INSPIRE TELLING OKC’S STORY TO GENERATE AWARENESS AND CONSIDERATION OF OUR CITY AS A DESTINATION
Before someone chooses to visit Oklahoma City, they have to know what is here and why it matters. Visit OKC introduces those stories through community branding, national media relations, paid media, social media, video, blogs, email and trip- planning resources that reach travelers, meeting planners, tour operators and event organizers. In FY26, Visit OKC continued to build the tools travelers and industry partners use to explore and share Oklahoma City, producing publications, web content, digital resources and collateral supporting trip planning throughout the year. That storytelling also reached national and international audiences through several high- profile opportunities. The Route 66 centennial drew national visibility through Good Morning America’s “50 States in 50 Weeks: America the Beautiful” series and The Story of Art in America’s Oklahoma City episode , both highlighting OKC’s connection to the Mother Road. Sports Illustrated published an in-depth feature on how Oklahoma City landed seven events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics , positioning the city’s investments in softball, canoe slalom and major-event infrastructure as part of a broader transformation in how OKC is seen on the national stage. German national media also turned its attention to Oklahoma City as Germany’s top canoe athletes trained at RIVERSPORT OKC ahead of Olympic and world championship competitions. High-visibility broadcast events further expanded our reach. The NCAA Women’s College World Series delivered another defining national moment for Oklahoma City, with ESPN’s coverage of the 2026 WCWS becoming the most-watched on
record and averaging 1.6 million viewers across 16 games. Championship Series Game 2 became the most-watched college softball game ever, drawing 2.5 million viewers and peaking at 3 million. NCAA March Madness coverage generated additional exposure for the city as Oklahoma City hosted first and second rounds of men’s basketball, with broadcast coverage averaging 9.8 million viewers and peaking at 12.5 million. Oklahoma City’s international visibility was strengthened through new in-market representation across Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Benelux countries. Cooperative marketing campaigns with tour operators generated more than 6.2 million impressions , while blog articles and newsletter placements featuring Oklahoma City reached more than 760,000 subscribers . Visit OKC’s storytelling also helped frame what comes next. Oklahoma City’s next wave of sports and entertainment infrastructure is creating opportunities to put OKC in front of new audiences. Construction is underway on the future Continental Coliseum, the $900 million downtown arena that will become the next home of the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2028. The MAPS 4 Multipurpose Stadium also broke ground and is scheduled to open in 2028, anchoring a new UFL franchise alongside professional men’s and women’s soccer. Together, the venues will help OKC compete for large-scale events, multi-format competitions and concerts, with Visit OKC’s sports development team already building a long-term pipeline.
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