First year at ONEOK Field surpasses last year's numbers

TULSA - The Drillers baseball team expects to end their first year at ONEOK Field by setting a new attendance record.

"We have six games during this homestand," said marketing director Brian Carroll. "If everything goes well, sometime this weekend we should break the record."

The old record was set in 1999 with 351,000 visitors. Attendance this year with 13 home games left is 336,000, exceeding last year's totals by 30,000.

"It says, number one, that people are accepting this stadium. They are enjoying it, and they've come down and given it a chance," said Carroll.

The team's last game will be played September 3rd. Facilities at ONEOK Field will still be used for other events. The United Way will kick off its day of caring September 10th. Two weeks later, dozens of contestants will compete in the two-day Art of BBQ Festival.

Area restaurants are wondering what sales will be like, without baseball bringing visitors downtown.

"It's going to free us up to do more night-time stuff," said Chris Dodge, who opened Fat Guys Burger Bar days before the first game in April.

"It didn't make sense to me as an owner to give discounts when the games were here because there were so many people here already," Dodge said. "Now, it's going to be trying to get the people in."

To do that, Dodge plans to start a $4 hambuger night and even branch out to offer Monday night wings.