BACKSTAGE PASS
PERFORMANCE: PHIL CLARKIN. EXTERIOR: AP/SHUTTERSTOCK.
AUGUST 4, 2018 WWW.BILLBOARD.COM 570
NCE KNOWN AS THE
Oil Capital of the
World, Tulsa, Okla., has
transformed itself over
the last 15 years into a
magnet for entrepreneurial
millennials who are drawn to the city
of approximately 403,000 because
of its affordability and strong cultural
offerings. Since 2008, the BOK Center
— named after its sponsor, Bank of
Oklahoma — has been a high point of that
transformation. The 19,199-seat venue,
which celebrates its 10th anniversary on
Aug. 30, draws the top tours in music —
Bruno Mars, Panic! at the Disco, Ozuna
and Fleetwood Mac will play there in
the coming months — and has become
one of the country’s top 20 arenas in the
process, according to Billboard Boxscore,
attracting fans from adjoining states
Arkansas, Kansas and Missouri.
“It’s no longer just an oil town,” says
Joe Giordano, the 28-year-old director of
booking at the BOK Center, one of many
young executives who have moved to
Tulsa and brought popular live acts such
as P!nk, Justin Timberlake and Depeche
Mode to a city that mainly supportsTulsa’s BOK Center At 10
BY DAVE BROOKSThe Oklahoma arena has put the onetime fly-over city on the map
as a touring locale with big-market concert grossesgym available for touring productions,
designed by BOK Center director of
special events Lindsey Bollinger, and the
Super Secret Speakeasy for afterparties
where bands, promoters and agents enter
through what looks like a port-a-potty,
only to ind a high-end bar where every
performer has a personalized cocktail
glass. “It’s 360 marketing,” says Sparks.
“We look at what we can do backstage to
get the attention of the tour or the artists
so they can repost it to their social media,
and then it just keeps going and going.”
Leading the young team is Nickler,
37, a West Virginia University graduate
who has been at the BOK Center since its
opening in 2008 and worked under the
building’s irst GM, John Bolton, before
being promoted to the position in 2014.
(Bolton now handles arena booking for
SMG.) As the venue enters its 11th year
serving Tulsa, Nickler spoke to Billboard
about how the city has evolved from
ly-over territory to a must-stop on most
agents’ itineraries.country music. Giordano, who hails from
Pennsylvania, works on a team of mostly
non-Tulsa natives, led by GM Jef Nickler
and assistant GM Casey Sparks, who
were put in place by SMG, the venue’s
management company, which also
operates Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre,
Soldier Field in Chicago and the Mercedes-
Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
SMG, which helped design and
construct the BOK Center, uses the
venue as a training ground for its
managers and bookers. “They’ve taught
me to really believe in this brand, believe
in the BOK Center and believe in SMG
Tulsa,” says Christina Foley, the arena’s
brand manager whose job is to create
“outrageously excellent experiences” for
everyone from ticket buyers to roadies.
With its swirling glass and stainless-
steel facade, the César Pelli-designed
BOK Center is arguably Tulsa’s most
distinctive landmark. Its inner workings
are Instagram-worthy as well, and
include tributes to famous Tulsans such
as the Hanson brothers, Leon Russell,
Woody Guthrie and the town’s unoicial
global ambassador, Garth Brooks.
There is also a Zoolander-themedGeorge Strait played the BOK
Center on June 1 and 2 for its
“10 for 10” concert series.
Inset: Exterior of the arena in- The venue has held 516
concerts and family shows
since its opening in 2008.