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Former names | Robert B. Sutton Stadium (1981–1982) Tulsa County Stadium (1982–1989) |
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Location | 15th and Yale, Tulsa, Oklahoma |
Owner | Tulsa County |
Capacity | 10,997 |
Field size | LF: 335 CF: 390 RF: 340 |
Surface | Grass |
Opened | 1981 |
Tenants | |
Tulsa Drillers (TL) (1981–2009) The Bedlam Series baseball Tulsa Athletics (NPSL) (2013–2017) |
Drillers Stadium was a former [1] minor league baseball stadium located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. From 1981 to 2009, Drillers Stadium was home to the Tulsa Drillers, of the Double-A Texas League. For a number of years Drillers Stadium also hosted one of the regular season baseball games played between Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma in the Bedlam Series. Drillers Stadium is located on the southwest corner of Yale Avenue and 15th Street, in the Tulsa State Fairgrounds complex that also includes Expo Square Pavilion, the QuikTrip Center and Golden Driller, a racetrack, a waterpark, and the sites of the former Bell's Amusement Park and of Oiler Park, where Tulsa's professional baseball teams had played since 1934.
After the Tulsa Oilers, a Triple-A team, left Tulsa in 1976 due to the continuing deterioration of Oiler Park, followed by the partial collapse of the Oiler Park grandstand during a 1977 exhibition game, Tulsa County's long-delayed efforts to build a new stadium were accelerated. The new 8,000 seat stadium was completed in 1981 and named Robert B. Sutton Stadium, in honor of its chief benefactor, a local oil executive. However, Sutton was convicted in 1982 on obstruction of justice charges, and the ballpark was renamed Tulsa County Stadium. [2] The stadium received the name Drillers Stadium in 1989. The stadium eventually seated 10,997, making it the largest stadium in Double-A baseball. [3] Originally a multi-purpose stadium with an artificial surface playing field, it later acquired a Prescription Athletic Turf (PAT) grass surface. Though it primarily served as a baseball stadium, monster truck rallies and concerts were also held there.
On December 19, 2008, construction began on ONEOK Field, a new ballpark in downtown Tulsa. The Drillers played their final game in Drillers Stadium on September 7, 2009, [4] and moved to the new ballpark before the 2010 baseball season. The University of Tulsa conducted a formal study in 2009 to consider whether the school might use the empty stadium to restore its baseball program, which had been terminated in 1980; but the university concluded that the financial demands of adding a new sport were more than it could accept. [5] In 2011 the stadium was used as a location for a faith-themed baseball film entitled Home Run. [6] [7]
Beginning in May 2013, it is the home stadium for the Tulsa Athletics of the National Premier Soccer League. [8] In 2014, the stadium was renamed Athletics Stadium after further renovations were complete to make the stadium more soccer friendly for the Tulsa Athletics. [9] Notable changes include the demolition of the former first-base side bleachers, in order to lengthen the soccer field's length to 110 yards, as well as the removal of Drillers' signage and a coat of green paint. [10]
On April 5, 2016, Proposition 3 of the Tulsa "Vision 2025" initiative was approved by Tulsa voters, paving the way for the demolition of Athletics Stadium as the new site of the USA BMX "Epicenter" facility. The stadium was to be replaced by a multimillion-dollar indoor BMX arena, but those plans hit a snag in mid-2017 when a disagreement over soft drink "pouring rights" derailed the negotiations and saw the BMX project move to an alternate location on a parcel of city-owned industrial property, northwest of downtown. [11]
As of March 2019 the stadium and the adjacent offices have been demolished leaving nothing of the former stadium remaining.
The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the state of Texas; the five North Division teams are located in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. The league temporarily operated for the 2021 season as Double-A Central before reassuming its original moniker in 2022.
Tulsa is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and is the 47th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa metropolitan area, a region with 1,034,123 residents. The city serves as the county seat of Tulsa County, the most densely populated county in Oklahoma, with urban development extending into Osage, Rogers and Wagoner counties.
The Tulsa Drillers are a minor league baseball team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers major-league club.
Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark opened in 1998 in downtown Oklahoma City's Bricktown Entertainment District, replacing All Sports Stadium. It is the home of the Oklahoma City Baseball Club, the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers Major League Baseball team. The park has seating for up to 13,066 fans and currently utilizes a seating capacity of 9,000 for OKC games.
The Cox Business Convention Center is a 275,000 square foot convention center located in downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The American is a proposed 217 ft (66 m) bronze statue of a Native American, created by sculptor Shan Gray, and currently proposed for construction in Sand Springs, Oklahoma, near Tulsa.
Kathryn Louise Taylor was elected the 38th mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma on April 4, 2006, in the city's largest voter turnout for a mayoral election. She defeated Republican incumbent Mayor Bill Lafortune to become Tulsa's second female mayor.
Oneok, Inc. is an American diversified corporation focused primarily on the natural gas industry, and headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The company is part of the Fortune 500 and S&P 500. Oneok was founded in 1906 as Oklahoma Natural Gas Company, but it changed its corporate name to Oneok in December 1980. It also owns major natural gas liquids (NGL) systems due to the 2005 acquisition of Koch Industries natural gas businesses.
Hurricane Soccer & Track Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium on the campus of the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The stadium hosts the Tulsa Golden Hurricane men's soccer and women's soccer teams, as well as the track & field team. The facility opened in August 2003.
The Tulsa Revolution was a professional indoor soccer team from Tulsa, Oklahoma, which began play in the Professional Arena Soccer League with the 2013–14 season then segued to the Major Arena Soccer League for the 2014–15 season. The team was co-owned by Adam Mellor and Shannon Clark.
The Tulsa Oilers, located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, were a minor league baseball team that existed on-and-off in multiple leagues from 1905 to 1976. For most of their history, they played at Oiler Park, which opened on July 11, 1934, and was located on the Tulsa County Fairgrounds at 15th Street and Sandusky Avenue.
Downtown Tulsa is an area of approximately 1.4 square miles (3.6 km2) surrounded by an inner-dispersal loop created by Interstate 244, US 64 and US 75. The area serves as Tulsa's financial and business district; it is the focus of a large initiative to draw tourism, which includes plans to capitalize on the area's historic architecture. Much of Tulsa's convention space is located in downtown, such as the Tulsa Performing Arts Center and the Tulsa Convention Center, as well as the BOK Center. Prominent downtown sub-districts include the Blue Dome District, the Tulsa Arts District, and the Greenwood Historical District, which includes the site of ONEOK Field, a baseball stadium for the Tulsa Drillers opened in 2010.
Oneok Field is a baseball park in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Located in the historic Greenwood district adjacent to downtown Tulsa, it is the home of the Tulsa Drillers of the Texas League. The stadium is named for Oneok.
Oiler Park was a stadium located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Located on the Tulsa County Fairgrounds, it was primarily used for baseball and was the home of the Tulsa Oilers until that team was moved to New Orleans and replaced by the Tulsa Drillers after the 1976 season. The ballpark had a capacity of 4,000 people when opened in 1934, and increased to 7,200 in 1948.
Tulsa Athletic is an American soccer team and are based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States. The 2023 NPSL National Champion, 2013 was their inaugural season in the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL), which is a national league at the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. They compete in the NPSL's Heartland Conference. The team maintains amateur status under NPSL rules, allowing college players to participate without losing their collegiate eligibility. The club currently plays at Athletic Community Field at Hicks Park since the 2022 season, having previously played at Veterans Park (2018–21), LaFortune Stadium (2017) and Drillers Stadium (2013–16), the former home of the Tulsa Drillers baseball team.
FC Tulsa is an American professional soccer team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma which competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid.
Vincent "Sonny" Dalesandro is a retired professional soccer player and current restaurateur. He resides in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is also co-owner of the Tulsa Athletics of the National Premier Soccer League.