Tower Theatre

[BoulderSooner]

Eh, Tulsa still kicks OKC's butt on the arena circuit. Not even a fair fight. Not sure why OKC fails so badly to get decent arena shows. Oh well.

not really

[thunderbird]

Journal Record saying that Tower purchased Pony Boy recently.

[shawnw]

I think this has been discussed over in the ponyboy thread

[BDP]

Eh, Tulsa still kicks OKC's butt on the arena circuit. Not even a fair fight. Not sure why OKC fails so badly to get decent arena shows. Oh well.

[HOT ROD]

Eh, Tulsa still kicks OKC's butt on the arena circuit. Not even a fair fight. Not sure why OKC fails so badly to get decent arena shows. Oh well.

The answer to your question is to consider who the management company is for BOTH venues.

..... SMG, that's right.

So why would SMG make an effort in OKC when they have Tulsa to book? OKC already has 41+ dates booked per year with the OKC Thunder, does Tulsa even have an anchor tenant?? .. complete open calendar there. And since they're only 90 minutes away, SMG treats OKC and Tulsa like a single market (just look at the Ticketmaster website, not a separate OKC or Tulsa market but OKLAHOMA).

I can almost assure you that bookings in OKC would be different/improved if SMG were not also in Tulsa. At least now SMG is starting to somewhat realize that OKC is the primary market of the state with the latest and future slate of concerts.

[mattyiceokc]

The answer to your question is to consider who the management company is for BOTH venues.

..... SMG, that's right.

So why would SMG make an effort in OKC when they have Tulsa to book? OKC already has 41+ dates booked per year with the OKC Thunder, does Tulsa even have an anchor tenant?? .. complete open calendar there. And since they're only 90 minutes away, SMG treats OKC and Tulsa like a single market (just look at the Ticketmaster website, not a separate OKC or Tulsa market but OKLAHOMA).

I can almost assure you that bookings in OKC would be different/improved if SMG were not also in Tulsa. At least now SMG is starting to somewhat realize that OKC is the primary market of the state with the latest and future slate of concerts.

The Tulsa Oilers are the anchor tenant at the BOK. ECHL season is 72 games, so 36 home games, plus playoffs (Tulsa had 11 playoff home games last season, which puts them at more games than the Thunder)

[BoulderSooner]

The answer to your question is to consider who the management company is for BOTH venues.

..... SMG, that's right.

So why would SMG make an effort in OKC when they have Tulsa to book? OKC already has 41+ dates booked per year with the OKC Thunder, does Tulsa even have an anchor tenant?? .. complete open calendar there. And since they're only 90 minutes away, SMG treats OKC and Tulsa like a single market (just look at the Ticketmaster website, not a separate OKC or Tulsa market but OKLAHOMA).

I can almost assure you that bookings in OKC would be different/improved if SMG were not also in Tulsa. At least now SMG is starting to somewhat realize that OKC is the primary market of the state with the latest and future slate of concerts.

different parts of SMG book the 2 venues OKC now has wonderful SMG mgmt and bookings ..

[BDP]

The Tulsa Oilers are the anchor tenant at the BOK. ECHL season is 72 games, so 36 home games, plus playoffs (Tulsa had 11 playoff home games last season, which puts them at more games than the Thunder)

This is true, but it's ultimately about attendance. The Oilers average around 6k a game, or about 1/3 that of Thunder games. But, as Boulder pointed out, the booking structure has changed and "balancing the markets" is less likely of a factor.

The reality is that BOK really only gets a handful of more concerts a year and many of the tours that got to Tulsa, go to OKC or have been to OKC. Obviously, each market gets some exclusive dates, but evaluating which does better in that regard really just comes down to personal taste. Looking at the current bookings, the discrepancy seems to be more in "specialty" acts like kids stuff and something like Cirque (though I think that's been to OKC in one incarnation or another at some point, as well).

Overall, it does seem like BOK has a few more non-sports bookings in the next year or so, but a claim that it's kicking Chesapeake Arena's ass in bookings is just a product of the ongoing and unusually bizarre comparisons made between the markets.

At the end of the day, hopefully whatever either of them book is a success. The last one I went to at BOK was so poorly attended, it was uncomfortable at times.

[Teo9969]

Cirque on ice was at the Cox last winter...so some of those things are booking Cox. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Tulsa does not have a 2nd downtown arena do they?

[TheTravellers]

Cirque on ice was at the Cox last winter...so some of those things are booking Cox. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Tulsa does not have a 2nd downtown arena do they?

Just FYI, in the 10 years we've been back, I believe Cirque has had all their shows at Chesapeake. I don't think Chesapeake has ice-generating capability any longer, so that's most likely why Cirque on Ice had to be at Cox. Lackmeyer's chat last week was with the SMG guys and quite interesting.

[Bullbear]

Just FYI, in the 10 years we've been back, I believe Cirque has had all their shows at Chesapeake. I don't think Chesapeake has ice-generating capability any longer, so that's most likely why Cirque on Ice had to be at Cox. Lackmeyer's chat last week was with the SMG guys and quite interesting.

I know way off topic.. but I hope we are someday a market that can support a real Cirque tour in big tops.. we instead are smaller market and get the shows once they have converted them from big top residencies into arena tours.

[ditm4567]

Something to keep in mind when criticizing how OKC doesn't get as many shows as Tulsa. Chesapeake actually blacks out around 71 dates for the Thunder, plus playoffs (we will be back in a few years!!). Performers usually announce their tours months in advance of when they even begin touring, unlike the NBA that releases the schedule just a couple months in advance. For example: the Chainsmokers are coming to Chesapeake in November: they announced their tour in February and don't perform their first show on that tour until tonight. The NBA didn't release this season's schedule until August and the first game is in October.

[BDP]

Something to keep in mind when criticizing how OKC doesn't get as many shows as Tulsa. Chesapeake actually blacks out around 71 dates for the Thunder, plus playoffs (we will be back in a few years!!). Performers usually announce their tours months in advance of when they even begin touring, unlike the NBA that releases the schedule just a couple months in advance. For example: the Chainsmokers are coming to Chesapeake in November: they announced their tour in February and don't perform their first show on that tour until tonight. The NBA didn't release this season's schedule until August and the first game is in October.

Yes, but every NBA arena deals with this and many arenas have multiple major league tenants along with minor league tenants. If the Thunder is affecting bookings, it would mean that they have a more exclusive arrangement with the arena than is normal or that the NBA is willing to workaround bookings at other arenas, but not Chesapeake for some reason. I don't know why either would be the case. Not ruling it out, but I don't see any inherent reason why it would be so different here than other NBA markets. If the Staples Center can host 2 NBA teams, the NHL, and the WNBA, and still have several concert bookings a year, there's no logistical barrier for Chesapeake to book whatever concerts a given promoter might want to place there.

[OkieHornet]

Concerts this year (to date) at Chesapeake Energy Arena:
Justin Timberlake, Blake Shelton, KISS, Pink, Mercy Me, Kenny Chesney, New Kids on the Block, Ariana Grande, Luis Miguel, Cody Johnson, Twenty One Pilots, Khalid, Alan Jackson, Carrie Underwood

Concerts this year (to date) at BOK Center:
Metallica, Kelly Clarkson, Elton John, Jeff Dunham, James Taylor, Zac Brown Band, Travis Scott, Weezer/Pixies, Snoop Dogg/Nelly, Bob Seger, Luke Combs, Avett Brothers, Pentatonix, Jimmy Buffett, Jason Isbell/Father John Misty, Michael Buble, Shawn Mendes, Cardi B, Backstreet Boys

[BG918]

Cirque on ice was at the Cox last winter...so some of those things are booking Cox. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Tulsa does not have a 2nd downtown arena do they?

Not anymore. The old civic center arena has been converted to convention space. There is the Fairgrounds Pavilion which has hosted ice shows in the past.

[Jersey Boss]

Just curious as to why they block off 71 dates plus playoffs? If there are only 41 home games in the regular season and a few exhibition games?

[Teo9969]

Because the schedule comes out so late over against other acts.

[Jersey Boss]

Because the schedule comes out so late over against other acts.

And how does that explain other arenas with mutiple major league tenents getting just as many shows?

[Swake]

According to Pollstar:
Chesapeake Arena has sold 97k tickets to non-sporting events this year through July.
BOK Center has sold 134k tickets in the same time period or 38% more tickets.
BOK has 28 non-sporting events on the current calendar, Chesapeake has 14.

[BDP]

According to Pollstar:
Chesapeake Arena has sold 97k tickets to non-sporting events this year through July.
BOK Center has sold 134k tickets in the same time period or 38% more tickets.
BOK has 28 non-sporting events on the current calendar, Chesapeake has 14.

Yeah, we're talking such a low rate to begin with it's hard to say either of them are kicking anyone's ass, to be honest. Hopefully, BOK didn't have double the non-sporting events YTD through July as Chesapeake. If it really is simply a BOK v. CHK thing, booking wise, then clearly someone is making the wrong call. I have to assume a lot of that discrepancy are the smaller acts that don't even list the whole room for sale, like maybe the kids stuff and mid-tier acts. Twice the bookings and only 1/3 more sales wouldn't look good otherwise. Though, I did go to the Father John Misty / Sturgill Simpson show at BOK and that probably never should have been booked there. I don't do a lot of arena shows, but I assumed that was an anomaly, as I have been to other well attended shows there.

[TheTravellers]

Yeah, we're talking such a low rate to begin with it's hard to say either of them are kicking anyone's ass, to be honest. Hopefully, BOK didn't have double the non-sporting events YTD through July as Chesapeake. If it really is simply a BOK v. CHK thing, booking wise, then clearly someone is making the wrong call. I have to assume a lot of that discrepancy are the smaller acts that don't even list the whole room for sale, like maybe the kids stuff and mid-tier acts. Twice the bookings and only 1/3 more sales wouldn't look good otherwise. Though, I did go to the Father John Misty / Sturgill Simpson show at BOK and that probably never should have been booked there. I don't do a lot of arena shows, but I assumed that was an anomaly, as I have been to other well attended shows there.

That is a weird booking, considering Misty played The Jones Assembly and Simpson played The Criterion, doesn't seem like both together would warrant a BOK/Chesapeake-level arena show.

[Teo9969]

And how does that explain other arenas with mutiple major league tenents getting just as many shows?

I would assume because they're big cities and they tell the acts "You can come play these dates if you would like to play in our city". Acts will accommodate Dallas and Houston's schedule...OKC and Tulsa not so much.

[soonerguru]

That is a weird booking, considering Misty played The Jones Assembly and Simpson played The Criterion, doesn't seem like both together would warrant a BOK/Chesapeake-level arena show.

Vampire Weekend played Criterion in OKC but is playing BOK in Tulsa.

[Bullbear]

Vampire Weekend played Criterion in OKC but is playing BOK in Tulsa.

The BOK set up for their show is lower bowl only and the concert is in 4 days and has maybe sold 1/3 of the tickets.

[TheTravellers]

Vampire Weekend played Criterion in OKC but is playing BOK in Tulsa.

That's also weird. For that show, is BOK blacking out the upper level like Chesapeake sometimes does (the Cirque shows and the Stevie Wonder shows are ones we've been to where they've done that) or are all 15,000-ish seats available? Is there that much higher attendance in Tulsa than OKC for concerts so that bands can get 5x more attendance (Criterion is about 3000 capacity, I think)?

Edit - nevermind, Bullbear answered my questions as I was typing them.