New Name, Same Old ThunderDome
The arena formerly known as the Ford Center is likely getting a new name.
The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Oklahoma Ford Dealers met last month to renegotiate the contract over the naming rights to the Thunder’s home, which is site of the Thunder’s 41 home games this year. The Thunder, however, could not reach a deal they liked and are pursuing other options. The name deal that currently exists with the Oklahoma Ford Dealers was $8.1 million over the course of 15 years, but had a clause allowing an NBA franchise, should one move to Oklahoma City permanently, to renegotiate for more money. A prophecy amidst legal jargon, perhaps?
The City of Oklahoma City, who owns the venue, gets a cut of the earnings from this deal, and the Thunder front office gets the rest. The team, obviously in the business of making money, wants the most lucrative deal they can find.
Last year was extremely kind to the Thunder, who posted a huge turnaround year with 50 wins, greatly overshadowing their dismal mark of 23 from the year before. After a playoff run, despite the 4th place finish in the most highly contested division in all of the NBA last year, the Thunder are poised and ready for their 3rd year in the heartland which will hopefully be their most successful yet. The hometown crowd was definitely a factor, from the 31 home sellouts during the season, to the record 118dB the team’s beloved fans belted out during the playoffs. And, obviously, when you have a little bit of success, you want the best. The Thunder decided that the best inevitably could not come from the Oklahoma Ford Dealers.
This deal will not interfere with the millions of dollars sitting poised for the renovations to the ThunderDome. It may speed up the process, but the gravy-money that the Thunder gets will probably go into the operations budget, and may result in more fan give-aways or something really awesome that will make the games even more enjoyable… as if Thunder basketball wasn’t enough of a draw itself.
So what are the possibilities for names? The ThunderDome is something I’ve lovingly called the Ford Center since 2008, and I know I’ve heard a lot of others use it. But that name could stand as a nickname, such as Ben Hill Griffin Stadium at the University of Florida being known as “The Swamp,” or “Happy Valley” up at Penn State, or the dozen others that pop-up in the NCAA franchise when you look up “Hardest Places to Play” in franchise mode. So, I think it best to run through a few of the prominent Oklahoma companies/donors and see what we can find.
To start off with, you must look at the big three from the OKC, the energy giants whose campuses dominate a large part of Northwest OKC, whose new designs plan to dominate the skies of OKC by 2013, or the new guys who are turning the Kerr-McGee building, which we knew it as for so long, into their own. Chesapeke, Devon, and SandRidge. These three energy giants have been one-upping each other for a while, but their impact on OKC is very profound and positive. Creating lots of jobs and stimulating the economy, they keep Oklahoma City running almost. You would have to have lived under a rock for the past few years or been from somewhere not named Oklahoma to not know that all three of these companies have a vested interest in the Oklahoma City Thunder, as evidence by the tons of dollars that they throw at the Thunder to get their names on the big display ring that goes around the arena, or the new jumbo-tron hanging brightly and powerfully over center-court. I would throw down a lot of money to say one of these three will ultimately get the naming rights to the ThunderDome.
Now, shifting from mega-companies, I’d like to focus attention on the two families whose large estates have their last names plastered on large, imposing stadiums already, have started to join forces in places, such as the Oklahoma Heritage Museum, or just give lots of money wherever they see fit: the Gaylord and Pickens families. Usually, being from Oklahoma you’re either Boomer Sooner of Orange Power, and those two names definitely ring a bell for either one. Their names are on the site for Bedlam, no matter the year, and the Gaylord and Pickens donations to OU and OSU, respectively, can be felt all over the two campuses. It would be no surprise if they teamed up to slap their name on the arena, although the name might be a little much to choke down, which is where the ThunderDome would really come in handy.
5 left.
A rather ironic donor, who, up to this point hasn’t had a whole lot to do with the Thunder, would be Sonic. Sonic’s headquarters is, much like the energy giants, less than a mile from the ThunderDome, and is an Oklahoma enterprise, founded in Shawnee, OK. But, like I said, they haven’t had a whole lot to do with the Thunder, and I’m not sure if they’ll start now. Having Sonic on our arena would be a slap in the face to the city of Seattle, though. And I’m tired of them, and the rest of the country, complaining. Although, the Thunder really shut a lot of the critics up with last season’s success.
Other Oklahoma enterprises? Well, there’s Bank of Oklahoma, though they do have the BOK Center in Tulsa, and I doubt that they’d shell out another few million for our arena. AT&T, though not technically Oklahoman, this is an AT&T dominated area, though they, much like BOK, have their name on the ballpark, so maybe not. Tulsa does have the Conoco-Phillips headquarters, so maybe them? Or maybe OneOK? The opportunites are endless, but I’m still leaning towards one of the energy giants.
What are your thoughts? Leave me a comment, I’m sure you guys have a lot of ideas on the new name for the Ford Center. Maybe Chevy, just to stick it to Ford? You tell me.
-j
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This is a very interesting point of view. Your blog is refreshing, but I wish one could find more content, though. I am looking forward to reading more from you. Keep up the good work. thanks.