Constructed
in 1930 with 14,500 seats, Skelly Field was built as the
home of the University of Tulsa's Golden Hurricane
football club. In 1938 the university traded the
facility to Tulsa Public Schools in exchange for an open
lot, but leased the field back from the school
system. In 1947 Skelly Field was rechristened
Skelly Stadium.
Despite Tulsa not being known as a hotbed of pro
football, the USFL's Oklahoma Outlaws weren't the first
pro team to play at Skelly - that distinction belonged
to the Houston Oilers and Dallas Texans, who met in an
AFL pre-season contest in August 1960. In 1965
Skelly Stadium was enlarged to increase its seating
capacity to over 40,000, and three years later ownership
of the facility was returned to the University of Tulsa.
Having been rebuffed by the city of San Diego in their
efforts to place their USFL franchise there for 1984,
the William Tathams (Sr. and Jr.) instead placed the
team in Tulsa and Skelly - and drew an average
attendance that was 7,000 less than UT's had been in
1982. Needless to say the Outlaws weren't around
long - in 1985 the team called Phoenix home.
Today, Skelly Stadium continues to serve as home for the
Golden Hurricanes, albeit with a slightly reduced
seating capacity of 35,542.
|
|
|
|
SKELLY
STADIUM |
|
Tulsa,
Oklahoma |
|
|
