The Lost Ogle still doesn't get any respect.
Late last night, we were notified by the Oklahoma City Thunder that despite the very comprehensive and enticing package we put together to secure naming rights for Oklahoma City's arena, the franchise would be going with an "offer they couldn't refuse" from local tech giant Paycom.
Via KOKH:
The former Chesapeake Arena has a new name.
The Oklahoma City Thunder announced Tuesday that Paycom will take over the naming rights of the arena.
The home of Thunder Basketball will now be called the "Paycom Center."
The Oklahoma City Thunder and Paycom said this will be a 15-year naming rights partnership. The name change takes effect immediately.
That blows. Sure, I bet Paycom offered more money than we did, but Lost Ogle Arena rolls off the tongue better than Paycom Center. I also thought our proposal to place a 100-foot tall alabaster statue of Abigail Ogle wielding her sword "Late-breaking" on top of the arena would seal the deal, but I guess it didn't. Either way, I'm glad we submitted our pitch even if it finished second to a big billion-dollar NYSE traded company. Scared money don't make none.
For what it's worth, I really don't have a problem with Paycom securing naming rights.
First of all, it does show some of the advancements we've made as a city. For years, everyone's been calling to diversify the economy of this state, and now our fancy downtown arena is named after a tech company as opposed to an energy giant or fast-food chain! Sure, I still really don't know what Paycom is or does, but progress is progress.
I guess the big question remaining is what will be the arena's nickname. I'm sure Boomer Tramel has a blog post ready to go with some possibilities, but I don't think there are any good options. Seriously, what could it be? The Pay. The Com? The Automated 1099? Beats me. For now, I say we call it 'The Chad" in honor of Paycom founder Chad Richison. If the Thunder ever has us out to host trivia at the Jack Daniels Grill again, Chad and I can talk about it then.
