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73-709: The building was unique in that it had the largest roof of its type in the world. It is the second largest city-owned multi-purpose arena, after Paycom Center , and it has the largest impact for a publicly owned facility in Oklahoma City. It was home to the Oklahoma City Blazers of the CHL from 1965 to 1972. It was also home to the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association 's National Finals Rodeo from 1965 to 1978, when

146-453: A "state-of-the-art" facility, Oklahoma City Arena was actually constructed to minimum NBA and NHL specifications. The arena was built without luxury amenities because of local concerns about expenditures on an arena without a major-league tenant, with the ability to create "buildout" amenities and improvements to the arena if a professional sports team announced it would relocate to the city. A plan for such buildout improvements began in 2007 in

219-528: A 1,576-square-foot (146.4 m ) "Irish Pub" themed bar, and at The Courtside Club, a 6,198-square-foot (575.8 m ) restaurant and lounge area, as well as at the Victory Club, Sunset Carvery, and the new Terrace Lounges. On March 4, 2008, the citizens of Oklahoma City passed a $ 121.6 million initiative designed to renovate and expand the Paycom Center and to build a practice facility for

292-496: A debt of $ 9 billion, with the effect on the arena's naming rights not then known. However, on April 20, 2021, the company terminated the deal as part of its corporate restructuring. The arena retained its name during the Thunder's search for a new sponsor. On July 27, 2021, it was announced that Paycom would acquire the naming rights for the arena for a 15-year period, renaming it Paycom Center. Basketball seating capacity at

365-401: A few teams to move out of crowded or unprofitable markets: Nippon Professional Baseball is run in similar fashion to MLB and has moved several franchises out of crowded markets. Moves also happened when the teams changed ownership (which also sometimes involved changing the team name). Football club moves were frequent in the 1980s and 1990s. South Korea has three national tiers, but as in

438-616: A future NBA team, either by relocation or expansion . The Paycom Center is owned by the City of Oklahoma City and was opened on June 8, 2002, three years after construction began. The original Ford Center name came from a naming rights deal with the Oklahoma Ford Dealers group which represented the marketing efforts of the state's Ford dealerships , rather than the Ford Motor Company itself. The facility

511-462: A larger market and/or more affordable facilities, as frequently, there are only large complexes available with a necessity to groundshare with a larger club. The practice is considered anathema . The first move of a first division football team was in 2010. Grêmio Barueri moved to Presidente Prudente , becoming Grêmio Prudente , only to return as Grêmio Barueri in the middle of 2011. Esporte Clube Dom Pedro II , named after Pedro II of Brazil

584-611: A narrow window in time. Many current owners believe 32 is the optimal size for a major league due to playoff structure and ease of scheduling. As of 2024 , each of the major leagues has 30 or 32 franchises. The National Hockey League (NHL) has expanded to 32 teams, with the Vegas Golden Knights having become the league's 31st team in 2017 and the Seattle Kraken becoming the 32nd team in 2021. In past decades, aspiring owners whose overtures had been rejected by

657-616: A national level, and through that process, there have been team moves, mergers and closures in both leagues. The clubs are owned by members, not privately, but the North American franchise model exists, which means entry to the league is restricted. The hybrid model has meant that the leading promoter of moving is the league itself, trying to grow the football code by encouraging poorly performing clubs to move interstate. The two most significant relocations in Australian history were

730-497: A number of games and events from Oklahoma City University , the University of Oklahoma , and Oklahoma State University along with those from local high schools and post-secondary organizations. It is also used for other events, including major concert tours, conventions, National Hockey League preseason and exhibition games, and notably professional wrestling shows. It hosted the 2007 Big 12 men's basketball tournament for

803-480: A practice court, media broadcast facilities, lighting, and sound, an NBA press room, an onsite NBA and team store, and ticket/staff rooms. It is anticipated that the Oklahoma City Thunder team will lease the new office space. Renovation work on the arena was delayed due to a sales tax receipt shortfall during the 2008–10 economic crisis; eventual tax receipts totaled $ 103.5 million rather than

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876-617: A provision that gave Seattle officials one year to solve its arena situation or allow Bennett to seek relocation. After an April 2008 league approval, it was announced on July 2, 2008, that the Sonics franchise would be relocating to Oklahoma City and would play at what was then the Ford Center. The agreement retires the "SuperSonics" moniker, color, and logos, possibly to be used by a future NBA team in Seattle. On September 2, 2008,

949-543: A relegation system but its teams have some territorial rights recognized, perhaps due to U.S. influence as many league matches are aired in the U.S., where only traditional top-flight teams are perceived to most effectively reach the immigrant fan-base. In Peru several teams have had to use already built large stadiums, including ones in the interior of the country, to be able to participate in Peruvian Primera División ; this includes several teams from

1022-432: A rival league achieve at least some of these goals in the last half of the 20th century. Baseball's proposed Continental League did not play a game, but only because Major League Baseball (MLB) responded to the proposal by adding teams in some of the new league's proposed cities. The American Basketball Association (ABA) and World Hockey Association (WHA) each succeeded in getting some of their franchises accepted into

1095-682: A sports venue in Oklahoma is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to Oklahoma City is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Paycom Center Paycom Center (originally known as the Ford Center from 2002 to 2010, Oklahoma City Arena from 2010 to 2011, and Chesapeake Energy Arena from 2011 to 2021) is an arena located in Downtown Oklahoma City , Oklahoma , United States. It opened in 2002 and since 2008 has served as

1168-530: A sports venue, Paycom Center hosts concerts, family and social events, conventions, ice shows, and civic events. The arena is owned by the city and operated by the SMG property management company and has 18,203 seats in the basketball configuration, 15,152 for hockey, and can seat up to 16,591 for concerts. From 2005 to 2007, the arena also served as the temporary home for the New Orleans Hornets of

1241-545: A team based in Mok-dong , Seoul , which moved to Anyang, Gyeonggi in 2005 and became Anyang Halla . In South Africa most football clubs are privately owned, and club moves are relatively common. Several clubs, including top division Premier Soccer League clubs have moved and taken on new identities. There are many other cases of South African moves . The ease of selling and buying of club licences make moves common and sometimes difficult to determine what determines whether

1314-601: A team owner moves a team, generally from one metropolitan area to another, but occasionally between municipalities in the same conurbation . The practice is most common in North America , where a league franchise system is used and the teams are overwhelmingly privately owned. Owners who move a team generally do so seeking better profits, facilities, fan support, or a combination of these. Unlike most professional sport systems worldwide, North America does not have comprehensive governing bodies whose authority extends from

1387-573: A year in Americana, the club's administrator, Sony Sports, announced the team's return to Guaratinguetá to compete in the 2012 Campeonato Paulista and other competitions, as Americana city and its main stadium, Estádio Décio Vitta was not able to support the club and the city's club, Rio Branco , and also because most of the supports of the club live in Guaratinguetá. In other sports, such as volleyball , basketball or futsal , moving

1460-696: Is in debt and needs an adequate population for financial support or because another city offers a bigger local market or a more financially lucrative stadium/arena deal. Governments may offer lucrative deals to team owners to attract or retain a team. For example, to attract the NFL's Cleveland Browns in 1995, the state of Maryland agreed to build a new stadium in Baltimore and allow the team to use it rent-free and keep all parking, advertising and concession revenue. (This move proved so unpopular in Cleveland that

1533-554: Is located across the street from the current arena. In December 2023 the city notified Prairie Surf Studios that its lease would not be renewed when it expires on December 31, 2025. Once the new arena has opened, the Paycom Center will likely be converted to some other type of property. Paycom Center is served by the Oklahoma City Streetcar at Arena station . Relocation of professional sports teams Relocation of professional sports teams occurs when

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1606-519: Is more common, although it does not occur frequently. In Colombia historic teams from first division are rarely moved, but newer teams created in second division are often moved from city to city looking for a responding fan base. Hazard United , founded in 1985 in May Pen , moved in 2001 to Clarendon and renamed itself Clarendon United . JFF regulations stipulated that each club have stands to seat at least 1,500, which Clarendon lacked. So

1679-559: Is often controversial. Opponents criticize owners for leaving behind faithful fans and governments for spending millions of dollars of tax money on attracting teams. However, since sports teams in the United States are generally treated like any other business under antitrust law, there is little sports leagues can do to prevent teams from flocking to the highest bidders (for instance, the Los Angeles Rams filed suit when

1752-506: Is run like European football leagues. Club moves are also common when an amateur or semiprofessional club tries to acquire its own facilities to become a professional club, and no money and/or space is available to build their own in a long-established location. Team moves in China are very common. Although China has a European-style promotion and relegation league system, the teams themselves are North American-style franchises , which means

1825-405: Is slated to open no later than the opening of the 2029-30 NBA season, and the Thunder have committed to remain in Oklahoma City for 25 years following their move into the new arena. The site of the new arena has not been chosen, but one possible location is already owned by the city. It is the current site of Prairie Surf Studios (formerly Cox Convention Center and Myriad Convention Center), and it

1898-549: The Phoenix Coyotes by siding with the NHL, which claimed that it had final authority over franchise moves. Newer sports leagues tend to have more transient franchises than more established, "major" leagues, but in the mid-1990s, several NFL and NHL teams moved to other cities, and the threat of a move pushed cities with major-league teams in any sport to build new stadiums and arenas using taxpayer money. The trend continued in

1971-633: The 2000s, when three National Basketball Association (NBA) teams moved in a seven-year span after there were no moves at all in the 16 years before it. Critics referred to the movement of teams to the highest-bidding city as "franchise free agency." The two major professional sporting leagues in Australia are the Australian Football League (AFL) and National Rugby League (NRL). Both competitions were originally based in one city ( Melbourne and Sydney respectively) and expanded to

2044-579: The European system of professional sports league organization . The practice is considered anathema . In most European sports, teams can be relegated from their current league to a lower one or promoted to the one above. Team moves in Latin America occur very rarely for the established teams with established bases. Smaller teams, either small team from large agglomerations or provincial teams with little or no fan base frequently move in search of

2117-669: The Hornets arguably gave Oklahoma City the edge it needed to land on the radar of professional sports. Long being considered by many as too small to host a major-league team for a variety of reasons, support for the Hornets during their two-year stay caught the attention of the NBA and other sports leagues. Attendance for Hornets games at the Paycom Center (then known as the Ford Center) averaged 18,716 fans in 2005–06 (36 games) and 17,951 fans (35 games) in 2006–07. David Stern

2190-499: The NBA when the Hornets were forced to play games elsewhere following extensive damage to New Orleans Arena and the city of New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina . During the two seasons in Oklahoma City, the team was known as the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. The response from fans while the Hornets played in Oklahoma City was an impetus to the city being discussed prior to 2008 for the location of

2263-521: The NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships. After the city of New Orleans , and surrounding area was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the NBA reached a deal with the City of Oklahoma City which allowed the New Orleans Hornets franchise to temporarily move to the Paycom Center (then known as the Ford Center). The New Orleans Hornets leased the facility for the 2005–06 season and exercised

Jim Norick Arena - Misplaced Pages Continue

2336-470: The North American system, there was initially no promotion or relegation between them. There were three professional football clubs Ilhwa Chunma (currently Seongnam FC ), LG Cheetahs (currently FC Seoul ), Yukong Elephants (currently Jeju United ) in Seoul by 1995. However, due to K League's decentralization policy , these three clubs were forced to move to other cities in 1996, changing their name in

2409-550: The Oklahoma Ford Dealers, it was announced that the arena would be called the Oklahoma City Arena . The new name was used temporarily until naming rights were settled. On July 22, 2011, a 12-year naming rights partnership between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Chesapeake Energy Corporation was announced. The agreement had an initial annual cost of $ 3 million with a 3% annual escalation. As part of

2482-399: The Oklahoma Ford Dealers; however, a new agreement could not be reached. As a result of the failed negotiation with the Oklahoma Ford Dealers, the Thunder decided to terminate the existing naming rights agreement, which was allowed under the original contract. On October 21, 2010, because of the ongoing negotiation for the naming rights for the arena, and because of its failed negotiation with

2555-417: The Sonics franchise to Oklahoma City and the Ford Center. The deal included a provision for $ 1.6 million in annual rents to the city for use of the Ford Center (including marketing rights of luxury seating areas for all NBA and most non-NBA events), and a $ 409,000 annual supplemental payment in exchange for a transfer of arena naming rights and associated revenue to the Sonics franchise. The franchise move

2628-430: The amateur to the highest levels of a given sport. North American sports generally do not operate a system of promotion and relegation in which poorly performing teams are replaced with teams that do well in lower-level leagues. A city wishing to get a team in a major professional sports league can wait for the league to expand and award new franchises . However, such expansions are infrequent, and generally limited to

2701-411: The arena has adjusted with the venue configuration: The 581,000-square-foot (54,000 m ) facility seats up to 19,711 on three seating levels with a fourth added during concerts and features 3,380 club seats, seven party suites, and 49 private suites. It also features The OLD NO. 7 Club, a full-service restaurant and bar. Several other exclusive dining options are also available at The Pub,

2774-745: The arena is used during the Oklahoma State Fair to host Disney on Ice and the state fair rodeo. It is also the venue for the Oklahoma small school state basketball tournaments, school graduations, and various other equine events through the year. Construction on a new $ 85 million coliseum to replace the Norick Arena is scheduled to begin in September 2022, after which the old arena will be demolished. 35°28′14″N 97°34′24″W  /  35.470604°N 97.573438°W  / 35.470604; -97.573438 This article about

2847-600: The arena on January 12, 2013, with the Strikeforce: Champions event. The Professional Bull Riders (PBR) held a Premier Series event at the venue from 2002 through 2006, and again from 2009 through 2022. In 2007 and 2008, the PBR's Challenger Tour Finals event was held there. In 2022 and 2023, Paycom Center was the home venue of the PBR's Oklahoma Freedom during the PBR Team Series season held in

2920-450: The average salary in each of the big four leagues is now well in excess of $ 1 million per season. Under present market and financial conditions, any serious attempt to form a rival league in the early 21st century would likely require hundreds of millions (if not billions) of dollars in investment and initial losses, and even if such resources were made available the upstart league's success would be far from guaranteed, as evidenced by

2993-515: The capital, Lima , who have not been able to establish fanbases in their districts due to the required moves. Team moves in Asia are done according to the type of sport played and/or the predominant style of league organization, as well as individual economic circumstances. For instance, in Japan there is a difference between Nippon Professional Baseball which is run like MLB , and the J.League which

Jim Norick Arena - Misplaced Pages Continue

3066-405: The city election ballot on March 4, 2008. This initiative was passed by a 62% to 38% margin, and extended a prior one-cent sales tax for 15 months to fund $ 121 million in budgeted improvements to the arena, as well as fund a separate practice facility for a relocated franchise. Subsequent to the ballot initiative, City officials and Sonics ownership announced a preliminary agreement to move

3139-599: The conclusion of that night's games. This incident would eventually result in the cancellation of all sports events throughout North America and the rest of the world, as the COVID-19 outbreak had been declared as a pandemic by WHO earlier that day. The arena has hosted many WWE events such as Raw , SmackDown , and Unforgiven 2005 . Raw came to the Chesapeake Energy Arena on September 25, 2006, and March 1, 2010, with Cheech & Chong appearing as

3212-426: The deal, the arena was renamed Chesapeake Energy Arena. Also, Chesapeake Energy was allowed to place its branding throughout the building, on prominent premium places on the high-definition scoreboard, and on new state-of-the-art interior and exterior digital signs. Most of the new signs were in place before the start of the Thunder's 2011–12 season . The company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 28, 2020, with

3285-473: The established leagues would respond by forming a rival league in hopes that the existing major league would eventually agree to a merger ; the new league would attain major league status in its own right; or the established league was compelled to expand. The 1960s American Football League (AFL) is perhaps the most recent example of a successful rival league, having achieved each of the three goals listed above in reverse order. However, all major sports have had

3358-474: The established leagues, which had both unsuccessfully attempted to cause their upstart rivals to fold outright by adding more teams. However, the upstart leagues owed their success in large part to the reluctance of owners in the established leagues to devote the majority of their revenues to player salaries and also to sports leagues' former reliance primarily on gate receipts for revenue. Under those conditions, an ambitious rival could often afford to lure away

3431-658: The evening's guest hosts . During the show on September 25, 2006, the opening of the show suffered a blackout, but lights were restored shortly after the night began. On September 16, 2009, the Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to Oklahoma with UFC Fight Night: Diaz vs. Guillard for the first time since UFC 4 , which was at the Expo Square Pavilion in Tulsa on December 16, 1994. A mixed martial arts event returned to

3504-619: The event was moved to the Myriad. Even in the early years of the Professional Bull Riders , the Bud Light Cup held a few events from 1999 to 2001, before it was moved to the Ford Center, now Paycom Center . Elvis Presley played here on November 16, 1970, to a sell out crowd of around 11,000. The Grateful Dead 's performance on October 19, 1973, was recorded and later released as Dick's Picks Volume 19 . Today,

3577-507: The failure of the WWF / NBC -backed XFL in 2001 and the UFL from 2009 to 2012. The current major leagues have established lucrative relationships with all of the major media outlets in the United States, who subsidize the league's operations because their established fame ensures strong ratings ; the networks are far less willing to provide such coverage to an unproven upstart league, often requiring

3650-563: The first time in 2007 (with the 2007 Big 12 women's basketball tournament held across the street at Cox Convention Center ). The venue has hosted the NCAA Men's Basketball First and Second Round on several occasions (including 2010 and 2016 ) and is the permanent host of the All-College Basketball Classic. It hosted the 2009 Big 12 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament. In March 2014, the arena played host to

3723-758: The home venue for the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s Oklahoma City Thunder . Previously, the arena was home to the Oklahoma City Blazers of the Central Hockey League (CHL) from 2002 until the team folded in July 2009, and the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz of AF2 from 2004 to 2009 when the team moved to the Cox Convention Center (now Prairie Surf Studios) . In addition to its use as

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3796-638: The interstate relocations of the South Melbourne Football Club to Sydney (1983:963 kilometres (598 mi)) and the Fitzroy Football Club's move of playing operations to Brisbane (1996: 1,669 kilometres (1,037 mi)), both ambitious moves due also to crossing the cultural divide known as the Barassi Line . In Europe, moves are very rare because of the different relationship between clubs and their league in

3869-533: The last four games and the championship to the Heat. On March 11, 2020, a game between the Thunder and the Utah Jazz that was to be held at the arena was initially postponed after Jazz center Rudy Gobert was placed on the injury list due to an illness. After it was learned that Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 , the NBA announced that the remainder of the 2019–20 season would be suspended immediately following

3942-732: The move was treated as the Baltimore Ravens being awarded an expansion franchise, and the Browns name and their official lineage would remain in Cleveland for a "reactivated" team that rejoined the NFL three years later .) A little more than a decade earlier, the Baltimore Colts left for Indianapolis (NFL owners voted to give Colts owner Robert Irsay permission to move his franchise to the city of his choosing after no satisfactory stadium would be built). Moving sports teams

4015-413: The option with the city to extend for the 2006–07 season. The arena acquired a $ 200,000 renovation (primarily to lighting and sound) as part of the Hornets' lease. During this time, the team was known as the "New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets", giving Oklahoma City credit for hosting the 'home team'. The Hornets played their last game in Oklahoma City on October 9, 2007, a preseason game. The hosting of

4088-411: The other NFL owners initially blocked their move to St. Louis, which caused the NFL to back down and allow the move to proceed). Major League Baseball, unique among the major professional sports leagues, has an exemption from antitrust laws won by a Supreme Court decision but nonetheless has allowed several teams to change cities. Also recently, courts denied the attempted move of the team then known as

4161-408: The plans for the Thunder's separate practice facility, for a total cost savings of approximately $ 14 million. The Thunder's practice facility completion date was similarly pushed back to approximately March 2011. In September 2023, a new round of renovations came to the arena, including a new 28,000-pound scoreboard with wraparound video display that cost $ 7.5 million. The Paycom Center hosts

4234-455: The process. These moves are done under the accord that if any of these teams build a football specific stadium in Seoul, they can return there, of which two clubs took advantage of. As a result, the following moves occurred: In South Korean major professional sports such as Korea Professional Baseball , Korean Basketball League , V-League , moves were common. In ice hockey, Mando Winia were

4307-420: The projected $ 121 million. The shortfall was accommodated by revising plans for certain features of the arena expansion project, including limiting the size of a new glass entryway, and eliminating a practice court planned for above the delivery entrance of the arena. Major construction work on the arena expansion was also delayed from the summer of 2010 to the summer of 2011. Similar revisions were made to

4380-475: The refurbishment will turn the Paycom Center into a top-tier NBA facility. Some of the planned upgrades to the Paycom Center include upscale restaurants, clubs, additional suites (including so-called 'bunker suites'), office space, Kid's Zone, additional concessions, flooring upgrades, an integrated video and scoring system from Daktronics , view lounges, and upgraded 'general use' locker rooms. NBA specific amenities include 'NBA ONLY' locker rooms and facilities,

4453-466: The relocated Seattle SuperSonics team which is now known as the Oklahoma City Thunder. Financing consists of a temporary 15-month, 1-cent sales tax that will be paid by Oklahoma City residents and shoppers beginning January 1, 2009. The city held the temporary tax initiative in March 2008 to facilitate the relocation of the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics or another relocation franchise. It is expected that

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4526-422: The sport's top players with promises of better pay, in hopes of giving the new league immediate respect and credibility from fans. Today, however, established leagues derive a large portion of their revenue from lucrative television contracts that would not be offered to an untested rival. Also, the activism of players' unions has resulted in the established leagues paying a majority of their revenues to players, thus

4599-401: The street. The initial term of the 2008 use license agreement with the Oklahoma City Thunder expired in 2023. The Thunder exercised an option to extend the agreement for three years to allow time for the city to develop plans for a new arena. On December 12, 2023, Oklahoma City voters approved a 72-month extension of a one-cent sales tax to build a new, publicly owned downtown arena. This arena

4672-614: The summer and autumn. In 2024, the Freedom moved to Florida and Oklahoma acquired a new team, the Wildcatters. Said team now call Paycom Center home. The Center held the 2015 North American Youth Congress (NAYC) of the United Pentecostal Church International . The event sold out the arena, requiring the neighboring Cox Convention Center to be used as overflow with video streamed from across

4745-593: The team announced they would be called the Oklahoma City Thunder . The Thunder have been a playoff mainstay since arriving in Oklahoma. Chesapeake Energy Arena hosted playoff games every year between 2010 and 2014, as well as 2016. In 2012, the arena became host of the NBA Finals for the only time to date, when the Thunder went up against the Miami Heat for the league championship. The Thunder won Game 1 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in convincing fashion, but lost

4818-657: The team moved again, to St. Catherine and began to use the Ferdi Neita Sports Complex . Initially, Clarendon and the St. Catherine football club agreed to share the stadium. In 2002, St. Catherine suggested Clarendon change its affiliation to become a St. Catherine team, as the club's name was not locally identifiable and the club itself was only slowly gaining followers. Instead, Clarendon moved in 2003 to Portmore and renamed itself Portmore United . The club has since won four Premier League titles. Liga MX has

4891-420: The teams are overwhelmingly privately owned and therefore more prone to moving. Owners who move a team generally do so seeking better profits, facilities, fan support, or a combination of these. There are neither rules regarding moves nor many established fan bases, outside a handful of top teams. The J.League is run similarly to European football leagues. In contrast to the baseball league it has allowed only

4964-418: The upstart league to pay the network for those leagues to be covered. Therefore, as long as leagues choose not to expand and/or reject a city's application, the only realistic recourse is to convince the owner(s) of an existing team to move it (or convince a prospective owner to purchase a team with the intent of moving it). Owners usually move teams because of weak fan support or because the team organization

5037-598: The wake of the acquisition of the Seattle SuperSonics by an Oklahoma-City-based ownership group in October 2006. Originally, city officials had hoped to include Oklahoma City Arena buildout improvements as part of a planned 2009 "MAPS 3" initiative. However, given the impending relocation decision of the Sonics ownership group in late 2007, the City Council of Oklahoma City placed a sales tax initiative on

5110-400: Was approved by NBA ownership on April 18, 2008. On August 26, 2010, the franchise, by then renamed the Oklahoma City Thunder , announced that it had begun negotiating naming rights to its home arena with new potential partners. The facility was called the Ford Center and signage throughout the building remained intact during the negotiation period. The Thunder previously had discussions with

5183-740: Was founded on February 22, 1996, in Guará . The club moved to Núcleo Bandeirante in 2009, and it was renamed to Esporte Clube Dom Pedro Bandeirante . On November 1, 2016, after achieving promotion back to the first division of the Campeonato Brasiliense , the club changed its name to Real Futebol Clube and moved to Brasília . Ahead of the 2020 campaign, the club again changed name to Real Brasília Futebol Clube . Guaratinguetá Futebol on October 15, 2010 announced its move from Guaratinguetá to Americana , and their change of name to Americana Futebol . On November 28, 2011, after more than

5256-533: Was quoted as stating that "Oklahoma City was at the top of the relocation list of cities" and during the Hornets' last home game he all but assured local fans that "I look forward to the day that the NBA will return to Oklahoma City." Oklahoma City billionaire investor Clay Bennett of the Professional Basketball Club LLC purchased the Seattle SuperSonics and Seattle Storm franchises from Howard Schultz in 2006. The deal included

5329-434: Was the premier component of the city's 1993 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. Originally billed and marketed as

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