UNC's arena debate: Renovate Dean Dome or cash in on new site?
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The Dean Smith Center in 2024. Photo: Nicholas Faulkner/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The University of North Carolina still won't say whether it's going to renovate the existing men's basketball arena or build a new one elsewhere in Chapel Hill, but athletics staff are narrowing the list to three favorites, and this offseason may provide an answer.
Why it matters: Athletics staff hope the new (or improved) Dean E. Smith Center will bring in millions more annually, keeping the Tar Heels competitive in recruitment as money pours into the once-amateur sport.
The big picture: Money has flooded into college sports since NCAA players won the ability to get paid for their name, image and likeness.
- This season, Carolina topped $14 million in NIL spending and hired a general manager with an $850,000 salary, Inside Carolina reported.
Zoom in: Consultants from nine national and local firms, many specializing in sports arenas and their economics, gave athletics officials detailed feedback and cost estimates for seven options, which helped the school narrow the list to three front-runners.
- Renovate: Carolina basketball legends like Roy Williams and Tyler Hansbrough favor this option, which is projected to produce $4.1 million a year, though some money may be lost if home games are moved during construction.
- Cost: Roughly $591 million, about $257 million of which can be raised from donors.
- Build a new arena in Carolina North: This most expensive option would move the arena to the massive mixed-use district being planned 2 miles north of campus. It could produce $26 million annually — the most of any option — plus money generated by the surrounding entertainment district.
- Cost: $786 million, though $404 million is expected to come from donors.
- Build a new arena in Odum Village: Formerly housing for grad students with families, this dark-horse contender emerged a couple of years ago. It's capable of generating $25 million a year. The 14-acre lot is spacious enough to go big without leaving UNC's main campus. Students could still rush Franklin Street after big wins.
- Cost: $703 million, though again, $404 million would come from donors.
State of play: Athletics staff has been meeting with former players, donors, season-ticket holders, basketball program staff, students, and alumni to share details and solicit feedback as planning intensifies.
What they're saying: "There's emotion, there's logic and there's finance," athletic director Bubba Cunningham told reporters this week, explaining that everyone places different value on, say, preserving tradition versus having comfy seats versus maximizing revenue to help with recruitment.
- Incoming athletic director Steve Newmark says that "the intent is not to be persuasive or to push in a certain direction. It's to show all the work and all of the factual underpinnings for the options that we have."
The intrigue: Regardless of which option is chosen, capacity will go down.
- The Dean Dome seats 21,750, making it the NCAA's fourth-largest college basketball arena. Athletics staff say that in the 1980s, when it was built, the predominant strategy was to pack in as many seats as possible.
- Now, fans want more legroom and bigger concourses, consultants have told UNC. The new plans, under both renovation and rebuilding, call for between 16,200 and 17,700 seats. Some of that capacity would be lucrative premium seating, including luxury suites.
Fun fact: Athletics staff says even if the arena gets rebuilt elsewhere, it will continue to be called the Smith Center and the court will continue to be named after Williams, to honor the program's two most legendary head coaches.
Friction point: 4,357 seats in the existing Smith Center permanently reserved for donors who helped pay for its construction would not carry over if the arena were rebuilt elsewhere, according to athletics staff.
- That frees up more lower-bowl seats for students, they say.
- A new arena would have to honor the 2,096 seats endowed through scholarships. Donors can pass them down once.
By the numbers: $1.3 million has been spent in the past three years on consulting, according to the athletics department.
The latest: The men's basketball team finished 18-0 at home this season, a first for the program, ESPN reported.
- To close out the regular season, No. 17 North Carolina faces No. 1 Duke on Saturday at 6:30pm on ESPN.
What's next: University sources decline to say when a decision will be made.
- Newmark says — cautiously — that renovation may be able to wrap up for the 2029 season, while building something new could take until 2031.