Post by David on Sept 10, 2022 12:45:58 GMT -8
(image credit: Tulsa Oilers Indoor Football)
9.10.22 -
TULSA, OK - Tulsa's newest indoor football team will roll with an identity that is well known in the area, albeit in another sport.
The newest members of the Indoor Football League unveiled that it will be known as the Tulsa Oilers at the team's open house event at the BOK Center on Saturday. The Oilers are owned by Andy Scurto of NL Sports, LLC, which owns the Buffalo Beauts and Minnesota Whitecaps of the Premiere Hockey Federation. Scurto also owns Tulsa's ECHL hockey team - also named the Tulsa Oilers.
The name was reportedly chosen by the fans in a Name the Team contest, which included the Bison, Crude, Oilers, Tornado and Wildcatters.
"We are very appreciative of all the input our fans gave us on a team name," Tulsa Oilers owner Andy Scurto stated in the team's press release. "There were many great suggestions and a few obvious favorites. All of this input was evaluated and considered as we determined the name of the team. After careful consideration of all input, we came to the conclusion that the Tulsa Oilers brand is well known in the Tulsa area, a fan favorite and a name we should perpetuate with our football team. The Tulsa Oilers brand is all about family entertainment with ice hockey, ice rinks, ice skating, fun activities and now, indoor football. The Tulsa Oilers brand stands for fun, exciting entertainment and it was the obvious choice for our new football team. We are excited to have the football team represent the brand as the Tulsa Oilers Football team."
Oilers has been associated with sports in the Tulsa area dating back to 1928, as well as a defunct minor league baseball team that played periodically from 1905 through 1976.
The team logo is a rectangular wordmark that says "TULSA OILERS FOOTBALL," with its alternate logos including an oil derrick, and an oil drop logo shaped similarly to a football and the oil derrick styled in the logo as the laces of a football. The team's official colors are gold and "oil black."
(image credit: Tulsa Oilers Indoor Football)
"While we are excited about having the new indoor football team represent the Tulsa Oilers entertainment brand as the Tulsa Oilers Football team," said Scurto. "We also wanted to make sure the football team has its own identity. It was important to us that the football team has its own set of colors, logos and marks. We are excited to tie in the Oilers name to a logo that highlights the oil heritage of Oklahoma with an oil drop and an oil derrick combined with the image of a football to tie it all together. The new colors and logo ties football and Oilers together to create a brand that fits in well with the Tulsa Oilers."
Fan responses of the Oilers name has been mixed on the team's official Facebook page.
The Oilers did not announce its head coach, but the team has secured their home home games will be played at the BOK Center, which is also the home of their same-named hockey brother.
The Oilers represent the third arena/indoor team based in the Tulsa area. The first team, the Tulsa Talons, began in 2000 as inaugural members of arenafootball2 (af2), the developmental league for the Arena Football League (AFL). Playing at the Tulsa Convention Center, the Talons enjoyed success from the start, making the playoffs in every season of its af2 existence, going 123-37 in the regular season, winning 8 division titles (2002-2009), two National Conference Championships (2003, 2007) and two ArenaCup Championships (2003, 2007).
In 2009, the Talons would move to the BOK Center, the team's final season in af2. They would continue to play there in 2010, when the Talons joined a handful of AFL and af2 teams in a new league called AF1, the original name for the eventual revived Arena Football League which had folded in 2009. The Talons would find success in its first AFL season, going 10-6 and winning the Southwest Division title, but would be bounced by the Tampa Bay Storm in the semifinal round of the AFL Playoffs.
In 2011, the Talons suffered their first losing season, going 8-10 and missing the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. After the season, Talons chairman Paul Ross announced he was relocating the team to San Antonio, Texas, citing "less than desirable attendance and ticket sales." The Talons would continue to operate in San Antonio for 3 seasons before ceasing operations.
After the departure of the Talons, a second franchise called the Oklahoma Defenders was established in 2012. The Defenders began members of the Arena Professional Football League (APFL), finding success early with a 9-3 record and a playoff berth. In 2013, the Defenders would be one of several teams that would leave the APFL to start a new league, Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL). However success did not follow, and after two losing seasons, the Defenders ceased operations with the goal of returning in 2016, which never occurred.
The BOK Center also was home to the Talons, who moved there in 2009 through the team's final season in 2011.
The Talons are officially the 16th member of the IFL, slated to begin in 2023 along with the long-awaited Columbus Wild Dogs, who have been slated to join in 2021 and 2022, but have continued to delay its inaugural season.
- DKH
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