University Town Center

[onthestrip]

there were no smoke and mirrors ..

if someone didn't understand that this was the proposed deal they have a reding comprehension problem or where/are being intentionally uninformed

You can say this but the headline takeaway was 80% of the funding was private money. Probably could call it a bait and switch but at the very least its fudging the numbers to make the arena funding look better than it actually is. Curious what land value OU has put on the piece that will be the arena. Wouldnt be surprised if they pumped up that number too.

[chssooner]

You can say this but the headline takeaway was 80% of the funding was private money. Probably could call it a bait and switch but at the very least its fudging the numbers to make the arena funding look better than it actually is. Curious what land value OU has put on the piece that will be the arena. Wouldnt be surprised if they pumped up that number too.

80% of the funding for the whole expansion. Not the arena. There will be a higher % of private funding for the remaining development. Nice try, though.

[onthestrip]

80% of the funding for the whole expansion. Not the arena. There will be a higher % of private funding for the remaining development. Nice try, though.

Nice try on what? There was a big PR splash saying 80% of this will be private money, as if the arena would only require 20% of public money. The 80-20 number was basically the headline. Then you get into the details and the arena requires 60% of public money. It basically is a bait and switch. Of course private money will build apartments, retail and restaurants, so why try adding that into the mix other than to confuse citizens?

And like I mentioned, theres not guarantee of when these apartments, retail and restaurants get built, or at what cost. Easy for people to say they'll be developing $800 million worth of private projects, but no guarantee they will anytime soon. And it shouldnt be mixed with the arena costs and funding.

[chssooner]

Nice try on what? There was a big PR splash saying 80% of this will be private money, as if the arena would only require 20% of public money. The 80-20 number was basically the headline. Then you get into the details and the arena requires 60% of public money. It basically is a bait and switch. Of course private money will build apartments, retail and restaurants, so why try adding that into the mix other than to confuse citizens?

And like I mentioned, theres not guarantee of when these apartments, retail and restaurants get built, or at what cost. Easy for people to say they'll be developing $800 million worth of private projects, but no guarantee they will anytime soon. And it shouldnt be mixed with the arena costs and funding.

It's not meant to confuse. They aren't lying in any way, like some on here are saying. How the 80% is allocated doesn't matter. That's the point. But believe what you want. I'm done trying to convince people on here that the truth is the truth, and trying to spin it to make it seem like a lie just because there are now more details that don't contradict the original statement doesn't make it any less of the truth. They never outright said they were paying 80% of the arena. Find me that line. You'll find 80% of the development. But never just for the arena.

No bait and switch. If 80% of the development is paid for by private money, no matter how it is allocated, then there was no damn lie.

[onthestrip]

It's not meant to confuse. They aren't lying in any way, like some on here are saying. How the 80% is allocated doesn't matter. That's the point. But believe what you want. I'm done trying to convince people on here that the truth is the truth, and trying to spin it to make it seem like a lie just because there are now more details that don't contradict the original statement doesn't make it any less of the truth. They never outright said they were paying 80% of the arena. Find me that line. You'll find 80% of the development. But never just for the arena.

No bait and switch. If 80% of the development is paid for by private money, no matter how it is allocated, then there was no damn lie.

Go back to post 1262 of this thread and read the press release. $1 billion project, 80% from private money, only 20% of public money. That was the big headline. There was no further breakdown on just the arena. They pumped up a bunch of "potential" private developments to make the public funding side of the arena look smaller than what we now know to be much higher. Went from 20% to 60% after you got into the details.

Heres how it will go down. Public will pay for most of the arena. Private ancillary development will be less than originally promised and take much longer to happen, all while Norman sees very little sales tax bump, if at all, and game attendance wont be any better.

[jedicurt]

Heres how it will go down. Public will pay for most of the arena. Private ancillary development will be less than originally promised and take much longer to happen, all while Norman sees very little sales tax bump, if at all, and game attendance wont be any better.

this is all just your opinion. except for the part on the public funds for the arena, they will be around 60%.

[chssooner]

Go back to post 1262 of this thread and read the press release. $1 billion project, 80% from private money, only 20% of public money. That was the big headline. There was no further breakdown on just the arena. They pumped up a bunch of "potential" private developments to make the public funding side of the arena look smaller than what we now know to be much higher. Went from 20% to 60% after you got into the details.

Heres how it will go down. Public will pay for most of the arena. Private ancillary development will be less than originally promised and take much longer to happen, all while Norman sees very little sales tax bump, if at all, and game attendance wont be any better.

I'm done dealing with you not reading. You're ineptness and inane ability to not read the whole story, and focus on 1 part, is detrimental to discussing this, and I won't be a part of your irresponsible handling of this.

80% of total costs will be private. Not 80% of every part and parcel of the development.

You're negative and biased against this, so there is no sense in me wasting any energy or breath on someone who wants to see something only 1 way.

[BoulderSooner]

You can say this but the headline takeaway was 80% of the funding was private money. Probably could call it a bait and switch but at the very least its fudging the numbers to make the arena funding look better than it actually is. Curious what land value OU has put on the piece that will be the arena. Wouldnt be surprised if they pumped up that number too.

if you thought there was going to be a 1 billion dollar arena for OU basketball then that is on you

[SEMIweather]

If you don't think that this entire development is going to end up being very underwhelming, please DM me...I'd love to set up a time to inspect your wallet.

[HangryHippo]

If you don't think that this entire development is going to end up being very underwhelming, please DM me...I'd love to set up a time to inspect your wallet.

[Crocodile Tears]

If the public is going to pay for 60 percent of this arena, why not just use the taxpayer money to build the arena on campus? And the other 40 percent will be private and University funds? Sounds like it’s going to be taxpayer money and university money paying for the bulk if this. Then to have the city on the hook for infrastructure upgrades is a joke. Just build the arena where the infrastructure already exists (like on a college campus.) The entire argument was that the arena had to be built at UNP because it wouldn’t get built without the private funds. Now it turns out the majority of the money for the arena is going to be taxpayer funded with a kick in from the university and some unknown “private” dollar amount. Sounds like OU is moving their arena off campus to get maybe 15-25 percent of the arena built by private money. After the city pays for all of the new infrastructure needed in the area that small private amount will be a wash. What a joke.

[Plutonic Panda]

What a really stupid development. All of this to have the smallest arena. Typical Oklahoma sh!t.

[chssooner]

What a really stupid development. All of this to have the smallest arena. Typical Oklahoma sh!t.

I'll tell that to Duke...

[Plutonic Panda]

I'll tell that to Duke...

I love the money lamp. That’s my response to that.

[chssooner]

I love the money lamp. That’s my response to that.

Not sure what that means, but it makes no sense, so is right on brand.

[Rover]

What a really stupid development. All of this to have the smallest arena. Typical Oklahoma sh!t.

We all know you look down on Oklahomans.

[chssooner]

We all know you look down on Oklahomans.

He thinks the new arena is being built for increasing attendance majorly. OU doesn't sell out anything more than 10k, so why build a 15k arena?

[Plutonic Panda]

We all know you look down on Oklahomans.

Yeah I do. I think Oklahomans are all a bunch of backwards hillbilly uneducated hicks who I’m so much better than. That includes all my family and friends I grew up with because I essentially grew up in Edmond and north Dallas. All because I want to see better quality developments and not the smoke and mirror crap we get so often. I want to see better developments in Oklahoma which means I think I’m better. Yeah, real sound argument.

I also really appreciate you claiming I feel that way about my friends and family. Many of whom are Oklahomans.

[Plutonic Panda]

Not sure what that means, but it makes no sense, so is right on brand.

Family guy reference from the episode where they’re trapped in a safe hiding from robbers where Peter explains why he doesn’t like the Godfather Trilogy. One of the best written scripts IMO as far as a hilarious natural dialogue between fictitious cartoon characters go all by Seth.

He thinks the new arena is being built for increasing attendance majorly. OU doesn't sell out anything more than 10k, so why build a 15k arena?

Maybe attendance would increase? If there really isn’t much of a demand or expected increase in demand why all the talk about it being a good spot here as opposed to the campus since much of the attendees are from campus anyways? If the appeal was to not worry about increased attendance or current demands being met but a new facility is needed why not go bigger?

Count me on the side who hopes this proposal gets shot down especially since it’ll be the smallest arena. If it were bigger then maybe I could be on board with it. Not that it really matters though or I have a say.

[bombermwc]

Look im not in favor of this at all, but i dont think they need to build a 15k arena.

OU basketball is not doing well. Attendance is not good. A new arena isn't going to make everyone suddenly want to go to an OU game. Maybe for the first few games, but that's it. The team has to improve in order to fill the place. And honestly, OU has struggled to fill Lloyd Noble even when they were doing great. There were always seats available. Not nearly as many as there are now, but there were plenty. We dont need another 15k arena in the area for sure. Especially if it's going to be not well filled. What this development does, it give OU a chance to scrub the Lloyd Noble site of the current arena while whey figure out what their new plan will be. It's going to hurt recruiting for years, not having a campus-based "OU" facility. Having to drive a recruit over to the "Norman" arena, will not look good. Especially when the team is already struggling with recruiting. Some of the newer SEC arenas are nice, but I still argue that even Lloyd Noble holds its own in Big 12 and SEC. It's far from the bottom. This does allow OU to use the facility without having to dump a bunch of money in to it. It's about having breathing room for a bit.

I would prefer we figure it out on the OU campus myself, but that doesn't look like the plan that's on the table. My magic 8 ball thinks that in another 10 years, we'll be looking at what the new OU arena will look like though.

As for the public/private split, well if I were a Norman voter, i would vote No. The split keeps changing and it's not favorable to the city now. Rather the developers are just working out how to decrease their funding needs, while still getting what they want. It seems to me, that it's evolving into an unfavorable situation.

Call the Funk Express Sports train. Maybe they could find a way to bring us hockey or arena football in Norman?

[Thunderbolt]

Smaller arenas are a trend in college basketball.

UT's state-of-the-art new arena holds about 10,000 (down from 16,500 at the Drum).

Baylor, who won recent national championships in both men's and women's basketball, is building a new arena with just 7,000 seats.

Despite smaller attendance, a lot of "big" schools have created terrific atmospheres with tiny arenas - such as Duke and Gonzaga. Sell out almost every game, no empty seats, louder acoustics.

Auburn's new 9,000 seat arena would be a great model for OU. I do wish it was on or closer to campus, though: https://auburntigers.com/sports/2022...asketball.aspx

[scottk]

Smaller arenas are a trend in college basketball.

UT's state-of-the-art new arena holds about 10,000 (down from 16,500 at the Drum).

Baylor, who won recent national championships in both men's and women's basketball, is building a new arena with just 7,000 seats.

Despite smaller attendance, a lot of "big" schools have created terrific atmospheres with tiny arenas - such as Duke and Gonzaga. Sell out almost every game, no empty seats, louder acoustics.

Auburn's new 9,000 seat arena would be a great model for OU. I do wish it was on or closer to campus, though: https://auburntigers.com/sports/2022...asketball.aspx

If Oklahoma State had just held on to their 6386 seats that had in GIA, even though expansion 25 years ago seemed like the right move at the time.

[Pete]

This is Baylor's 7,000-seat arena; will be very similar to what would be built for OU:

[BoulderSooner]

S
Auburn's new 9,000 seat arena would be a great model for OU. I do wish it was on or closer to campus, though: https://auburntigers.com/sports/2022...asketball.aspx

i agree with this ..

I will also add that I have on pretty good authority that money was the chief driver of the 8k capacity

OU really would have liked this to be 10k (as the plan from a few years ago had)

[Jersey Boss]

But, But ,But, OU only plans to use this arena 25% of open dates. So if OU only plans to contribute less than 40 % and use it less than 30% why the concern on what OU basketball can fill? With what OU is kicking in and the amount of dates they are committing to it seems OU has an outsized influence on this proposed arena.