VisitTulsa and the Tulsa Stadium Trust are laying the groundwork for a new downtown stadium.
They’re commissioning a study to see whether a 10,000 seat outdoor performance center makes financial sense.
"If you build this at $40 million or $50 million or $60 million, does it work? And does it generate enough economic impact and development around it to pay for those bonds?" said VisitTulsa President Ray Hoyt.
A funding mechanism for the venue has not been publicly discussed among local officials. The project missed the cut for the latest Vision sales tax plan.
The study will cost $105,000 in private funding, with the stadium trust putting up $50,000. An outside firm will do the work, not the City of Tulsa or Tulsa Regional Chamber.
"Because they're third-party, they don't have a vested interest," Hoyt said. "So, typically their information's pretty much industry-driven, and that's important."
Building such a venue could be three to five years away still. The United Soccer League, which the Roughnecks play in, is pushing teams toward more soccer-specific stadiums, though the venue would have to host more than that to be feasible.
"We could work with somebody like SMG, who could program it for outdoor tours. A lot of shows just do outdoor concert tours," Hoyt said. "Things like monster trucks, things that are naturally outdoors or done in much larger venues, this would accommodate that. I think also it could be an anchor to another part of the downtown area."
Site selection would come after the study, though the Cathedral District and East Village have already been mentioned.
