New OKC Thunder Arena *CONFIRMED* Opening in 2029

[@sportsmaster1364]

5:49 hey, we already did this design, don't copy our homework Signed, Edmonton 🇨🇦

[@terranceramirez4816]

4:18 the closest thing to eternal life this side of heaven is a “temporary” government program -Raygun

[@SuperDave30]

Finally it’s about time for OKC just several years ago they got new practice facility.

[@williammoore27]

NFL has the new expansion team in Oklahoma City!🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈

[@blf200000]

What's the team name?

[@paladin677]

@@blf200000 OKC Seahawks!!!!

[@SeanCain98]

32 teams is enough

[@fadercreek]

​@@SeanCain98there gonna go to 40 too many talented qbs on the come up

[@dreamcage1801]

OKC Bisons

[@deco983]

Finally!!

[@GoalHornGeek]

Not sure why they feel the need to build another arena… OKC just built an arena like 15 years ago

[@fadercreek]

foreal? probably for an nhl team too or nll

[@29Texan]

​@@fadercreek They're not getting an NHL team.

[@fadercreek]

@@29Texan lol a team can relocate there

[@fadercreek]

@@29Texan houston, atlanta, Quebec city, Kansas city, salt lake city and Hamilton in that order

[@chrisparker4940]

What are you talking about?

[@seanstours3913]

Man if New Orleans doesn’t construct a new arena asap, they will be relocating to Vancouver

[@29Texan]

More than likely, they would go to Kansas City.

[@dreamcage1801]

@@29Texan or Louisville

[@dreamcage1801]

Move to San Diego

[@29Texan]

Kansas City is the most likely. I'd think the NBA would want to look for larger markets, first, and Missouri has no teams at all.

[@dreamcage1801]

@@29Texan then be named the Knights

[@mikeo7250]

The vote today 12/12 passed 71% for with only 29% against.

[@richardhorn7688]

They shouldn’t put it downtown. There is a lot of space in the okc metro and they could utilize that and build a nicer stadium

[@gregsells8549]

Paycom Center was first known as Ford Center when it opened as part of the MAPS project which was initiated after the Murrah Federal Building bombing. Currently the city is building a new coliseum at the state fairgrounds to replace a nearly 60-year-old arena used mainly for horse shows and high school tournaments. In San Antonio, the recently-renamed Frost Bank Center adjoins another arena built nearly 75 years ago and are both used for the city's stock show and rodeo.

[@rchilde1]

one slight correction, MAPS was not initiated after the OKC Bombing; MAPS started in 1993 whereas the OKC Bombing occurred in 1995. Otherwise, totally agree with you. :)

[@danieldougan269]

Gainbridge Fieldhouse here in Indianapolis opened in 1999, and it just went through a reasonable renovation. It should be good for a long time to come. This arena was built later. Why is it so obsolete that it needs to be completely replaced?

[@ShshHdj-mi5lm]

Daniel it’s not complicated. Oklahoma built paycom with the intention of eventually getting an NHL team they built the arena for a very low price, it was made very bare bones it wasn’t built for an NBA team, obviously after the Sonics got stolen from Seattle Clay Bennett moved the team to Oklahoma the arena was never built with any intention of housing an NBA team, the arena is old now and there’s no point in renovating the arena, it’s currently the smallest arena (by square footage & capacity) Bennett has colon cancer and doesn’t want to own the team any longer his plan is to extort the city and residents of okc for a new arena so he can sell the team for a massive amount of profit, they don’t really need a new arena but Bennett wants to make as much money as possible

[@vagrante13]

The outside of the old OKC arena looks like the Palace at Auburn Hills.

[@rchilde1]

or Ford Arena. Interestingly, OKC's arena was originally the Ford Center. ....

[@RhinoXpress]

Translucent roofs or natural lighting somewhere in arenas is starting to become the new trend. If you're going to build a new arena you need to have some type of natural lighting so your arena doesn't look dark and enclosed which is becoming dated.

[@kurtisokc]

What is the point of having natural light for an indoor arena when 95% of events take place in the evening?

[@chalkywhitelll8448]

It’s still in OKC. That’s why the value of the team is low

[@rchilde1]

think again.

[@adrianramone-ey9hi]

The team was bought for like 300.million the teams worth over a billion dollars

[@phoenix5054]

And the city has to pay for it?

[@chrisparker4940]

But the city gets all the revenue from years of lease payments from the Thunder, concerts, major entertainment events, etc.

[@TruthSeeker12337]

Chickasaw nation is putting more into downtown than the actual City. This arena will be amazing. To go along with the Chickasaw Hotel will be perfect.

[@ISpitHotFiyaa]

Seattle dodged a $1B bullet. The arena is only 20 years old and they're already talking about replacing it. What a joke.

[@TruthSeeker12337]

You realize 20 years ago it was a bare minimum project. With the Chickasaw Nation helping the City more than the general public there’s a problem. Believe it or not NBA is a business and it makes Okc a lot of revenue.

[@TruthSeeker12337]

We are a growing City it was bound to happen. Growth is the plan.

[@randygloria8662]

That stadium sucks lmaooo

[@avant-gardemarmalade7605]

Bro we're in the same league as the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Boston Celtics. We need a new stadium.

[@afroabroad]

@@TruthSeeker12337 It's too soon.

[@jordanking6939]

People would argue that OK City should of did a radical renovation (like what happened to State Farm Arena in Atlanta), but that doesn't address the long term plans. I like what they did with Seattle when they renovated that arena for their new hockey team.

[@seand1011]

Don't forget, it was also done for when the Sonics come back in 2025 or thereabouts

[@connoranderson136]

The $70 mil of Maps 4 was originally for the Paycom center. They were gonna do a new entrance and other renovations, but now they’re putting it on hold and putting it toward the new arena

[@zebrajenks]

sonics will never come back OKC thunder owners own the history rights of the sonics aka their banners and name. Seattle will have to get another franchise or the nba will need an expansion team@@seand1011

[@mattmullin928]

Capital one arena is in an amazing location in the city. I feel like you sum up some stuff well but the wizards have not threatened to relocate at all i would put some research into capital one arena just got renovated and is ontop of public transportation

[@keeganbrown9967]

If the city pays for it then they get the revenue. Vise versa if the team pays for it then they get the revenue. That's how it should be

[@Z64sports]

So if the arena they moved into also sucked why did they need to move?

[@paulhearn1086]

the arena was already 8 years old when they moved. It's a bare-bones arena and has served its purpose well. OKC did renovations to gain NBA approval, and the owner gave Seattle 1 year to reach a deal on the new arena, and they didn't.

[@Z64sports]

@@paulhearn1086 It was rigged tbh

[@williamlambert]

so no more jumbotrons over the court, i noticed the rendering of the new l.a. clippers and philadelphia 76ers arenas its around the top of the upper deck

[@silverado2004]

As a returning resident I will say this.. I'm for the Thunder getting a new arena..I have seen what loosing 3 teams looks like..Go to Oakland, California and take a long look.. Oakland used to be a vibrant city with the Raiders,A's and Warriors but when you look at it now it looks like a 3rd world country.. Everywhere you look there's homeless encampments everywhere with people sleeping on the sidewalks.. Business owners are moving out of Oakland at a alarming rate and rumor has it that Southwest airlines might pull out of Oakland..I used to be against tax payer money for sports stadiums but depending on how it's used etc then why not.. Remember that pro sports is big business and that's something that people should understand..It brings civic pride and it gives people something to do..All Oakland got going is more homeless encampments popping up and sideshows..

[@vintagemotorcyclerepair4052]

Oakland has been a dump for decades. No team departures had anything to do with that.

[@paulhearn1086]

The formal presentation to The City Council will be on 9/26. That's probably where any possible renderings will be shown.

[@jstead22]

Is the teams $50M contribution fair? Tax money spent in total $1.1B, $89M build arena, $121M for upgrades, $16M for practice building, $850M for New arena (tell me it will not run waaay over). Thunder was purchased for $350M and is now worth $3B

[@PeterNardin]

No, the sales tax increase for MAPS4 was going to expire at some point - the city is going to let the sales tax increase to continue

[@rchilde1]

One correction to the OP, the tax wouldn't be taken from MAPS IV, it will be allowed to "retire" in 2028 but the 1 cent collections would continue for about 6 years once MAPS IV ends in 2028 and then be dedicated to the arena - THIS means it would not be a MAPS project (which are pay-as-you-go), the city will take on short term debt to get construction going immediately for a 2027-2028 opening (just 4 years away). My guess is the $50 million from the owner will pay for interest on the short term debt as OKC hates to pay for capital shiny projects with debt (hence MAPS), the $70 million from MAPS IV (originally part of $130 million from MAPS IV to upgrade Paycom Center, which has been upgraded this past year [new scoreboard, seats, fixtures]) will be used to demo the old convention center across the street from Paycom that will be the site of the new arena. This is a 4 block superblock site, so MORE will be there than JUST the new arena. I suspect the owners will get rights to the rest of the site, to create an LA Live type of 'stadium district'. Paycom is slated to be demo'd shortly thereafter and (again) the city could sell that site for additional vertical development. ... May not end up being as PUBLIC as the $900 million tax funding is currently appearing - but like the OP said, without the renderings and expectations one can't yet know. .. OKC can't keep doing these in secret, the public (beyond OKC) is watching. ..

[@vincentbitner2935]

The vote in December is a public vote on deciding the citizens in OKC want this new arena and to extend the sales tax.

[@neneshubby]

Sounds like the devil is in the details. They better look really hard at the fine print before they approve that thing.

[@paulhearn1086]

The way OKC finances it. It will be debt free upon opening, just like the current arena was.

[@vintagemotorcyclerepair4052]

Vote NO. I'm voting NO. My wife is voting NO. Our neighbors are voting NO. If the Thunder and the NBA want to leave Oklahoma City, go on ahead and leave. We'll be fine without you.

[@ricksmith6637]

Waste of money the team has never won a championship and the stadium is brand new maybe we should rethink a nba team

[@chrisparker4940]

Seriously?

[@rchilde1]

(again) Paycom Arena is 22+ years old, was NEVER built as an NBA arena (it was built for NHL at the time). Paycom has been retrofitted and expanded as much as it can (even this past year all seats were replaced, a new video jumbotron installed, and so on) - it can not compete with the tech and capacity the new NBA arenas are offering. The size of Paycom's site is the issue, it is the 2nd smallest in the league (so you can't put a lot into the arena). With the current squad and number of picks into the future, OKC will be a contender - with great coaching and the appetite that should-have-been from the Durant-Westbrook-Harden era, OKC may win a chip before the new arena opens. ..

[@joshdrenth4526]

​@@rchilde1The Paycom center is actually bigger than 10 other arena's (seating capacity wise) including the 3 newest in Fiserv Forum, Chase Center and Golden 1 Center. They're also bigger than State Farm Arena, Barclay's Center, Toyota Center, FedEx Forum, Smoothie King and Footprint Center

[@jamessmithjr1453]

So let me say something in regards the pelicans and relocation...as long Gayle is alive, its not happening because they get alot extra money from the state because of a deal set in place when the team moved from charlotte to new orleans thats grand fathered in to whoever owns the team.

[@ronbrown7941]

They need to move back to Seattle, smh. I hated that they moved to OKC

[@chrisparker4940]

Not happening

[@dreamcage1801]

Expansion team for Seattle

[@carsoncarpenter4007]

You do no the Sonics are coming back soon

[@dreamcage1801]

@@carsoncarpenter4007 hell yeah when the expansion is announced in 2024

[@zebrajenks]

clay bennett owns the sonics name and championship banners they will never come back@@carsoncarpenter4007