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New OU basketball arena in Rock Creek Entertainment district to break ground

headshotby: George Stoia05/07/26GeorgeStoia

The new home for OU basketball will finally break ground soon.

It was announced on Thursday that the Rainier Company, which was hired to build a new Rock Creek Entertainment district, will officially break ground on May 12. OU and the city announced in 2024 their intentions of building a $1.2 billion entertainment district in Rock Creek that would include a nearly $330 million arena, which would succeed the Lloyd Noble Center. Since then, both the school and the city have been involved in multiple legal battles.

Now, it appears construction will finally begin.

“It’s going to be incredible,” OU athletics director Roger Denny said on Wednesday at the Sooner Caravan. “All of a sudden, you can go for a game, and instead of sitting on Highway 9 for an hour trying to get out of there, you can go hang out and have a great meal or a drink in the district and have a good time.”

Due to the multiple legal battles since 2024, the project has been delayed as construction has yet to begin. OU, after all, originally hoped construction for the arena would be complete by 2027-28. That will likely be pushed back a couple of years. Though the school and city are hopeful that full construction will begin as soon as possible.

The arena is expected to seat around 8,000 fans and will be the home for OU men’s and women’s basketball, as well as women’s gymnastics. OU will be the anchor tenant of the arena, using around 24-28% of its availability each year.

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