OU Foundation President and CEO Guy Patton said the foundation would support building a new arena if OU decided to pursue it following Wednesday’s Board of Regents meeting.
While the foundation is not currently discussing a new arena with OU administration, Patton said OU Athletic Director Joe Castiglione has said a new arena or an improved Lloyd Noble Center is needed.
A project was proposed in 2017 when the city of Norman unveiled a plan to develop a new entertainment district to potentially house OU basketball, with restaurants, hotels and other amenities. The foundation requested tax incentives through the University North Park tax increment district in 2018 to build the arena, the Norman Transcript reported.
After opposition from the community and a lawsuit regarding records allegedly subject to the state open records act, the the foundation withdrew its request in July 2018.
The new district would have been located in foundation-owned land between Rock Creek and Tecumseh Road about six miles from OU’s campus. In 2017, OU agreed "in principle" to be the multi-purpose arena’s anchor tenant, and Castiglione said the university’s interest level was “very high,” according to a previous article from The Daily.
Oklahoma men's basketball head coach Porter Moser renewed arena discussion when he said he’s participated in ongoing conversations with Castiglione about an additional OU sports arena during a press conference on Feb. 17 and believes "it's time" for the revival of the project. Similarly, OU women’s basketball coach Jennie Baranczyk said a new arena is “essential” for OU’s move to the SEC.
When asked how he would prefer funding the construction, Patton said arenas aren’t self-sustaining in terms of an “economic model,” adding public funding is important for the project.
In 2020, empty seats and low attendance rates sparked outcry from dedicated OU basketball fans with the Lloyd Noble Center’s location approximately one mile from the dorms and two miles from Campus Corner. However, Patton said Castiglione has mentioned many students travel by car to attend OU basketball games, hinting that they’d be willing to travel further to a new arena in UNP.
“Are (students) more willing to go (to a game) if there's a cool restaurant for you to go to before the game, hang out with your friends?” Patton said. “If you're old enough, have a beer if you are, and then attend the game afterward, or vice versa.”
