FORD CENTER GOES OUT WITH A BANG
After Setting Records, Ford Center Prepares for Next Phase of Improvements
during the Summer Season

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK. – During the first quarter of 2009 (Jan. 1st to Mar. 31st) Ford Center welcomed more than 667,000 visitors during the 50 events held at the SMG-managed facility.

Included among these fan favorites were events such as: Walking with Dinosaurs – The Arena Spectacular, PBR, Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship, NCAA® Division 1 Women’s Basketball Oklahoma City Regional, Music as a Weapon Festival Featuring Disturbed, numerous Oklahoma City Thunder and Blazers home games and much more.

Ford Center was recently ranked 25th nationally (49th worldwide) by Pollstar® magazine as one of the Top 50 Arena Venues for the 2009 Worldwide First Quarter Ticket Sales for concerts and touring events.

Quick Facts:

• The Oklahoma City Blazers led the CHL in attendance for its 17th consecutive season and ranked 7th among the 80 minor professional hockey teams in North America for 2009.
• Currently, the Oklahoma City Thunder ranks 10th place out of all 30 NBA teams in attendance for 2008-09.
• The Thunder home games hosted 18 sellouts throughout the season (8 of which were the last home games of the season).
• Thunder home games averaged 18,726 in attendance per game amounting to 97.7% of total capacity of the facility.
• For the second time, the NCAA® Division 1 Women’s Basketball Oklahoma City Regional was listed as the highest attended NCAA® women’s basketball regional in the country (Total attendance was 21,872 or 11,529 per session).
• During the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Championship, Ford Center welcomed 94,614 visitors (15,769 at each of the six sessions).
  
  Ford Center will close its doors for the summer to begin the next phase of improvements. Ford Center will reopen before the start of the Thunder’s 2009-10 season. For further information, please visit: http://www.okfordcenter.com/Improvements.html