It’s hard to say of a brand new basketball arena would help the Sooners will more games. A new arena today could easily cost north of $100 million.
Lloyd Noble Center was constructed for $6 million (the equivalent of around $30-35 million in today’s dollars). The new arena will seat 3,000 less than the current Ferrell Center. The capacity for the Moody Center is at 10,000.īaylor has plans for a new basketball arena, The Foster Pavilion, set to open in 2024 at a cost of $185 million. Frank Erwin Center, where the Longhorns have played since 1977 seats 16,500 for basketball. Texas has a new $338 million complex under construction, the Moody Center, and scheduled to open in 2023. Two of the current Big 12 teams have new arenas in the works, and both will be downsized versions of where the teams presently play.
Looking ahead to when Oklahoma will become a member of the Southeastern Conference, nine of the 14 SEC arenas are larger than OU’s. Lloyd Noble Center is the third smallest basketball venue in the Big 12. The last few years, however, Lloyd Noble Center has been only half filled in many nights of afternoons for Oklahoma basketball. So, winning Oklahoma teams definitely fill up the arena, but hasn’t been the case lately. Oklahoma averaged under 10,000 fans just twice over that time, and in five of the years attendance at the LNC averaged 11,000. The Sooners were 135-17 at Lloyd Noble Center in Sampson’s 10 seasons as head coach. OU’s success at home and overall continued under Sampson. From 1982-83 through the 1989-90 season, the Sooners were an incredible108-2 in their home building, including five undefeated seasons. OU won 87 percent of its home games (195-28. NORMAN, OKLAHOMA – (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)ĭuring Tubbs’ 14 seasons at Oklahoma, the Sooners averaged over 10,000 in attendance on a regular basis. The question is: How long would the newness and its attractivity to the fans last?Ī winning basketball program is the best way to boost fan interest, and that has been mostly missing, with a couple of exceptions under Lon Kruger, since the Billy Tubbs and Kelvin Sampson eras in Norman (in the 1980s and through the early years of the 2000s). The proposal was eventually voted down by the Norman City Council.Īside from the natural boost it would be expected to provide recruiting, it could also serve as an attraction to bring out more fans to the game. Nearly five years ago a group of private investors put together a plan for a new arena in North Norman using tax increment financing. This is not the first time a new arena has been proposed for Oklahoma basketball.
It’s a huge part of what we want and the direction we want to go,” Moser said. “There have been people who have had two arenas since (1975). Since he first set foot in Norman last spring, Moser has been adamant that he wanted to boost attendance at the LNC get more of the student fan base to come out to the basketball games. NORMAN, OK – (Photo by J Pat Carter/Getty Images)ĭuring his weekly press conference a week ago, Moser said, “I definitely think it’s time for a new arena for a lot of reasons.” The Oklahoma head coach said he has been talking with athletic director Joe Castiglione about it since he was hired, and “he’s (Castiglione) very much in those conversations and very aggressive with those conversations.”