Last Updated on January 5, 2024, 12:01 AM | Published: December 9, 2023
OKLAHOMA CITY (Free Press) — UPDATED — On Tuesday, OKC voters will ultimately decide whether to approve a proposed $900 million budget for a new arena, which comes with a 25-year commitment from the Thunder to extend their presence in the city beyond 2050.
In this fact-checking article, Free Press has examined claims circulating social media or voiced during public events regarding the new arena. Our objective is to assess the accuracy of these claims and address any potential misinformation.
Claim: The PayCom Center is the smallest arena in the NBA.
Fact Check: Partially false.
While this assertion has been making rounds on social media, it’s technically inaccurate. The PayCom Center may have the smallest square footage among NBA arenas, but it doesn’t hold the title for the smallest capacity in the league. That distinction belongs to the Smoothie King Center in Louisiana, home to the New Orleans Pelicans.
The total square feet of the PayCom Center is 586,000, with a seating capacity of 18,203.
Claim: With the arena being owned by the city, the profits of all events will go to the city of OKC.
Fact-check: False.
If approved, the ownership of the new arena by the City of OKC doesn’t imply that the revenue generated from the Thunder games or concerts would be reinvested in the city.
The Thunder’s ownership group organized as The Professional Basketball Club, LLC is made up of some of Oklahoma’s wealthiest, with OKC’s Clay Bennett serving as chairman.
According to the existing agreement with the owners, the team has the right to receive a portion of the revenue generated from team event ticket sales, concessions, advertising, and food and beverage sales. Additionally, the team is entitled to revenues generated from merchandise, naming rights, and luxury/premium seating.
The City of OKC incurs annual operational costs, which includes utilities, maintenance, and incentive fee to The Professional Basketball Club.
The City has a budgeted portion of operating costs set aside for the PayCom Center operations. For the 2023 fiscal year, the net cost of operations was over $5.3 million. The city budgeted around $8.2 million, which means there was a surplus of over $3.2 million. According to the contract, this money can go back into capital improvement funds held by either the city or ASM Global, the national management company that manages the PayCom Center on behalf of the city. The funds are intended for maintenance, upgrades, or covering operating costs at the arena.
The Thunder pays ASM Global an annual arena rent of about $1.6 million, which is about $40,000 for each of the 41 regular season home games. Additionally, an extra $40,000 is to be paid for each preseason and postseason home game. The team is also obligated to pay a yearly practice facility rent of $100,000.
Claim: The Thunder will leave if voters do not approve a new arena penny sales tax.
Fact-check: To be determined
This claim has been heavily implied by Mayor David Holt as well as other advocates of the issue. Nevertheless, there is no documented instance of explicit threats by the Thunder’s owner, Clay Bennett, or his partners indicating an intention to relocate if voters do not endorse the ballot measure.
The implication is that the Thunder could relocate to play in a more extensive market with newer arena’s than the PayCom Center.
It is known that the Thunder pledged to extend their commitment with the city for an additional 25 years, contingent upon the approval of a new arena. After the temporary 3-year lease with the city expires, the Thunder has no legal obligation to stay in OKC past 2026.
Claim: The plan to build the new arena came after 14 months of public discussion and collaborative dialogue between Oklahoma City leaders and the leadership of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Fact-check: Partially false.
This is a claim that was made by Mayor Holt on X, formerly Twitter, in September when he announced the finalized plan to build a new arena. The 14-month timeline of public discussion may hold true for Holt since he’s been discussing the issue for over a year.
It is true that since July 2022, Holt has been publicly promoting the concept of a new arena and using the extension of the penny sales tax to fund it.
However, he did not disclose the details or financial aspects of the proposal until September 12 when City Council members were informed. A few hours later a select few of the news media were invited to a news conference where details of the total cost estimates were revealed and the financial commitment of the owners was disclosed.
“The day that the proposal was announced to the public was also the day that it was announced to the council,” said Ward 6 Councilwoman JoBeth Hamon during a public event. “You know, it was a lot of either willfully holding back information or truly they have not done the research or work to provide some of those numbers.”
Claim: Polling shows that a strong majority of OKC citizens approve of a new arena.
Fact-check: False.
This claim has been circulating by proponents of the new arena on social media, including Holt. However, there has been no poll released as of publication that supports this assertion.
A poll by Emerson College surveyed voters across the state and citywide on whether they support or oppose a penny sales tax for OKC residents to fund the new stadium.
According to Emerson, the poll was carried out from Oct. 1-3, 2023. The sample involved 495 of registered voters statewide, aligning with the poll’s margin of error +/- 4.6 percentage points.
The subset representing OKC residents was 82, proportional to their demographic representation in the state. Almost 700,000 residents inhabit the City of Oklahoma City.
It’s important to note that although the poll surveyed voters from across the state, only OKC residents are eligible to participate in Tuesday’s election.
Voting Information
Polls will be open from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm on Tuesday, Dec. 12.
Residents of OKC are eligible to vote in the special election and eligibility is not restricted solely to those with an OKC mailing address. This is because some residences with zip codes in neighboring cities technically fall within OKC City limits. These areas include:
- Edmond
- Bethany
- Spencer
- Yukon
- Choctaw
- Norman
- Harrah
- Jones
- Luther
- McCloud
- Mustang
- Newalla
- Piedmont
Click here to find your polling place or to determine your eligibility to vote.
Brianna Garcia is a freelance journalist covering local politics and culture for Free Press. She has a degree in Journalism from the University of Central Oklahoma.
