ONEOK Field In Downtown Tulsa Is Really High Tech

By Craig Day, The News On 6

TULSA, OK --Tulsa's new ONEOK Field has a lot of nice, attention grabbing features.  At the new stadium, Tulsa Drillers baseball is going hi-tech, in a way that should make hard core fans and even the casual fan happy.

By now, many fans have seen the stunning new ONEOK Field in downtown Tulsa.

One part of the stadium you may not see, or really ever get to see is the high tech behind the scenes. 

It is like the mission control of ONEOK Field. 

Mission control is where a lot of the technical stuff at the new ballpark takes place, including controlling what's played on the giant video screen.

"We're coming in at the cutting edge of the newest video board technology as we get prepared here, so it's going to be a great show," said David Ruckman, Video Production Coordinator. 

The video board at the old Drillers stadium was on its way out technologically.

The new one is top of the line, 900 square feet from top to bottom.  That's larger than many apartments in Tulsa. 

"There's a whole lot of new content, that this video board being as good as it is, is going to give us more than enough opportunity to explore exactly what we can do," said David Ruckman. 

That content includes things that you would expect, like videos, live footage, and graphics.  Plus fans will be able to see the speed of the pitch and instant replay for the first time. 

It's shot on four new cameras. 

And there will also be dozens of flat screen TV's all over ONEOK Field, compared to just a few at the old stadium. 

"For the first time ever, in addition to the 360 wrap around concourse we have, fans are able to see the show from anywhere in the ballpark at any time," said David Ruckman. 

And for the first time, Tulsa Drillers fans can get wireless Internet access anywhere in the ballpark.  From the seating arrangement, to all of those TV's and the giant video screen, designers really developed ONEOK Field with the fan in mind.

Related stories:
4/7/2010 From Groundbreaking In 2008 To Today, ONEOK Field's Timeline
4/7/2010 It's Crunch Time For ONEOK Field's Last-Minute Preps
4/7/2010 Driving And Parking Tips For ONEOK Field
4/8/2010 From 1893 To 2010, A History Of Tulsa Drillers
4/8/2010 Taking A Tour Of ONEOK Field In Downtown Tulsa
4/8/2010 Downtown Businesses Hope For Boost From Drillers Baseball

The Drillers game will be broadcast on our sister station, The Tulsa CW, beginning at 7 p.m., or click onto OKBlitz.com for livestreaming of the season opener.