OKC Thunder new arena design explained in 60 seconds
Oklahoma City is gearing up for a bold new chapter in sports and entertainment with a $1 billion NBA arena set to open in 2028.
When OKC and Thunder team officials unveiled the design of a new arena to replace the Paycom Center, they left a key detail unanswered: How many people will fit inside?
To their credit, seating capacity at the next arena hasn’t been finalized so there isn’t a definitive number to report. A website with details about the arena project confirms that seating capacity and seating design are still being developed for both Thunder basketball games and concerts, but OKC Mayor David Holt has suggested the aim was for more square footage, not more seats.
What little information there is, however, gives insight on what fans might expect when the doors open in 2028. Here’s what we know.
OKC’s new arena will probably have fewer seats
When the new design was revealed on July 16, Holt said the arena will probably be fewer seats than the Paycom Center, which has a capacity of 18,203 people. He said this is in line with a trend seen in newer arenas built specifically to host an NBA team.
Of the 11 NBA arenas built after the Paycom Center opened in 2002, only four have more seats inside the building: Detroit, Orlando, Charlotte and San Antonio.
A spokeswoman for the city said more details about seating arrangements are expected to be available in the coming months.
Arena will have fewer, but more comfy seats
Officials have boasted that the new arena will be larger than the Paycom Center.
“Whenever I’ve spoken that we need a bigger arena, I meant square footage,” Holt said during the arena announcement. “We didn’t mean the number of seats. We need more square footage for the overall venue because we have the smallest square footage in the NBA. If you look at all the new arenas, they are all in the seventeens (17,000 range compared to 18,203 seats at Paycom Center).”
Plans for the next arena show it will be nearly 50% larger by square footage than the Paycom Center. Officials expect the final design to be at least 750,000 square feet
Lead architect David Manica told The Oklahoman’s Steve Lackmeyer that feedback from the fans led to a design with better views of the court and, overall, a more comfortable experience for every fan regardless of whether they sit a court level or in the upper deck lovingly known as Loud City.
The entire audience, including the upper decks, will be closer to the court. Officials said the goal is to create a comfortable, intimate and exciting setting for a basketball game.
Steve Lackmeyer contributed to this story.