New Arena (formerly Prairie Surf)

[Plutonic Panda]

that is the problem boulder is not a part of denver .. it is 30 miles away ...

that is like going from downtown OKC to north of guthrie or to purcell

It would be nice if they had a commuter train or something going to Boulder.

[BoulderSooner]

It would be nice if they had a commuter train or something going to Boulder.

that was supposed to be part of Fastracks .. that was passed in 2004 ..


https://www.cpr.org/2024/09/18/bould...-rail-expense/

still hasn't been delivered ..

[mugofbeer]

I think it was pretty much shelved due to cost but may be part of the front range commuter rail the state is pushing and just got a big government grant for preliminary work.

[aDark]

[kukblue1]

So when a big concert gets cancelled is there something still in the contract that the Arena still gets something? Oh and JT didn't cancel cause of his back no one is buying that. Ticket sales were horrible for his OKC show all the more reason the new arena will probably be smaller capacity wise.

[bison34]

So when a big concert gets cancelled is there something still in the contract that the Arena still gets something? Oh and JT didn't cancel cause of his back no one is buying that. Ticket sales were horrible for his OKC show all the more reason the new arena will probably be smaller capacity wise.

How do you know ticket sales were low? OKC rarely, if ever, has issues selling tickets for their concerts.

[Urbanized]

^^^^^^^^^^^
Ticket sales for JT were definitely slow. But that most likely has more to do with JT than it does the OKC market.

[kukblue1]

How do you know ticket sales were low? OKC rarely, if ever, has issues selling tickets for their concerts.

Well a worker told me it was like around 7,000. Plus I was checking everyday for a week cause I was debating about going and there were plenty and I mean plenty of seats for sale 2-3 weeks out. Than they all of a sudden stopped sailing tickets in the upper bowl. Also if an artist cancels last minute it gets reschedule. Manilow, Luke Bryan both cancelled both had new dates right away. So all signs point to ticket sales.

[BoulderSooner]

all the more reason the new arena will probably be smaller capacity wise.

very doubtfull

[BDP]

Slow ticket sales would be reflective of an industry more so than a market specific problem. Arena sales have been down in general. Entire tours were cancelled this year and it had been reported that JT has had slow sales in several markets.

The new arena's capacity will be dictated by demand for its primary tenant, not the demand for Justin Timberlake shows.

[kukblue1]

What happens when a show does get cancelled. Does the venue still get something since they have had to reserve that date? While a JT concert won't be a deciding factor it does go too show that tickets for many things are down. So why build it bigger. Plus less seats means more demands which means more money in resale values. My money is around 17,000 for basketball. It's 18,209? now

[jn1780]

What happens when a show does get cancelled. Does the venue still get something since they have had to reserve that date? While a JT concert won't be a deciding factor it does go too show that tickets for many things are down. So why build it bigger. Plus less seats means more demands which means more money in resale values. My money is around 17,000 for basketball. It's 18,209? now

How much cost savings for shrinking by a few thousand? Just seems like it wouldn't be worth the risk to cap it off at a lower capacity when the population of the city is growing. Its easy to drape off some seats, but next to impossible to add seats 10 to 15 years down the road.

Here's a fairly recent article. I doubt sales will remain down forever.
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/con...ces-rcna154558

[bison34]

I mean, newer, better, more upscale amenities means you can charge more per seat. So cutting maximum seats to boost amenities is very, very likely.

[Laramie]

How much cost savings for shrinking by a few thousand? Just seems like it wouldn't be worth the risk to cap it off at a lower capacity when the population of the city is growing. Its easy to drape off some seats, but next to impossible to add seats 10 to 15 years down the road.

Here's a fairly recent article. I doubt sales will remain down forever.
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/con...ces-rcna154558

This is the main reason why OKC should go ahead and build an arena in the 19,100-seat range. Portland doesn't fill its 19,393 seat venue; we know there's more to do in Portland
than OKC with less than 1 million people than the Rose City.

Our new arena will cost more than a billion; build it to the current NBA average 19,100; if this is too much capacity for the team in 2028; like the suggestion to drape off some seats.
We need an arena with a minimum of 19,100 seats to compete with cities like Louisville (22,000 seats), Greensboro (23,000 seats), Raleigh (19,500) and Nashville (19,300).

[Dob Hooligan]

What happens when a show does get cancelled. Does the venue still get something since they have had to reserve that date? While a JT concert won't be a deciding factor it does go too show that tickets for many things are down. So why build it bigger. Plus less seats means more demands which means more money in resale values. My money is around 17,000 for basketball. It's 18,209? now

I think arena operators, ticket brokers and tour promoters are very closely interlinked today. I'm guessing cancellation charges are carefully defined, and have multiple dates before show where the cost changes based on possible replacements for the date, etc. Seems like a cancellation less than 15 days before the show without a make up promise would have the highest charge to the performer.

[warreng88]

Intuit Dome in LA is brand new and 18,000 people. Chase Arena is five years old and holds 18,000 people. Fiserv is 17,500. Kings Arena is 17,500. Barclays is 17,700. All of those were built new in the last 15 years. The only one that is larger is the Pistons arena at 20,000 and I am sure they are not filling that for basketball right now.

[jn1780]

I mean, newer, better, more upscale amenities means you can charge more per seat. So cutting maximum seats to boost amenities is very, very likely.

True, Seat count is probably a very bad measurement to measure arena size. Your initial arena design does limit you to how many seats you can upgrade to more premium in future remodels. The upper bowl will always be your cheaper seats. They can make them larger but there is only so much you can do.

I'm guessing arenas have the same overall diameter though and what adds space is how far up and out you go?

[BoulderSooner]

Intuit Dome in LA is brand new and 18,000 people. Chase Arena is five years old and holds 18,000 people. Fiserv is 17,500. Kings Arena is 17,500. Barclays is 17,700. All of those were built new in the last 15 years. The only one that is larger is the Pistons arena at 20,000 and I am sure they are not filling that for basketball right now.

yep i would expect the new arena to be between 17,500 and 18,000 seats .. right around the current 18,203 . ..

[gopokes88]

It's not going to be much bigger, and there's a 90% chance we follow the well established trend that it's a little smaller.

[Paseofreak]

I too think it will be within a few hundred of what we now have. But that opinion came from directly between my back pockets based upon nothing more than the seating capacity of other arenas in different places and circumstances decided upon over a decade ago. It means absolutely nothing and will have no bearing on the outcome.

Our consultants and designers (presumably selected for their extensive knowledge and experience with multi-use arenas) will review pertinent historical data, current trends and best practices and then meet with stakeholders (OKC, Thunder, current arena operator, etc.) to understand site specific conditions, concerns and objectives. Then they will conduct an informed and thoughtful analysis to arrive at a recommended target seating capacity give or take a few hundred.
My opinion nor any other opinion not based on the meaningful data used for the analysis will tip the scales a single gram. It will be what it will be and I’m sure it will be well considered.

[caaokc]

I swear every few pages is a rehash of capacity discourse lol

[bison34]

I swear every few pages is a rehash of capacity discourse lol

There is only spend much to discuss when we don't have any clue as to what it will look like. Only hypothetical discussions of capacity or amenities.

[April in the Plaza]

There is only spend much to discuss when we don't have any clue as to what it will look like. Only hypothetical discussions of capacity or amenities.

well said. i bet they 2x the number of suites, drop capacity to 17.5k, raise ticket prices by ~30% across the board, and substantially increase the number of premium event spaces.

[jn1780]

So I assume Prairie Surf Studios is pretty empty at this point? Unless they are waiting for the last minute to move out.

They haven't made any effort to update their website, but I guess if you don't have any news on where you will end up there is no reason to.

[Pete]

^

Not only that, they don't have anywhere to go.

I believe they are going to try and build a new facility in the Stadium District, but that would be at least a year away, and probably more like 2.

They have a ton of equipment. Perhaps they'll rent space somewhere in the interim.