Sport in Oklahoma: Oklahoma City Thunder, Oklahoma City
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: Gruppe, Bucher, PUBLISHER: Books LLC, Kapitel: Oklahoma City Thunder, Oklahoma City Blazers, Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Tulsa Oilers, Oklahoma City Barons, Ford Center. Aus Wikipedia. Nicht dargestellt. Auszug: Ford Center is a multipurpose indoor sports/concert arena located in downtown Oklahoma City. It is the home of the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder. The arena also served as home for the Central Hockey League's Oklahoma City Blazers until the team folded in July , as well as the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz arena football team until the Thunder's arrival forced them out to the Cox Convention Center. Of special note, Ford Center served as the temporary home for the NBA's New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets during the and seasons. Ford Center also plays host to major concerts, family and social events, conventions, ice shows, civic events, and sporting events from local universities and high schools. Ford Center is owned by the City of Oklahoma City and opened on June , three years after construction began. It is located adjacent to the Robinson Avenue exit of the I-40 Crosstown Expressway in downtown Oklahoma City. The 'Ford Center' name comes from a naming rights deal with the Oklahoma Ford Dealers group which represents the marketing efforts of the state's Ford dealerships, rather than the Ford Motor Company itself. The facility is the premier component of the city's Capital Improvement Program, known as Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPS), which financed new and upgraded sports, entertainment, cultural and convention facilities primarily in the downtown section with a temporary 1-cent sales tax assessed. Despite the "metropolitan" moniker of the improvement program, the tax was only assessed inside city limits. Oklahoma City officials had long planned to upgrade the facility in order to remain competitive for NCAA events, concerts, and conventions (see MAPS-III). Many critics had felt that Ford Center was a large facilit...http://booksllc.net/?l=de