Six fast facts you should know about OKC's next arena, home of Thunder basketball
Oklahoma City is still years away from seeing a professional basketball game inside a new arena, but the unveiling of its design came with answers to several questions on Thunder fans' minds.
The upper concourse entrance to the new arena will include extensive landscaping designed to provide a seamless transition to the Myriad Gardens just west of the venue. The upper ring of the arena is being designed for digital displays.
From Thunder Alley to glass curtains, here are six facts we know about the new Oklahoma City arena as of July 2025.
When will the new arena open?
Construction on the arena will begin in 2026 and is scheduled to be completed in time for the OKC Thunder's 2028-2029 NBA season.
It will be built on the site of the former Myriad Convention Center, which was known later in life as the Cox Convention Center before demolition began in 2025. The block is slated to be cleared by the end of the year.
How many seats will the new OKC arena hold?
The arena's actual capacity hasn't been decided yet, but Mayor David Holt has said he expects fewer seats than the Paycom Center where the Thunder won its first NBA championship.
Holt said that the trend in recently built NBA-focused arenas has been to design for a crowd in the "seventeens" (17,000 range compared with 18,203 seats at Paycom Center).
How much will it cost?
Construction of the arena will likely cost more than $1 billion.
Nearly all of the funds, $900 million, will come from a 1% sales tax that will be on the books for six years. Another $78 million will come from the MAPS 4 tax. The Oklahoma City Thunder ownership group will contribute $50 million.
What will the new OKC Thunder arena look like?
Whether it was the intent of the designer or just a coincidence, OKC's next arena at first glance is dominated by a shape that evokes a familiar sight in Oklahoma: a mesocyclone.
Or it might be a UFO?
As the structure rises from street level, fans will see vibrant rings stacked on each other. The top level will support digital displays. All of that will be enclosed by a 360-degree glass curtain wall that offers panoramic views of the city.
Inside, the architect designed the seating area to be closer to the court than at the Paycom Center, offering more comfortable seating and a better sight line to the action.
Current plans include the OKC Thunder logo across the top of the arena.
Check out renderings of the design here:
Who will build OKC's new arena?
Longtime Oklahoma-based construction company Flintco will partner with Mortenson, a company nationally recognized for sports and entertainment construction, to build the new arena.
Flintco has built some of Oklahoma City's most iconic structures, including the Devon Tower, the Myriad Convention Center and the Thunder's current home, the Paycom Center.
Will Thunder Alley return?
Thunder Alley was an organized gathering of fans outside the arena who could watch the game on massive screens. Officials shut down the celebrations after a 2012 shooting in Bricktown that injured multiple people.
Until that point, Thunder Alley regularly attracted thousands of people.
The preliminary exterior conceptual designs released July 16, however, include a fan area that officials are tentatively calling "Thunder Alley." More details will be released in the coming months.
