Oklahoma City's passionate fanbase and new arena could reignite All-Star Weekend's lost excitement. Can this hungry city deliver the missing spark?
Even before tipoff in Los Angeles today, the energy around All-Star Weekend has felt a little muted.
The conversations haven’t centered on must see matchups or competitive pride. Instead, they’ve revolved around format debates, injury replacements, and whether the game itself still matters.
Saturday’s events, the Shooting Stars Challenge, the Three Point Contest, and the Dunk Contest produced moments, but they didn’t shift the overall tone or create anything memorable other than lowlights. Social media reaction was lukewarm.
The dunk contest, once the crown jewel of the weekend, again struggled to generate lasting buzz. By Sunday morning, the anticipation for the game simply wasn’t there.
That’s the larger issue facing the NBA. It’s not just about tweaking rules or introducing a target score. It’s about atmosphere. It’s about urgency. It’s also partly about whether the host city can inject life into the event.
And that’s where Oklahoma City enters the conversation.
With the Thunder’s new downtown arena scheduled to open later this decade, Oklahoma City won’t just have a modern building, it will have a chance to present a completely different All-Star environment. One rooted in hunger.
All-Star Weekend thrives when the host city genuinely cares. Oklahoma City isn’t a market where basketball blends into the entertainment landscape. It defines it.
Often times, regular season games feel like playoff nights. The fan base shows up early, stays loud, and treats every possession like it matters.
Imagine that energy applied to All-Star Weekend.
A new, state-of-the-art arena changes the visual presentation immediately. Which, to their credit, Intuit Done did this. The league prioritizes buildings that are technologically advanced, sponsor-m friendly, and visually elite for broadcast.
Oklahoma City’s upcoming facility checks that box. A sparkling new venue in a growing downtown district would give the NBA the aesthetic it wants while offering something it’s currently missing: raw enthusiasm.
A big thing for All-Star is depending on the home fans show up and add energy to the weekend. A city like Los Angeles doesn’t help with that due to there being so much to do already in the city. There are much cheaper entertainment options.
Oklahoma City won’t have that issue. Local fans don’t get to experience things like an Allstar weekend so they would show up and show out.
But the new arena and passionate fans alone won’t secure a future host bid.
If Oklahoma City is serious about hosting in the early 2030s, several pieces must fall into place.
First, there’s the hotels issue. The NBA typically looks for thousands of nearby hotel rooms, especially luxury inventory for players, sponsors, and media. Downtown Oklahoma City continues to grow, but additional high end development would strengthen its case.
Next, event spaces. All-Star Weekend is far more than one game. It’s fan festivals, corporate activations, media production hubs, and sponsor events. Expanding flexible convention spaces near the arena would be critical.
There is the Oklahoma City Convention Center but the city would need a little more.
Then there is the airport issue. Increased nonstop flights, particularly to major NBA markets, would make travel smoother for league stakeholders. International routes would elevate the bid even further.
More space would be essential also. Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City isn’t nearly big enough for this type of event.
And something most people don’t think of is the extra entertainment for the weekend. Bricktown provides a strong foundation, but continued investment in nightlife, restaurants, and mixed use developments would help Oklahoma City present a complete, walkable experience.
The timing could ultimately work in Oklahoma City’s favor. The league is searching for ways to recapture competitive pride and cultural buzz around its midseason showcase. Hosting in traditional glamour markets guarantees celebrity presence, but it doesn’t guarantee urgency.
Oklahoma City offers something different. It offers appreciation.
The All-Star Game doesn’t necessarily need a bigger city. It may need a city that treats it like a privilege and not an expectation.
If the new arena opens as planned and surrounding development continues, Oklahoma City could position itself as more than just another bidder. It could present itself as the place where All-Star Weekend feels meaningful again.
And right now, that might be exactly what the NBA needs.