Financial Constraints Sideline Oklahoma’s Marching Band

The “Pride of Oklahoma” marching band was forced to miss its team’s recent football game in Philadelphia due to what a social media post from the group called “budget constraints.” The band, which has over 300 members from more than 70 different majors, has been a staple at OU games for more than a century.

In a first for the band, another group—the Saint Joseph’s pep band—stepped in to fill the void, even performing the iconic “Boomer Sooner.” The band’s social media post noted that a trip to Philadelphia was “actually going to be more expensive to take a fractional group to Philadelphia than all other SEC games combined,” suggesting a significant travel cost was the primary obstacle.

Despite the setback, the band confirmed that it will still travel to all Southeastern Conference road games this season. While the full band will attend the game in Texas, a smaller pep band will travel to South Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama.