Tulsa's BOK Center Getting New Look Online

By Dan Bewley, The News On 6 

TULSA, OK -- The BOK Center is in the market for a new website. The company that manages the BOK Center has plans to spend nearly $44,000 to change what it calls its "front door".

BOK Center says to compete globally it's time to revamp its website.

The BOK Center has become a beacon in the Tulsa skyline. Its lighted stage shines the limelight on acts ranging from American Idol to Monster Trucks to Canada's famous rock trio, Rush.

Many think of the entrance into the BOK Center as the front door, but for the company that manages the BOK Center, SMG, the front door is more of a virtual one.

BOKCenter.com is the portal that sends ticket buyers from the cyber sea to their seat in the arena.

"As the GM of the building I have to try to make the decisions that I think are in the best interest of the facility," John Bolton, BOK Center General Manager, said.

One of John Bolton's most recent decisions was to change the BOK Center's website.

"We like the website that we have but we are entering into our third year of operations and we've got to be cutting edge," Bolton said. "And we've got to do things better than everybody else."

SMG received bids from three web developers. Two of those came from Tulsa, including Cubic, the company that runs the BOK Center's current website. Its bid was $28,000 for a new site.

Another Tulsa company was New Medio. It boasts of running websites for popular entertainers including Tulsa's own, Hanson. It's bid was $58,500.

But the company that Bolton decided on is called Carbonhouse and it's based in North Carolina. The cost was $43,500 plus $500 a month to maintain the site.

Bolton says he went with Carbonhouse because it works exclusively with venues similar to the BOK Center, such as the XL Center in Connecticut and the Sprint Center in Kansas City.

"It's just important for us to have someone that is going to give us undivided attention and deal exclusively with our type of business," Bolton said.

The BOK Center is owned by the city of Tulsa but it's managed privately and has a six-million-dollar budget.

Bolton says next year's budget shows a $300,000 profit and he doesn't expect any money to come from taxpayers.