WHO OWNS ARENAS THAT HOST SEC BASKETBALL?

There is only ONE SEC basketball arena that is publicly owned, Rupp Arena hosts University of Kentucky Basketball.  The rest of the SEC arenas are university owned.  

                                                       Rupp Arena                                          Proposed UNP Arena                                       
Year Built                                        1976                                                     new

Owner                                              Lexington-Fayette Urban County       Norman/Cleveland Co Trust?
Location                                           core of metro area                               Edge of Norman/OKC metro 

Distance from campus                     .7 miles (walkable)                             5 miles (not walkable)

District Anchors                               arena+convention                               8,000 seat arena 

Funding source                                 Private Fundraising                            $220 m tax diversion

                                                                                                                      $25 m fund raising target

                                                                                                                      

SAME BASIC PLAN (Arena to anchor bar/restaurant strip), BIGGER PRICE TAG  

A little review of Arena 1.0 plan from 2018 is valuable.

“We elected to withdraw that motion, and step back, and work with the community and look for other ways to bring the project to life,” said OU Foundation spokesman Chip Carter."

 Let's see they hired Lawrence McKinney (Norman Economic Development Coalition) to head up TEAM Norman. Team Norman organized a "failed?" attempt to steer the ONE Visioning process to support an arena/entertainment district as a priority.  That process was pretty strange - a bunch of meetings in the summer and then meetings kept being added.  One thing that was clear from the process from the beginning was the desire for affordable housing and to address homelessness.  

Seems like the prediction that OU was looking to change council and not the plan was pretty on point.  

The basic plan is very similar to the original masterplan for the UNP district.  What has changed is the price tag and the ask. Giving up 100% of growth in tax revenues in the proposed district for up to 25 years is simply preposterous.  

Have a read.  OU Foundation pulls plan for new arena | KFOR.com Oklahoma City