Paycom Center, home of the NBA Oklahoma City Thunder, opened in 2002. (Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images)
Arena in line for $105 million in upgrades
Populous has been selected by Oklahoma City to develop a master plan for renovations at the 20-year-old Paycom Center, home of the NBA Oklahoma City Thunder.
Paycom Center is in line for $105 million in taxpayer-approved funding for improvements and renovations.
Construction work at the ASM Global-run venue will start later this year, beginning with new 300-level seating and elevators, and continue in 2023 with new seating, a new scoreboard, improved 300-level concessions and a bar, along with other tech and infrastructure improvements.
Work should be complete by 2028, a timeline that will allow the Thunder to continue to play home games and other events to take place at Paycom Center, which opened in 2002, as construction proceeds.
Populous teamed with Oklahoma City architect GSB in designing the $288 million Oklahoma City Convention Center, which opened in January of 2021 as the replacement for the Cox Convention Center.
The Thunder and Paycom announced a 15-year naming rights partnership for the former Chesapeake Energy Arena in July.
Paycom, a provider of human resource and payroll software, is an S&P 500 company and one of Oklahoma’s largest, with a market cap of approximately $23 billion.
