New ARENA as part of entertainment District

bcsooner said:
Totally agree with this. The gymnastics team already averages around 9k for meets at the LNC, the new arena will be closer to 6k for the same meets when floor seats are removed. Cost aside, this is a short sighted buildout. Can't imagine how much more it would cost to add another thousand seats.
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another 50-75+ million ..

i was told this is all that the planned roof structure can support and a bigger shell massively increases the cost ..
 
Reducing seating capacity at arenas/stadiums is a current trend over the last decade of in the industry. We're seeing it across the board. New downtown arena is another example where it will have less seats than the current Paycom. I completely understand professional vs college, however the function of the space is the same. The buildings that have put in less seats, with more of a luxury and greater amenities flavor, are currently more profitable.

Having these massive buildings that sit empty for a long portion of their life doesn't benefit anyone. Just remember, OU will only occupy this for a minority of the year.

Trying to be optimistic about the project, I think it's important to make sure that they can try and fill it with events other than OU sports, as that is what will need to happen for a large chunk of the year. IMHO, Norman and the soutside of the metro can not support a 10K arena. The closer it creeps to the downtown arena size, it makes less sense. There is potentially a narrow market for the 8K type size arena, that would make sense for other entertainment (concerts, events, conventions, etc) to use. Much larger and you're competing against a bigger group of arenas in the area.

There is a reason why the state fair arena is the 6-8k range, and Winstar seats the 6k range. It's more realistic to fill with concerts, etc, at that size.
 
BoulderSooner said:
another 50-75+ million ..

i was told this is all that the planned roof structure can support and a bigger shell massively increases the cost ..
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Frustrating. Imo if they had built 10, maybe even 5, years ago that would have been rounding error
 
makila said:
Reducing seating capacity at arenas/stadiums is a current trend over the last decade of in the industry. We're seeing it across the board. New downtown arena is another example where it will have less seats than the current Paycom. I completely understand professional vs college, however the function of the space is the same. The buildings that have put in less seats, with more of a luxury and greater amenities flavor, are currently more profitable.

Having these massive buildings that sit empty for a long portion of their life doesn't benefit anyone. Just remember, OU will only occupy this for a minority of the year.

Trying to be optimistic about the project, I think it's important to make sure that they can try and fill it with events other than OU sports, as that is what will need to happen for a large chunk of the year. IMHO, Norman and the soutside of the metro can not support a 10K arena. The closer it creeps to the downtown arena size, it makes less sense. There is potentially a narrow market for the 8K type size arena, that would make sense for other entertainment (concerts, events, conventions, etc) to use. Much larger and you're competing against a bigger group of arenas in the area.

There is a reason why the state fair arena is the 6-8k range, and Winstar seats the 6k range. It's more realistic to fill with concerts, etc, at that size.
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none of that is why this building is going to be 8k seats ..
 
BoulderSooner said:
none of that is why this building is going to be 8k seats ..
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There is no singular factor, of course not. My statements about the mentality of packing in as many people into the space as possible no longer being the construction model for arenas is pretty accurate though. Not trying to get into a pissing match. Its accurate though. We used to consider 18" for each person sitting on seats during design. People are not happy if they are packed that tight now.
 
makila said:
There is no singular factor, of course not. My statements about the mentality of packing in as many people into the space as possible no longer being the construction model for arenas is pretty accurate though. Not trying to get into a pissing match. Its accurate though. We used to consider 18" for each person sitting on seats during design. People are not happy if they are packed that tight now.
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yes there is a singular factor in the size of the new UNP arena .. it is what they can afford to build with the TIF PERIOD...


it was not 8k to be right sized .. or any other reason ..
 
BoulderSooner said:
yes there is a singular factor in the size of the new UNP arena .. it is what they can afford to build with the TIF PERIOD...


it was not 8k to be right sized .. or any other reason ..
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Yup completely understand that. You have a building footprint and a budget set, like most construction projects there are physical and monetary constraints. However you can chop that footprint up. You can make seats smaller, or larger, to fit in the set footprint and budget (with other trade offs). That's all I was saying.

But hey, this thing is moving forward!
 
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BoulderSooner said:
they are going way up
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I will just drop one of my seats, but i remember the survey they sent out about potential seating changes at Lloyd Noble such as luxury boxes, etc, and how much I was willing to pay... and I wasn't willing to pay any of them. :LOL:
 
bcsooner said:
Totally agree with this. The gymnastics team already averages around 9k for meets at the LNC, the new arena will be closer to 6k for the same meets when floor seats are removed. Cost aside, this is a short sighted buildout. Can't imagine how much more it would cost to add another thousand seats.
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Some of us have been saying this since day 1.

But some around here can't see past a shiny new toy to assess it for what it actually is.
 
The_Banker said:
Stoia saying he doesn't think it will be finished until 2029 or later because of legal battles. What else could pop up?
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There cant be much more. Think most options are exhausted. At least at a local norman level. ORED group has threatened legal action, nothing has came to fruition and dont think they have much ground legally though.
 
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