New Oklahoma City Arena

The New Oklahoma City Arena is a planned indoor arena to be constructed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It will be home to the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association. Its capacity is TBD. Opening is planned for 2028. It will be owned and operated by Oklahoma City.

History

When the Seattle SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008, its games were played at the then-named Ford Center. Since it was designed with minimum NBA/NHL standards, multiple renovations have occurred to bring it up to standards with some of the upgrades including seat replacement, expanded concourses, scoreboard replacement, locker room expansion. On December 12, 2023, Oklahoma City voters voted overwhelmingly in favor of constructing a new arena with an approval rate of 71%. On May 21, 2024, the Oklahoma City council approved funding for the new arena. Funding will come from three sources:

$78 million from MAPS 4
$50 million from PBCS&E
a minimum of $772 million, financed through the 72-month, one-cent special sales tax

On October 22, 2024, Manica was chosen to be the architect of the new arena. On March 11, 2025, the construction firms of Mortenson and Flintco were chosen to build the new arena. The arena will be built on the City-owned site of Prairie Surf Studios, formerly the Cox Convention Center, across the street from the current Paycom Center. Demolition began in Spring 2025 and is set to continue through September. The second phase of the demolition project started in December of 2025 and is expected to be completed by the spring of 2026.