Oklahoma City is set to make Olympic history in 2028 as the first city outside a Summer Games host metro to run two complete sports – canoe slalom and softball – with more than 500,000 visitors projected as a result.
How did a landlocked Heartland city of 700,000 position itself to win this generational opportunity?
We spoke with Christy Gillenwater, President and CEO of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, who led negotiations on the final deal.
The unlikely story behind this economic development triumph starts 30 years ago.
In 1992, United Airlines chose Indianapolis over Oklahoma City for a $1 billion maintenance facility. The reason stung: Indianapolis was simply seen as a better place for employees to live.
The loss forced a reckoning, and out of it came MAPS – Metropolitan Area Projects – a temporary one-cent sales tax that OKC voters approve in 8-year cycles, each tied to a specific list of infrastructure investments, paid in full with no debt.
In other words, a decade-long economic development project driven by the public.
Four cycles later, MAPS has built an NBA arena, a downtown park, a streetcar, a world-class whitewater facility on the Oklahoma River, and the largest dedicated softball complex in the world.
This infrastructure formed the foundation of Oklahoma City’s unlikely status as an Olympic host.
When LA28 went looking for venues California didn't have, Oklahoma City had both.
"It's been 30 years of intentional investment," Gillenwater told us, "that has really led us to this level of momentum."
The Chamber's role in MAPS is part of what makes OKC's model impactful.
The city governs the program. The Chamber runs the campaign to pass it – polling, organizing, and winning votes.
"We really run the campaign to get to yes, so that these investments are implemented in the community," Gillenwater told me.
While MAPS provided the infrastructure, sealing the deal to be an Olympics site required years of careful sequencing.
Securing IOC approval, international federation buy-in, and LA City Council sign-off all were needed – and in the right order.
A budget analysis presented to the LA City Council showed tens of millions of dollars in net benefit to Los Angeles. The final vote was unanimous.
Gillenwater highlighted how OKC’s Olympic moment is just one chapter in a broader regional story unfolding.
"We have so many things going on in greater Oklahoma City right now," she said. "Our momentum is significant."
In our conversation on the Standard and Works Show, Gillenwater walked us through the region's economic development pipeline and why she sees Oklahoma City at the center of several national priorities right now:
Aerospace and defense: Tinker Air Force Base is OKC's single largest employer, and the region is leaning into the intersection of defense, advanced aviation, and emerging technology – with a growing pipeline of private sector activity aligned to Tinker's mission.
The FAA: The Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center is home to the FAA Academy and a logistics and technical support hub for the national airspace system. It hosts more than 5,000 employees. Gillenwater sees the Monroney as a significant asset as new aviation technologies come online.
Population and job growth: OKC's key metrics are trending in the right direction across the board, and Gillenwater is bullish on the region's trajectory as it works to attract investment while bringing its own residents along for the ride.
It is no exaggeration to say OKC is playing a leading role on the national and global stage right now. The penny tax paid off.
