Geez.... our fascination with the trivial and uninteresting... (That would be pro biscuitball, foootball, etc.)
Agree, he didn't seem prepared to talk about the arena issue. He did make a few interesting points about city
getting a new arena; because my personal opinion, the arena looks great inside, but there's not enough room
to reward the fans with fan-friendly amenities like an outside terrace and more space to avoid the crowded
feeling you get when inside Paycom Center. OKC has $190 million invested in Paycom Center.
Voters will approve a new arena to be funded probably by a combination of General Obligation Bonds approved $967 million
for parks,streets, bridges and roads infrastructure, those 2017 bonds expires in 2026 and the recently approved
MAPS 4 Initiative in 2020 expired in April 2027.
Sales tax collections in OKC have exceeded expectations and the city anticipates $1.1 billion in collections instead of
the projected $963 million. Mayor Holt put $70 million on 'pause.' until The City and the ownership group meets to
work out a plan to finance the new facility.
IDK what to expect other than a new arena built on the 4-square block Cox site costing $500 million - $800 million since
the old Cox Convention Center site (former Myriad Convention Center) has underground parking for about 950 cars
with an across the street new convention center 4 story parking garage for 1,200 vehicles. You have parking for
close to 9,000 vehicles in the area's walking distance.
The old cox site except for the underground parking will need to be demolished. The 4 square block site will provide
more than enough room to build a new state-of-the art arena. Since the City already owns this site, it will save close
to $150 million in land acquisition, foundation, parking and basic infrastructure.
The current Paycom Center could be used for minor league ice hockey since it has a minimum permanent ice hockey
seating capacity of 15,152 and some rodeo events that would need a larger capacity than the 5,000 seat $90 million
estimated cost for the new State Fair Coliseum to replace the aged State Fair Arena.
Mayor Holt wants a competitive arena above those of our peer five small market cities like Milwaukee (1,566,487),
New Orleans (1,336,103) and Salt Lake City (1,263,061) and the rest of the NBA markets. OKC's MSA area (1,441,647)
is second behind Milwaukee in small markets with less than 2 million MSA population.
An $800 million state-of-the art facility could be paid off in 3 years with $350 million funded thru an extension of 2017
General Obligation Bonds and $450 million thru an extension of MAPS 4. The Cox site valued at $150 million and
the figures (which could be more or less) would yield $950 million development.
Oklahoma City Council will meet next month (Tuesday, October 4, 2022) with Oklahoma City Thunder ownership group
representatives to begin preliminary discussions for a new OKC NBA venue.
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