Northwest Arkansas Sports and Entertainment Arena

[KJW]

Supposedly this is still going to go forward but it's been scaled back. I think it's supposed to be a 7,000 seat $38 Mil facility now. I guess we'll just have to see.

[mcheiss]

I read the article and the quotes that Talley provided to the Morning News seemed like he had uncertainty about the area. He mentioned that he could build a 9,000 seats, but what if they weren't filled? I still hope this is built, but I hate to see it downsized. Surely the WNBA wants more than 7,000 seats.

[Mith242]

I read the article and the quotes that Talley provided to the Morning News seemed like he had uncertainty about the area. He mentioned that he could build a 9,000 seats, but what if they weren't filled? I still hope this is built, but I hate to see it downsized. Surely the WNBA wants more than 7,000 seats.

[Aporkalypse]

Supposedly this is still going to go forward but it's been scaled back. I think it's supposed to be a 7,000 seat $38 Mil facility now. I guess we'll just have to see.

[Mith242]

I would wager this issue isn't NWA's need but rather Talley's funding falling through. I think NWA needs a nice general entertainment arena but Talley's group is not the one you want to do it as I said from the get-go.

7000 seats will not get you major concerts nor anything like the WNBA, etc that was promised. It would still be fine for the ECHL. We're talking about competing with Hot Springs and Jonesboro for events instead of Little Rock, Tulsa, and Springfield.

I'd rather see the whole thing scrapped and a new arena proposal considered, perhaps one that was publicly funded. I really think to get what you guys want 12,000 is the number to shoot for.

[Arkansas Student]

That would be interesting. Rogers could do what basically Springdale did for their baseball park.

[jcaruth]

Ive, never heard of a 50k seat arena...this would be a full dome. I dont think NWA will ever need anything this large. 15,000 seats seems like it would be the perfect size for this area. That is large enough to get big events, yet not so large that it feels empty when not sold out.

[Arkansas Student]

Okay maybe I was being a little overzealous with 50k seats, considering Alltel is what, about 26k? Probably 20k is a nice big number, and that is close to the original size estimate (17k I think, when it was going to be XNA Arena). I was using arena as a general term. The arena I've seen in the renderings has a dome, but I wasn't differentiating between covered or uncovered.

[mcheiss]

Okay maybe I was being a little overzealous with 50k seats, considering Alltel is what, about 26k? Probably 20k is a nice big number, and that is close to the original size estimate (17k I think, when it was going to be XNA Arena). I was using arena as a general term. The arena I've seen in the renderings has a dome, but I wasn't differentiating between covered or uncovered.

[Aporkalypse]

Okay maybe I was being a little overzealous with 50k seats, considering Alltel is what, about 26k? Probably 20k is a nice big number, and that is close to the original size estimate (17k I think, when it was going to be XNA Arena). I was using arena as a general term. The arena I've seen in the renderings has a dome, but I wasn't differentiating between covered or uncovered.

[slyder1]

I'm sure that most of you are aware of Tulsa's new BOK Arena (Bank of Oklahoma Arena) being built. I think its going to be around 18,500 seats. The desing is amazing and I think it is the most architecturally challenging design for an arena I've ever seen. Here are some photos:

[Mith242]

I'm sure that most of you are aware of Tulsa's new BOK Arena (Bank of Oklahoma Arena) being built. I think its going to be around 18,500 seats. The desing is amazing and I think it is the most architecturally challenging design for an arena I've ever seen. Here are some photos:

[masons_dad1]

I'm sure that most of you are aware of Tulsa's new BOK Arena (Bank of Oklahoma Arena) being built. I think its going to be around 18,500 seats. The desing is amazing and I think it is the most architecturally challenging design for an arena I've ever seen. Here are some photos:

[Thia]

I wouldn't expect NWA to ever have anything remotely as nice as that arena. And I'm sure it will have a major impact on NWA's future as far as arena events go. The bigger events and concerts will go to Tulsa. It's like setting us back to before XNA was built and everyone drove to Tulsa to fly.

[masons_dad1]

Hey... if world renowned architect Moshe Safdie can design Crystal Bridges in the woods of Bentonville... nothing is out of scope in NWA. It would be very cool to have an architecturally significant arena in NWA.

[thewizard16]

The difference is that none of the Walton billionaires care enough for sports to build an arena in Bentonville. There's no way NWA can compete against Tulsa for a large arena. We'll just have to settle for a small, mediocre arena with 2nd rate sports and entertainment.

[KJW]

I think the main thing is that it's difficult to convince someone in this area that any sport other than the University's athletics are worthy of significant investment.

[Thia]

Verification: I got to hear the spiel of the GM of the new team last week. Confirmed: they won't announce the name of the new team until the end of this season due to organization regs. Thunder Chickens is most likely not the team's name. Most likely it will named as a

[Mith242]

Verification: I got to hear the spiel of the GM of the new team last week. Confirmed: they won't announce the name of the new team until the end of this season due to organization regs. Thunder Chickens is most likely not the team's name. Most likely it will named as a

[Sammy00]

Any new information on the arena projects, Springdale or Rogers?

Everytime I drive by the site in Rogers I look closely, and continue to be disappointed.

[Mith242]

A bit off topic here but I thought I'd mention it. Little Rock has apparently lost the NBADL team. Makes me wonder though what our area can support when central Arkansas has problems with some of this. I know there are other circumstances involved. But it still makes me wonder what this area can actually support realistically.

[Aporkalypse]

A bit off topic here but I thought I'd mention it. Little Rock has apparently lost the NBADL team. Makes me wonder though what our area can support when central Arkansas has problems with some of this. I know there are other circumstances involved. But it still makes me wonder what this area can actually support realistically.

[Mith242]

I think part of that was tied into having too large an arena (18,500 seats) for an event that typically draws less than 3000 everywhere. Only one other arena in the league had more than 12,000 seats. Higher costs of operation demand higher rents at that type of facility and it's just too much for an NBADL to manage. This is the same reason the arena drove off the ECHL team, the Riverblades. One problem is lack of a second tier venue for sporting events - Barton Coliseum is a good size at a capacity of 8000 but it's run down and in an undesirable area.

A smaller arena in the 6000-8000 range might be better for the NBADL and ECHL in terms of keeping a team around in NWA. I think competition with UA basketball is what would kill the NBADL, though.

[Sammy00]

I agree with you guys.

I think an Arena 2 team would be nice and would probably go over in this area (like the Twisters in LR).

This state loves some football, and this would compliment baseball nicely in the Winter and Spring.

I don't have much faith in those semi-pro basketball leagues. You just generally don't see much excitement generated by them.

I do think an Arena 2 team (they have teams in Bossier City, Davenport, and Wichita), state high school basketball tournaments, concerts, and things like that would go over well in a 8-12k seat arena.

But back to the question, anymore on the development of these projects?

[cowbreath]

I doubt these projects will be developed. Rogers is basically laughing at the information they've received so far. This is just a pipedream so far.

I don't have much faith in the non-NBA pro bball leagues either. They are way too disorganized and underpublicized and independent to know what the heck is going on with them. If there was one minor league system with buy-in from the franchises I think they would fair a whole lot better. They should just stop all current leagues all-together for a couple of years and then start this new system.