When the Thunder take the floor for the first time in the 2024 season, a lot of things are going to happen.
They’re going to be considered one of the best teams in the league, especially after last season’s run, in which they achieved more than expected. This is a team thought of as a championship contender, full of impressive players, a style that’s fun to watch and a captivating roster set up for present and future success.
But off the court, well beyond the baseline, from the top of Paycom Center, throughout its offices in downtown Oklahoma City, across the state and even worldwide thanks to its place in the NBA, this organization has so much more going on that doesn’t start or stop with the referee’s whistle.
It continues to strengthen its relationship with fans in a unique approach that focuses not just on basketball, but something more.
“When we say that we’re bigger than basketball, I wanted to be part of that,” said Erin Oldfield, vice president of community engagement for the Thunder. “We have a unique opportunity to use ourselves as a megaphone for community partners.”
Creating belonging
Throughout a number of programs, initiatives and focus, the Thunder are consistently fostering its bond with Oklahoma City and the state of Oklahoma. Because of unique attention and focus on the community, the Thunder are thriving on and off the court.
“Our mantra has been, ‘We can control only what we can control,’” said Vice President of Broadcasting and Corporate Communications Dan Mahoney, who oversees the Thunder’s public relations, broadcasting and website (okcthunder.com).
“What we can control is the fan experience, the guest experience, the community engagement. That’s what we focus on here. Obviously, we have a skilled general manager in Sam Presti, who has been around a long time with this team. We trust Sam completely. But on this side of the business, we have to focus on what we can control.”
And what you’ll see with that focus is this team’s reach goes from the arena to businesses, schools, nonprofits and more.
“I feel like there’s ways we bring basketball to life,” said Michelle Matthews, director of fan development. “There’s community outreach. There’s fan initiatives. Last week, we tipped off season 17 with Fan Fest. With each event that we make accessible to fans, we bring others along with us.”
Matthews is starting her 15th season with the Thunder and says the job is always evolving, but figuring out new ways to get fans involved, not just at the games, is still the singular focus.
“Mostly, it comes back to what are the fans looking for that furthers that sense of belonging,” Matthews said. “You can come to the game, and we’re very prideful for what happens in the game experience and the guest experience, but there’s a lot that happens outside that we can control. Those are the things that we look forward to the most.”
What kind of things? Everything, including player appearances, the Thunder Book Bus, community outreach and more.
“The goal here is not to make a monetary transaction with the fan,” Matthews said. “It’s to get the fan involved in something and have a sense of belonging.”
And a sense of belonging that is wider than just going to a game and deeper than just seeing a player.
Thunder Fellows is an example of that. It’s a program Presti started after the death of George Floyd in Minnesota in 2020.
Located in the Greenwood District in Tulsa, the Fellows program (okcthunder.com/fellows) is a 30-week intensive curriculum focusing on data and analytics. It accepts about 25 new students in Tulsa each year.
“It’s a pipeline for black youth in Tulsa to jobs,” said Oldfield. “You take a high school student and you give them access to things they wouldn’t have otherwise. It’s a cool program. There’s tech and data and coding and all these tools available. There are also things unique to the Thunder. They have access to Sam (Presti) and a multi-day workshop for leadership opportunities. The kids go through it and we’re guaranteeing internships and scholarships. The end goal is job placement. We want to see these kids through.”
The Thunder College Ambassador Program (nba.com/thunder/ambassador) is in its fourth year. It takes more than 60 students interested in sports marketing and gives them unique insights.
Amplifying voices
The Thunder are interested in promoting not just youth, but business and commerce in the state. This season, you’ll see local vendors like Boomerang as well as the first Black-owned vendor inside Paycom Arena, Big O’s Pork and Dreams, and the first woman-owned vendor, Empire Slice House.
“We are always wanting to amplify the voices around us,” said Gayle Maxwell, the Thunder’s director of corporate communications. “We have the highest ratio of corporate partnerships that are locally based than any other team in the NBA. That’s something we are really proud of, and we lean into it. The way we’re able to work together and tell the story of our community, not just, ‘Isn’t this a cool partner?,’ but this really does dig deep into the roots of this community and ties into who we are as a brand and a team.”
The roots into the community are established, and you can see the genesis of it anytime you enter the arena for a Thunder game.
“From a guest experience standpoint, it’s really simple,” Mahoney said. “We treat every guest as if it’s their first night in the arena, even if it’s their 1,000th night in the arena. We have a very long-standing approach that we call ‘Click.’ We want to click with the guest, and we have been consistent with it from Day 1. That’s our priority.
“Those people who come through that door are our priority. They are there every night, they are buying the tickets and they have high expectations of the experience and the team. And we meet them there, because they might not be back if they have a bad experience, whether it be from food and beverage or the team shop or the guest relations desk. We really, really have a hard-core focus on it.”
The thing is, people do come back.
“We’re really consistent with our brand and who we are,” Matthews said. “It doesn’t feel like Season 17; it feels like forever. It’s nice to hear those stories when they come back around. And if you look at the Thunder, from wherever you are, you’re going to see specks of the community within our brand. That’s what makes us unique.”
OKC Thunder’s regular season begins Oct. 24 with a game against the Denver Nuggets.
This article appears in Bigger than basketball.