'Show Up And Show Out:' OU President Asks Fans To Make Presence Known At SEC Opener Against Tennessee

After the Norman City Council approved a tax to fund a new entertainment district in the city, as well as a new arena for the University of Oklahoma athletic programs, OU president Joseph Harroz joined News 9 to talk more about what fans can expect for upcoming sporting events.

Harroz said he is excited about what the future brings for the university and surrounding community and said the decision will bring continued success to the area.

“It is so exciting. I'm running on sort of fumes, but it's absolutely fantastic,” Harroz said. “Huge credit to the mayor, Mayor Heikkila, the city council, what they did Tuesday night, Wednesday morning, is true leadership.”

The district and the new arena, which will go toward OU basketball and gymnastics programs, is what Harroz said is a “component” of success.

“If you look at the formula, it really is special. It's three components to be really successful,” Harroz said. “One is to be in the Sun Belt, which we are. The second is to have a major research university that's growing, and we're one of the few doing that, our record class is up The third is to have a live-work-play environment where people want to come, to attract the best faculty, staff and students, where people want to be and live.”

“Change is difficult, I totally understand that, it's a big move,” Harroz said. “The good news is, no new taxes for the city or county for this. It's just an increment for that area in terms of the taxes. Anytime you see big steps forward, there's always this dynamic tension that exists, but huge props to the mayor and the city council for showing true leadership.”

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In the immediate future, Harroz said the OU community is looking forwards to its introduction into the Southeastern Conference with its Saturday matchup against the University of Tennessee.

“We have Josh Heupel coming home, our first game in the SEC of all time. It's against Tennessee, and the atmosphere could not be greater,” Harroz said. “We have College Game Day here, the first time since 2020. There were no fans there, so really the first time with fans was 2012. It's electric. It really is simply different.”

For fans coming to the game on Saturday, Harroz encouraged them not only to come but to show their excitement.

“Show up and show out. It is just different,” Harroz said. “In the past, for Big 12 games, the most number of tickets you'd have to offer for guest schools showing up was 850; for SEC games, the minimum is 5,000. So it's a whole different thing; people have already been camping out. Show up, show them that Sooner pride.”