to economic issues or that the team will be losing for the next couple years.

[BoulderSooner]

lol. Why?

because they are choosing not to allow fans (not allowing loyal season ticket holders to go to games or resell their tickets during this season)

i know of several people that are getting the full cash refund and no longer plan to be season ticket holders .

[Laramie]

Doubt if you'll see any fans leaving that will amount to anything. This franchise has a waiting list; they're on a sellout streak dating back to 2010.

Recognize this team is in a reboot stage. We all hoped that a limited capacity could be achieved. Looking forward to next season.

[Jake]

nvm

[BoulderSooner]

Doubt if you'll see any fans leaving that will amount to anything. This franchise has a waiting list; they're on a sellout streak dating back to 2010.

Recognize this team is in a reboot stage. We all hoped that a limited capacity could be achieved. Looking forward to next season.

The waiting list and sell out streak are not real things.

The Last few years There were lots of pairs of seats that the Thunder were unable to sell as season tickets.

[OkieHornet]

because they are choosing not to allow fans (not allowing loyal season ticket holders to go to games or resell their tickets during this season)

i know of several people that are getting the full cash refund and no longer plan to be season ticket holders .

To the best of my recollection, season ticketholders (I'm one of them) weren't give the option of a full cash refund, just options of opting in to full or partial season tickets (when it was believed there would be fans in the stands), or opting out of the season altogether. Either of those options meant any money already received by the Thunder would be rolled over into the next season's tickets.

The Thunder normally have renewal deadlines for the next season in March, while the season is still going on, and that happened this year, but the Thunder postponed taking any money until the summer, then stopped it again in late fall when they made the decision to not allow fans, and any money still due on your account will need to be paid off by April, i believe.

I know of no options for receiving refunds or opting out altogether as a season ticketholder, unless it was something that was worked out individually between the ticketholder and Thunder ticket representative.

[Dob Hooligan]

I have ZERO inside knowledge, but I am convinced there is a financial component to the "No fans this season" decision. Might be a clause in an insurance policy, lease, TV contract, league assistance package, some tax benefit, or something else. But, I'm convinced there's some $$ benefet on the net net.

[Jake]

Easier to tank and trade assets when there’s no one in the stands to watch the losing.