STILLWATER – Subscribers of this site know me well enough and other readers or listeners to my radio program on Triple Play Sports know that I don’t go in for click bait, have little patience with absurd rumors, and many of the pursuits of those “journalists” that ply their trade primarily on social media. So when I started to get hit up by legitmate fans and even some Stillwater business leaders about the possibility of ice hockey in the Oklahoma State athletic department, I realized that I needed to do some work. Just a cursory glance at the stir caused by the Barstool Sports hoickey podcast “Spittin Chiclets” signaled a deeper dive.
Here’s what I found out.
This has some legs, but is going to need the sustainability of a camel. The story starts with the successful club hockey team currently representing Oklahoma State. They will play the Penn State club team on Thursday night, Jan. 29 inside Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa. The Penn State varsity team will host a Big Ten game in the college version of the NHL’s “Stadium Games” that will feature Michigan State vs. the Nittany Lions.
The team (14-1 this season) is an MD2 Independent team in the American College Hockey Association. They are primarily funded by Michael Mann, a Dallas-based financier that founded and manages Anchor Capital GP, a private-equity and investment advisory firm.
There we go private equity and we all know that business is becoming more and more mentioned with regard to college athletics. I was told Mann pays for most of the expenses including coaching staff, players salaries, travel, uniforms and equipment.
I spoke with several sources in the Oklahoma State athletic department that did not want to be quoted, but I learned that Mann has met with athletics director Chad Weiberg. The College Hockey News website in a story written by editor Adam Wodon, had Mann and Weiberg meeting in Tempe, Ariz. with ASU officials. Arizona State has a top notch facility that was even used by the Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL before the team went inactive. They have men’s and women’s hockey teams.
My sources claimed that Mann is adament about wanting an ice hockey team playing NCAA Division I at Oklahoma State and that a $200 million donation was part of his pitch. Mann has some legal troubles that have been well documented. However, another source confirmed that Mann has made a sizeable donation to OSU athletics to show his sincerity to the cause.
Oklahoma State has plenty of situations to deal with in athletics including rebuilding the success in football under a new staff and dealing with the wild west nature of the sport. Men’s basketball badly needs to win games starting with on the road at Utah on Saturday. This is not a project ready to be taken on at this time. However there is enough excitement that architecture students have taken on the project of designing a venue.
You have to admit the design looks sweet. A facility would likely cost around $70-80 million for a modest arena. The cost could easily climb over $100 million.
The money is a major issue. Title IX ramifications would be part of it. Long term sustainability is crucial and there are few teams to play in this region. Division I teams would include University of Denver, Air Force Academy, Colorado College, Lindenwood University, and University of Nebraska-Omaha.
