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History of ONEOK Field in downtown Tulsa

The ballpark is home to the Tulsa Drillers and FC Tulsa
Tulsa Drillers
Posted at 12:06 PM, Mar 18, 2022
and last updated 2022-03-18 13:41:08-04

TULSA, Okla. — ONEOK Field is a staple of downtown Tulsa's list of attractions.

Pronounced "one oak," the stadium opened in 2010 and now has a capacity of 7,833, with multiple party decks and a selection of luxury suites.

Home of the Double-A baseball team Tulsa Drillers and USL Championship soccer team FC Tulsa, the field sits in the heart of the city's historic Greenwood District and has played host to more than just sporting events.

The ballpark played a vital role in the city's memorialization and remembrance events for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre centennial in 2021.

Building the downtown ballpark

The plan for a new ballpark came as the Tulsa Drillers looked for a new home in the late 1990s, but the new $60 million stadium project didn't fully come together until 2009 when then-Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor and natural gas corporation ONEOK announced its opening and new name.

ONEOK pledged $5 million and obtained the 20-year naming rights to the park to be known as ONEOK Field. The Drillers, then an affiliate for MLB's Colorado Rockies, moved in in 2010.

Country music superstar Tim McGraw threw the ceremonial first pitch at the first game for the Drillers at ONEOK on April 8, 2010.

Soccer comes to ONEOK

The Tulsa Roughnecks joined the Drillers to play their home matches at ONEOK Field for the club's first season in the USL in 2015.

To accommodate soccer fans coming to watch a match at a stadium fitted for baseball, the ballpark added a retractable pitcher's mound to get fans closer to the action.

The soccer club rebranded as FC Tulsa in 2019.

Concerts at ONEOK

Rock icon Jack White scheduled a stop at ONEOK Field in the ballpark's first concert of its kind on Sept. 17, 2018.

The show packed ONEOK with fans both in the stands and on the field.

Country music artist Koe Wetzel also played for a sold-out crowd in April 2021.

About a month later, people in Tulsa and around the country took time to remember the people killed and the neighborhoods burned in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The centennial remembrance had planned to include an event featuring live performances at ONEOK Field which sits in the heart of the city's rebuilt Greenwood neighborhood that burned more than 100 years ago.

The sold-out event scheduled to feature musical artist John Legend and activist Stacey Abrams was canceled days before it was supposed to go on over disputes between organizers and the survivors of the massacre.

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