{"id":681250,"date":"2026-03-27T02:42:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T02:42:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/681250\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T02:42:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T02:42:32","slug":"city-thunder-officials-break-ground-on-billion-dollar-new-arena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/681250\/","title":{"rendered":"City, Thunder officials break ground on billion-dollar new arena"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

OKLAHOMA CITY \u2013 Officials from the City of OKC and the Oklahoma City Thunder gathered downtown before an eager crowd Thursday for a groundbreaking ceremony officially launching the construction of the largest development project in Oklahoma City history.<\/p>\n

The newly named Continental Coliseum, the future home of the Thunder and the anchor of an expected sports and entertainment boom for Downtown in coming years, is being constructed on the site of the former Myriad Convention Center, and more recently, Prairie Surf Studios.<\/p>\n

The groundbreaking was another step toward fruition for a nearly billion-dollar project first approved by city vote in late-2023, and that staggering cost was a focus of statements by Mayor David Holt before the crowd Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the largest single public project in Oklahoma City\u2019s history, but it is also one of the largest projects in anyone\u2019s history,\u201d Holt said. \u201cThe Continental Coliseum project appears to have the fifth largest budget in the global history of arenas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beginning of construction<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s ceremony marks the end of the year-long demolition of the old building and the official beginning of work on the 750,000 square foot new arena, designed by Kansas City, Kansas-based MANICA Architecture and constructed primarily by Oklahoman builders Fintco and Minneapolis-based Mortenson Construction.<\/p>\n

\"\"Construction begins on the new Continental Coliseum arena in Downtown OKC, Mar 26, 2026 (B.FIELDCAMP\/Okla City Free Press)<\/p>\n

Though the arena is not expected to be completed and operational until 2028, Thunder representatives announced Tuesday that naming rights had already been secured by OKC-based oil and gas producers Continental Resources, whose founder and chairman, Harold Hamm, also spoke before the groundbreaking.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a kind of a quick decision made by our team,\u201d Hamm told the crowd of the decision by Contenental to enter into a 15-year contract for the arena\u2019s name. \u201cIt didn\u2019t take much. I considered the opportunity that was afforded us and I thought very quickly that, you know, we ought to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

That 15-year deal begins immediately and will include the two years of projected construction for the building, setting 2041 as the next time that the arena\u2019s naming rights will be up for negotiation.<\/p>\n

Monumental price tag<\/p>\n

The historic taxpayer cost for the new arena, and the December 2023 vote that overwhelmingly approved it, were repeated topics among the speakers Thursday, with Thunder Chairman Clay Bennett expressing gratitude to the OKC residents that voted in favor of the funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI truly think about every single citizen who woke up on that Tuesday and planned to go vote and went and voted \u2018yes\u2019 to support this project,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cThis is your day, this is your building, and we are forever grateful for the support of our citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Continental Coliseum design by MANICA Architecture (courtesy MANICA Architecture)<\/p>\n

The unprecedented taxpayer-funded model approved by that vote has loomed large over conversations about the new arena ever since.<\/p>\n

Of the projected $900 million cost, more than $850 million is being shouldered by OKC residents and consumers through penny sales tax extensions and MAPS funding, with Thunder ownership only contributing $50 million to the construction effort, an historically small percentage for team-city arena-funding partnerships.<\/p>\n

Ward 2 City Councilman James Cooper supported that funding model only after successfully presenting a resolution to City Council ensuring a Community Benefits Agreement supporting local staffing and wage guarantees, confirming to Free Press at the time that he would not have voted in favor of the arena\u2019s tax-funding otherwise.<\/p>\n

That Community Benefits Agreement was nearly nixed in a surprising City Council vote<\/a> in July of last year, reigniting debate about the $850 million taxpayer burden for the new facility.<\/p>\n

\"\"Shovels used by City and Thunder representatives for photos at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Continental Coliseum, Mar 26, 2026 (B.FIELDCAMP\/Okla City Free Press)<\/p>\n

A groundbreaking agreement<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a very public and transparent community conversation about the topic,\u201d Holt told the crowd Thursday, acknowledging the months-long debate<\/a> over the arena\u2019s funding in 2023, during which time Thunder officials had implied that without the new arena, they may move the team to a different city.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut with this commitment, we achieved the renewal we sought,\u201d he said. \u201cOur original 15-year agreement with the Thunder, which ended in 2023, has now been extended with a 25-year commitment that will commence when this new arena opens in 2028.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The crowd for the groundbreaking ceremony for the Continental Coliseum arena in Downtown OKC, Mar 26, 2026 (B.FIELDCAMP\/Okla City Free Press)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Brett Fieldcamp is the owner and Editor in Chief of Oklahoma City Free Press. He has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly two decades and served as Arts & Entertainment Editor before purchasing the company from founder Brett Dickerson in 2026.<\/p>\n

He is also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OKLAHOMA CITY \u2013 Officials from the City of OKC and the Oklahoma City Thunder gathered downtown before an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":681251,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3783],"tags":[7,6,310,475,179,3966,3965,312],"class_list":{"0":"post-681250","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oklahoma-city-thunder","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-oklahoma","11":"tag-oklahoma-city","12":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","13":"tag-oklahomacity","14":"tag-oklahomacitythunder","15":"tag-thunder"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116298838804486386","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=681250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/681251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=681250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=681250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=681250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}