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Roughnecks

TU_BLA

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Mar 9, 2012
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Tulsa, OK
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?
 
First order of bidness ... if there is one ... drop the name Roughnecks and use Oil City FC. In the name of Colin Boulton, Cat DuChateau, and Winston DuBose, please drop the Roughnecks name. It’s an insult to Jimmy Redfern and Billy Gazonas to Barry Wallace and of course the legend Himself Victor Moreland. Not to mention the likes of Abrahams and Futcher.
 
First order of bidness ... if there is one ... drop the name Roughnecks and use Oil City FC. In the name of Colin Boulton, Cat DuChateau, and Winston DuBose, please drop the Roughnecks name. It’s an insult to Jimmy Redfern and Billy Gazonas to Barry Wallace and of course the legend Himself Victor Moreland. Not to mention the likes of Abrahams and Futcher.
A rebrand is coming and it will involve a change in names for all 3 clubs is what I’ve been told.
 
First order of bidness ... if there is one ... drop the name Roughnecks and use Oil City FC. In the name of Colin Boulton, Cat DuChateau, and Winston DuBose, please drop the Roughnecks name. It’s an insult to Jimmy Redfern and Billy Gazonas to Barry Wallace and of course the legend Himself Victor Moreland. Not to mention the likes of Abrahams and Futcher.
And to my old buddy Deano Hennessey's pop.
 
Hard to believe Billy Caskey was still playing pro soccer in 2004 or 2005 as a super sub. He must have been 50. God bless him.
 
I've also heard that there are talks surrounding a soccer specific stadium for the Roughnecks. Prelim only but my source did not mention anything about site specifics or anything like that. A soccer specific stadium in Tulsa would open things up further for soccer here. In addition to USL and US Open Cup, OSSAA would have a legit stadium to conduct its soccer championships in and not have to rely on multipurpose fields, ala Sand Springs. (Soccer should not be played on football fields). It would also open Tulsa up to host the men's and women's College Cups as well as possibly be used as a finals venue for some of the larger upper level youth tournaments.
 
Eventual MLS pursuit is the only thing that interests me.

In other words ownership with long range ambition of the highest order. I would jump in as a fan if I heard that long term ambition out loud. Otherwise no interest.
 
Eventual MLS pursuit is the only thing that interests me.

In other words ownership with long range ambition of the highest order. I would jump in as a fan if I heard that long term ambition out loud. Otherwise no interest.
Well, you can check out then.

That ship sailed in 2008 when all the investment flooded in and they added the Cascadia teams. Columbus was sold five years ago for $60 million cash, including the stadium and practice facility. That franchise is moving to Austin. The new Columbus franchise is building a $250 million dollar facility. You could get a franchise in 2004 for $10 million. A franchise now costs $100 million. Perhaps more.

Tulsa is no longer a commercially viable MLS team for the new business model based on TV rights. The size of the city and lack of NFL franchise is a negative for MLS, who are half way through a plan to only focus on NFL cities, owners, and stadiums.

It would take Middle East style money to build the USSF training facility that Sporting KC was supposed to build and reneged on, plus the absolute best possible stadium, and then maybe, maybe, they might consider it. $250 to $350 million to turn the heads to get them here. You can’t make money on that type of investment and half the city of Tulsa would go once and then never again, much less buy season tickets at $5,000 a year for 10 years to finance that type of investment.
 
I am out then.

Zero interest in minor league after the real Roughnecks experience.
 
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They have a shot because of the prestige of the NBA franchise there. And that’s why my heart sunk when they announced the Thunder. Between that franchise being there and the considerable mythology that’s built up over the years that Tulsa was a weak market and could only afford dirty players, I knew MLS would never come to Tulsa. They are too image aware/branding oriented to devalue national and world perception by being the only league having New York play Tulsa. They would have bit when the league nearly folded in 2002 and needed the cash.
 
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I am out then.

Zero interest in minor league after the real Roughnecks experience.
Sorry man. I’m right there with you. Can’t tell you how many powerball tickets I bought in the early 2000s knowing that time was running out on Tulsa as an MLS destination,
 
Craft has big money from the coal business I believe.

He should announce his interest in pursuing MLS membership long term. And then repeat repeat repeat. Say it often enough and it no longer sounds unusual. And you can get folks behind you when you have ambition.

Half the fun is in the striving anyway.
 
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So, some more info. This sale has been in the works for about 18 months. Originally included a Tulsa Community foundation but has moved to include JW Craft more recently. Stadium is in the works but my source (very well placed within the Roughnecks/Fortuna/TSC .org) could not talk anymore about it other than it is in the planning stages. And this sale won’t change anything of the relationship between the Roughnecks/Fortuna/TSC. Understanding is they will all be part of the same org.

This is good news for Tulsa soccer.
 
The Tulsa Roughnecks have been rebranded to FC Tulsa.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It&#39;s a GOLDEN era of pro soccer in Tulsa. <br><br>Learn all the details of our new branding including quotes from our owners on the new name, crest, colors and how we plan to continue to incorporate &quot;Roughnecks&quot; moving forward. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FCTulsa?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc^tfw">#FCTulsa</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TulsaRise?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc^tfw">#TulsaRise</a><a href="https://t.co/7JW7UdqFEh">https://t.co/7JW7UdqFEh</a></p>&mdash; FC Tulsa (@FCTulsa) <a href="">December 4, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Personally, I think they did a great job with this.
 
I love the use of the green patina like on the top of the MidContinent Tower.
Seriously, I wonder who they hired to come up with this because it's top notch and harkens to Oklahoma/Tulsa traditions and also provides some imagery for the growth of FC Tulsa.
 
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Not too shabby 'tall! And while I think FC Tulsa is booooooo-ring, I sincerely appreciate the new ownership dropping the Roughnecks name entirely.
 
Not too shabby 'tall! And while I think FC Tulsa is booooooo-ring, I sincerely appreciate the new ownership dropping the Roughnecks name entirely.
The new owners did a number of surveys as well as fan interaction feedback events. I think many were ready to let go of the Roughnecks moniker
 
Press release indicates they still plan to unofficially use the Roughnecks nickname. Love that too. Very traditional.
 
So is the mascot a Scissortail or a Roughneck?
The club is now known as FC Tulsa. That's it. They will probably still use some imagery of a Roughneck in some way, the same way that Leicester City FC is known as the "foxes". We're so used to <Place name> <team name> as being the naming convention for our professional sports teams, when we try to adopt world wide naming conventions for soccer, it confuses US fans. Sometimes what we are used to sticks in soccer (LA Galaxy, Seattle Sounders, Portland Timbers), but there are some god awful names in US pro-soccer lore. Kansas City Wizards, Dallas Burn are two of them. The switch to the worldwide conventional names for clubs for those 2 is money. Sporting KC's brand and logo is marketable. The rainbow jerseys the old Wizards wore were terrible. KC has jumped behind Sporting KC.

I also hate the New England Revolution. Apt for the area but the identity of the team, especially playing at Gillette is lost.

I think what FC Tulsa has created is a masterpiece in terms of crest. Look at all the biggest clubs in the world. Their crests are instantly recognizable to true soccer fans. Real Madrid, Barca, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, ManU, ManCity, Arsenal, Tottenham. Everyone sees the crest and knows the team. MLS teams have started taking a cue from that. LAFC is simple (and remarkably similar to Tulsa's in feel). New York City FC's is very Real Madrid like. The old Chicago Fire crest (my favorite MLS crest bar none- the old one that is) brings all the same concepts in design that FC Tulsa tried to incorporate. The best part, and most marketing people will tell you this, is how simple the Tulsa crest is in its design and how many different aspects of the city it is able to bring in while maintaining that simplicity.
 
Also is the color turquoise for our Indian heritage.
No. The mention in the release is the official color is "patina green" to reflect the color of the oxidized copper on some of the downtown buildings. Personally I think it's a great color and one not used by any USL team (as I am aware). The color combo is unique as well. Not many teams go forth with a white and gold as primary team colors, mostly because the numbers don't show up well. I think they'll need to add black as a secondary color to add outlines to the numbers/crest. I think you'll see a primary patina green w/ gold numbers and accents at home, a traditional white uni on the road, and a 3rd jersey of black w/ gold numbers and patina piping/collar. If they could sublimate the patina green jersey w/ the downtown skyline, that would be something nice as well.
 
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I wasn't talking about what color they mentioned in the release. I was mentioning how it tied in with another aspect of Tulsa. Sometimes you miss someone's whole point, and then go off on a Cliff tangent. As in I was asking about the mascot and you went on and on about the name, somehow thinking you were answering my question. I realize they they are only using the name FC Tulsa. But a mascot does not always correlate directly to a name.
 
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I wasn't talking about what color they mentioned in the release. I was mentioning how it tied in with another aspect of Tulsa. Sometimes you miss someone's whole point, and then go off on a Cliff tangent. As in I was asking about the mascot and you went on and on about the name, somehow thinking you were answering my question. I realize they they are only using the name FC Tulsa. But a mascot does not always correlate directly to a name.
Right...I know exactly what you were asking and I responded appropriately.

As for the green, it's not a turquoise. Although I do think they should tie the relationship of Native Americans and NE OK to the team/crest.
 
Whatever, I'm sick and in bed today, and just don't have the energy to deal with that.
 
Also is the color turquoise for our Indian heritage.
It's really not turquoise. Also, since when do Native Americans have a monopoly on turquoise? The word "Turquoise" is from the French meaning Turkish.... because it originally was imported from Persia via Turkey.

Also, North American turquoise comes from places where most tribes from Oklahoma never were. (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada)
 
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It's really not turquoise. Also, since when do Native Americans have a monopoly on turquoise? The word "Turquoise" is from the French meaning Turkish.... because it originally was imported from Persia via Turkey.
Not even worth a response, nice try to annoy. No dice though.
 
I'm not trying to argue anything. I like the new crest, think it is representative and simply mentioned exactly what the post said about the influences and inspirations the design came from.
 
They tried Oil E Coyote for a couple of years as the Roughnecks mascot. He didn't really work. I also don't think the old owners wanted to pay someone either. A lot of the extra personnel this year came from people within the org and TSC.

So far the Craft's have brought a new image and excitement for professional soccer to Tulsa. The field orientation is changing for next year at OneOK and should actually improve the sight lines for almost every seat. (I still don't think it removes the majority of dirt areas that have sod lain over them which is still a playability problem for most). If they decide to do a Roughneck, do something that follows only with the Oilers mascot...hell even use the same one and put a different jersey on him. That way you can keep the Roughneck association with the club.
 
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They tried Oil E Coyote for a couple of years as the Roughnecks mascot. He didn't really work. I also don't think the old owners wanted to pay someone either. A lot of the extra personnel this year came from people within the org and TSC.

So far the Craft's have brought a new image and excitement for professional soccer to Tulsa. The field orientation is changing for next year at OneOK and should actually improve the sight lines for almost every seat. (I still don't think it removes the majority of dirt areas that have sod lain over them which is still a playability problem for most). If they decide to do a Roughneck, do something that follows only with the Oilers mascot...hell even use the same one and put a different jersey on him. That way you can keep the Roughneck association with the club.
Sorry I jumped on you like I did yesterday. I'm just sick, feeling like mud, and have work to do that I couldn't get to. I took it out on you in the way I expressed myself. Apologies.

Now that I'm feeling a little bit better but not well by any means, my moms intestine is blocked.(happened about three years ago too) So while I'm not feeling well, I have to drive out to keystone lake pick up my mom (who is feeling worse than me) and bring her to St Johns. Ugh!
 
The guy that did the logo is named Matthew Wolff and he’s killing it in his chosen industry. MN United, NYCFC, LAFC, now Tulsa. It’s getting rave reviews from the soccer press btw. I was briefly introduced to him through friends over beers about a year ago. Cool guy. Deserves all the press and cash he can get.

Its gonna turn around the franchise and it’s an example of smart investment that TU needs to notice and stop playing around with local ad agencies owned by powerful alumni who have no experience with sports logos.


https://matthewwolff.com/portfolio/logos/
 
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The guy that did the logo is named Matthew Wolff and he’s killing it in his chosen industry. MN United, NYCFC, LAFC, now Tulsa. It’s getting rave reviews from the soccer press btw. I was briefly introduced to him through friends over beers about a year ago. Cool guy. Deserves all the press and cash he can get.

Its gonna turn around the franchise and it’s an example of smart investment that TU needs to notice and stop playing around with local ad agencies owned by powerful alumni who have no experience with sports logos.


https://matthewwolff.com/portfolio/logos/
It's sleek and smart. It also draws from Tulsa's heritage and history. I know a lot of people were very tied to the Roughneck name and image. I think having a new brand and moniker, a new badge, that goes along with the new owners and management shows a new commitment to the team and the city to go along with all the new energy surrounding the club. It's a very smart business move. Add to that the caliber and quality of players they have already started signing is tremendous. They have already signed a lot of the best players from last year (something they failed to do the previous 2 years) and have added 2 former Cuban national team players and a couple of other new players who should help the team build further. I'd say there are 2-3 players from last year they're should probably try to re-sign as well. They are already well ahead of where they were at this point last season (somehow don't recall seeing any signings before January last year). There are a lot of good sides in USL, especially in the western conference. Tulsa should compete for a playoff spot this season.
 
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The guy that did the logo is named Matthew Wolff and he’s killing it in his chosen industry. MN United, NYCFC, LAFC, now Tulsa. It’s getting rave reviews from the soccer press btw. I was briefly introduced to him through friends over beers about a year ago. Cool guy. Deserves all the press and cash he can get.

Its gonna turn around the franchise and it’s an example of smart investment that TU needs to notice and stop playing around with local ad agencies owned by powerful alumni who have no experience with sports logos.


https://matthewwolff.com/portfolio/logos/
Wonder what he could do for TU moving into a new decade. He's apparently done work for PSG and the French national team too. That's an impressive portfolio.
 
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You can’t make money on that type of investment and half the city of Tulsa would go once and then never again, much less buy season tickets at $5,000 a year for 10 years to finance that type of investment.

Yeah, that’s not anywhere near what MLS season tickets cost.
 
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