Tulsa Drillers General Manager Discusses Economic Impact On Season

The Tulsa Drillers said they're trying to find creative ways to still fill seats at the ONEOK field since minor league baseball is cancelled this year.

“First time we haven’t had professional baseball here since World War II, so it’s a pretty big impact. We lose all 70 of our traditional Drillers games," said Tulsa Drillers General Manager Mike Melega. 

Melega said it could take 4 or even 5 years to make up for the loss of this year's games. “It’s a long term kind of dig out situation, but this Texas collegiate situation that we’ve had is a nice jump start on our recovery process," said Melega.

He said you can still watch summer baseball in Downtown Tulsa.

“Fortunately we were able to enter a team into the Texas collegiate league. So we have had some live baseball action here at the ballpark. We actually open up a homestand here for six nights thru Sunday. So that’s been good for us," said Melega.

Melega said the pandemic has forced businesses to get creative and he said Tulsans could see some unique events at ONEOK field in the coming months. 

“I have met a lot of great people at the Tulsa Opera, at the Tulsa Symphony, at Cain’s where we have been engaging with each other trying to see if we can work together to better each other’s business because everyone is struggling," said Melega. 

There will be games this weekend and next weekend at ONEOK Field. Both will have fireworks if you’re looking for something to do with your family that's outdoors.