Updates on proposed new Oklahoma City arena: 
Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt delivers '2023 State of the City Address, July 20, 2023.'
Excerpts: Mayor David Holt said Thursday voters may be asked later this year to extend the MAPS 4 Initiative temporary sales tax to help pay for a new arena for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The MAPS 4 penny sales tax is set to expire in 2028.Holt used his annual State of the City address to discuss the possible election and new arena. MAPS 4 Initiative has collected more than $390 million in a little over three years, including during the pandemic. Holt said if the city wanted to build the arena before the money comes in, it could consider taking out a line of credit. The city has an excellent debt rating, having received triple-A bond ratings from Moody’s and S& P in 2023 for the 15th year in a row.
About $70 million in MAPS 4 funds that were initially earmarked for Paycom Center will serve to supplement that funding. And, Holt said, Thunder ownership will for the first time in city history make a “significant financial contribution” to the new arena, but he wouldn’t say what that contribution will be.
Details still being worked out include arena cost and terms of the lease agreement, Holt said. He expects to bring an agreement forward by the end of the summer, which he defined as September 22, which would need a simple majority approval from the city council. A public sales tax election would require a majority of all votes cast.
Quote of the day:“We will secure this team for such a span of time that I can tell you today that a superstar who will play for our city in this arena, in the next lease term, isn’t even born yet,” Holt said. “And yet, Sam Presti is probably already holding the draft pick to get him.”
It was one year ago that the mayor first publicly addressed the idea that Oklahoma City may need to replace the 21-year-old Paycom arena to stay competitive and keep the Thunder in OKC.
Holt: New arena would exceed expectations:Holt pressed the issue even harder Thursday, reminding listeners of Paycom’s place as the smallest and second-cheapest arena in the NBA. It also sits right at the average arena age, and a new arena will take years to open if planning began today, he said.
A new arena would “exceed anything our residents have ever experienced,” Holt said. It also will be designed for basketball, unlike Paycom.
Now that put a dagger in the hearts of those fans expecting a multipurpose arena built to accommodate 'Ice hockey' as well as NBA basketball.
It would be much larger, with more seats on the lower bowl and better sight lines all around, Holt said.
Councilman Todd Stone, who represents Ward 4, said it’s “amazing” the city could build a new arena without raising the current tax rate.
The cost of modern NBA arenas:
San Francisco’s Chase Center at a cost of $1.4 billion
Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum cost $524 million (Buck's share $174 million)
Detroit's Little Caesars Arena $863 million
Sacramento Golden 1 Center (2016) $558 million.
The new Los Angeles Clippers arena will open next year and cost $2 billion.
Philadelphia 76ers announced plans for an arena expected to cost $1.3 billion.
“Our city just has to do what great cities do. We have to invest in ourselves.”--Mayor David Holt
New State Fair Coliseum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdzR0Ja2sKg 
Oklahoma City leaders broke ground on a new coliseum at the OKC Fairgrounds making it the first recipient of MAPS 4 dollars to begin construction on a
brand-new building.
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