There is a report on Twitter from one of the guys that regularly covers the USL on a broad basis that the Drillers are selling their interest in the Roughnecks to JW Craft, a Tulsa businessman worth an estimated $1.2B. Craft sits on a couple of boards in town, including the BOT at Holland Hall. It is also being reported that he is also buying the stake in the Roughnecks owned by the OKC Energy majority owner.
There are a lot of questions as Barry Williams, who was the investor in Fortuna Tulsa and bought a good chunk of Roughnecks interest this past winter, and was the driver behind having the Roughnecks and TSC joining as a development academy program, just bought TSC as well. Barry's involvement with the Roughnecks has been apparent as it allowed almost all gameday operations to be moved under the Roughnecks own personnel and away from the Drillers (if you've been to a Roughnecks game, you've also noticed that the Roughnecks souvenir store has been forced to a table and some bins on the concourse). They do share some stadium ops people. How will the sale affect the TSC affiliation? It's been good for the club so far.
The other question is will this be the precursor to a soccer only pro-stadium here in Tulsa? Where would it be located? Is there any space in downtown Tulsa for another development like that?
There are a lot of questions as Barry Williams, who was the investor in Fortuna Tulsa and bought a good chunk of Roughnecks interest this past winter, and was the driver behind having the Roughnecks and TSC joining as a development academy program, just bought TSC as well. Barry's involvement with the Roughnecks has been apparent as it allowed almost all gameday operations to be moved under the Roughnecks own personnel and away from the Drillers (if you've been to a Roughnecks game, you've also noticed that the Roughnecks souvenir store has been forced to a table and some bins on the concourse). They do share some stadium ops people. How will the sale affect the TSC affiliation? It's been good for the club so far.
The other question is will this be the precursor to a soccer only pro-stadium here in Tulsa? Where would it be located? Is there any space in downtown Tulsa for another development like that?