Backstreet Boys98 Degrees Incident
On 18 August 2018, severe weather hit the outdoor WinStar concert venue in Thackerville, Oklahoma while patrons were waiting for a Backstreet Boys concert with 98 Degrees. Multiple sources say the venue had begun evacuating because of approaching lightning; around 5:30 p.m., wind and rain knocked over entrance trusses / a metal awning / temporary structure, injuring 14 people and causing the show to be canceled or postponed.
Incident Overview
What happened
Date: 18/08/2016 provided by user; source-matched reporting found for 18 August 2018. I did not find a matching 18 August 2016 incident for this Backstreet Boys / 98 Degrees / WinStar event.
Location: WinStar World Casino and Resort, The Colosseum at WinStar, 777 Casino Ave., Thackerville, Love County, Oklahoma 73459, United States. Source wording also includes “2.1 S THACKERVILLE” / “Damage reported at the Winstar casino.”
Incident name: Backstreet Boys / 98 Degrees concert incident at WinStar World Casino and Resort. Sources also describe it as a storm-related truss / tent / awning / entrance structure collapse at The Colosseum at WinStar.
Impact Summary
Reported outcome
Reported injuries: 14 reported injuries / hospitalizations. Some sources say 14 were taken to hospitals; later AP reporting says all were treated for minor injuries and released. Witness descriptions reported cuts, bruises, at least one unconscious person, and a head wound, but those witness details were not independently verified across all sources.
Reported fatalities: No fatalities found in the sources reviewed.
Key Figures
At-a-glance
Chronology
Incident timeline
Operational Themes
Main issues
Disputed Details
Conflicting Information
The source set contains differing figures and descriptions. These are kept visible.
The reviewed sources do not fully align on this point, so it is shown as a reporting conflict.
KXII describes a “tent” collapsing and includes witness language about a tent blowing over people’s heads.
CBS / ABC / venue language describe “concert entrance trusses” or an entrance structure being knocked over.
These may describe the same incident from different vantage points, but the wording is not identical.
The reviewed sources do not fully align on this point, so it is shown as a reporting conflict.
Venue statements carried by CBS, KXII, ABC, FOX 4, and KOCO say 70–80 mph winds.
NWS storm data entry for the matching Love County event records estimated 43 kt at 16:33 CST and says winds blew over a metal awning causing 14 hospitalizations.
This is a source conflict between venue/media reporting and the later NWS storm-data estimate.
The reviewed sources do not fully align on this point, so it is shown as a reporting conflict.
Early reports say 14 were taken to hospitals and two had already been released.
AP later reports they were treated for minor injuries and all were released.
This appears to be a timing difference between early and later reporting.
The reviewed sources do not fully align on this point, so it is shown as a reporting conflict.
Some sources say the show was canceled.
Some sources say it was postponed and tickets would be honored on a new date.
Same-night cancellation and later postponement language may both have been used at different points.
Not Verified
Unverified Details
The following details were not verified in the reviewed sources.
Source Material
References
Sources reviewed for this incident report, including news reports, venue pages, weather data and open-source social-media material.
Academic Papers: None found that directly studied or documented this specific incident.
All Document URLs
Source Links
Direct links captured from the incident research document.
