Residents of Oklahoma City overwhelmingly approved a proposal to use taxpayer dollars to fund the majority of a new arena for the Thunder, according to reports from Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman and Sean Murphy of The Associated Press.
The vote, which occurred on Tuesday, asked OKC residents whether or not to approve a 1% sales tax that would fund approximately $850MM of the arena project. According to the Oklahoma State Election Board, 71% of the respondents voted in favor of the plan.
Under the proposed deal, Thunder owner Clay Bennett will also contribute $50MM to the construction of the arena, which is expected to cost around $900MM.
An exact location for the new building has yet to be determined, though mayor David Holt said finalizing that detail will be “one of the first orders of business.” According to Mussatto, the most likely location is the land currently occupied by Prairie Surf Studios (the former home of the Cox Convention Center).
The hope is that the new arena will be ready for the 2029/30 season. The Thunder have committed to play in the building for at least 25 years, which means the franchise would remain in Oklahoma City through at least 2054.
Since moving from Seattle to Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder (formerly the SuperSonics) have played in the Paycom Center, which opened in 2002. OKC voters previously approved a sales tax to finance upgrades to that arena — that tax will remain in effect until April 1, 2028, which is when this newly approved tax will begin.
“A signature of the Oklahoma City Thunder, beyond the team’s success on the floor, has been their deep connection to their fans and their community,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement (Twitter link via Joel Lorenzi of The Oklahoman). “This vote for a new arena is another example of that bond.
“We are grateful to the people of Oklahoma City for the confidence they have shown in both the Thunder and the NBA as we embark on a new era of global sports and entertainment.”
A example of billionaire socialism. Funny how people are OK with being taxed to give money to a rich billionaire.
They even took money earmarked for the homeless to give to the arena. Disgusting!
This is Oakland A’s bad almost. How can an owner only have to pay 50 out of 900 for anything in life? Cars and homes don’t work that way, why do extra expensive stadiums?
Hey, the owner threw 50 of own in out of 900. 5.5%. Team’s worth about $3 billion.
The deal has no cap on costs. Watch how fast $900 million turns into $2 billion. That the tax payers will pay for. Disgusting to see welfare for billionaires.
Owners bought the franchise for i think around $350 million. Now worth $3.5 billion yet the people of OKC are paying for an arena for them to play in. Crazy!
Like the raiders stadium that started at a little over $1 billion is now over $2 billion.
Not lying lol ….
City should own the arena. Therefore can make money on other venues. It’s Crazy !!
link to journalrecord.com
“When you tell me an arena is going to be a minimum of $900 million with no caps, you’ve just committed to a $2 billion arena,” he said. “It is by far the worst stadium deal I’ve ever seen negotiated from a public standpoint.”
It’s a continuation of a tax that was going to expire. So there’s no new extra taxes that the people will incur. Do I wish clay would have picked up more of the tab? Sure, but a new arena is such a needed thing for okc and not just for the thunder. We can never get any top acts to come here due to the pay on being such a terrible place for concerts. Tulsa has long gotten all of the top attractions in the past decade or so. Okc is lucky to get Motley Crue on their 57th retirement tour or The Beach Boys featuring a guy who was once their driver. (You get the point). There is a decent building project downtown going on that started with the Omni hotel coming and this arena near it will also look great. I didn’t have a vote since I don’t live in the city, but I am happy the citizens overwhelming said yes to getting this done. Also keeping the thunder in okc for what should be a solid decade of post season runs will be awesome as well. Future is looking good for okc.
Why does a business that was purchased for $350 million. That is now worth $3.5 billion. Need welfare to pay for a new stadium. Welfare from residents who the overwhelming majority of cannot even afford a ticket to a game.
Your so misinformed but that’s ok.
The team doesn’t own the stadium, the city does. The city uses it for many other events other than basketball. The city leases the arena to the thunder for its games. The money didn’t come from welfare. No matter how much you reply on every comment that it did, it didn’t. The maps4 account is about city improvements. Could a homeless shelter fit under that? Possibly, but it’s not 100% used for “welfare”.
Having a team in okc makes way more money than not having one. Just the players alone and their salaries with Oklahoma taxes makes millions annually. Not to mention the jobs the thing creates both directly (in the arena) and outside of it (bars, hotels, restaurants)
The last part that you won’t cover, is the people that have to pay for it, OVERWHELMINGLY APPROVED IT. They decided they wanted it. You have no argument when the people were given a choice to fund the arena and over 70% agreed they wanted it. I wish I was given a vote on how our govt spends its money these days.
It has been studied many times. Tax dollars generated by stadiums do not cover the costs of building the stadiums.
Seattle has been eliminated from the expansion list. The leauge was using them the whole time as leverage for this deal.