Casey Sparks has resigned as BOK Center’s general manager and she has taken a job in another city.
The arena has suffered a huge financial hit during the Chinese coronavirus pandemic with very limited events since February.
The next scheduled event on its website is singer Toby Mac on January 14. Country singer Alan Jackson is scheduled for February 6 and Dr. Neil Degrasse Tyson is planned for April 28. Singer Justin Bieber is booked for June 17. Chris Stapleton is August 20 and the rock band KISS is supposed to perform on October 2. Dan and Shay is on November 13, 2021, and Joe Rogan on December 4.
That’s it so far for 2021. All of these events are subject to cancelation due to the coronarvirus pandemic.
Union and Broken Arrow high schools canceled their graduation ceremonies at the BOK Center in May because the cost of using the facility doubled due to financial shortfalls at the arena.
The center has furloughed many of its employees due to event cancellations because of the pandemic.
In March of last year, Sparks was promoted to general manager of the city-owned facility in Downtown Tulsa. She had been assistant GM for five years before that. As general manager, she was also in charge of the Cox Business Convention Center. Sparks was director of marketing in 2008 when the center first opened.
Sparks left Tulsa and returned in 2014 to work at the arena.
John Bolton was the first manager of the arena in 2008. He left in 2014 and Jeff Nickler was promoted from assist GM to general manager.
The center has made changes for security and social distancing reasons. In October, officials instituted a clear bag policy. The approved items that attendees can bring into the arena are:
The approved items for entry include:
- A clear tote 12x6x12-inch
- One-gallon clear plastic bag
- Small purses, clutches, wallet no larger than 5×8 inches
Items that are not approved include:
- Backpack (including clear)
- Binoculars case
- Camera case
- Fanny pack
- Oversized tote bag
- Printed pattern plastic bag
- Tinted plastic bag.