Arena background information

The Matthew Knight Arena
From Contemplation to Construction: Background information
Dec. 13, 2008

Why a New Arena?
• McArthur Court must be replaced. Built in 1926, it is now 82 years old. Annual maintenance cost for the building is high. It is not in compliance with modern building standards, including earthquake and other safety standards.
• Although much loved for the intimacy and intensity that is created by a packed crowd nearly on top of the court, its seating capacity (9,087) is small and facilities for both home and visiting teams are barely adequate.
• The lack of space for adequate food service, UO souvenir, concessions and back-of-house facilities hampers revenue generation and creates operational inefficiencies.
• The Matthew Knight Arena will be a state-of-the-art facility designed, first and foremost, to contribute to an exceptional game experience for spectators and student-athletes alike.
• The new arena will further establish Oregon Athletics as among the best in the nation, enhancing coaches’ ability to recruit student athletes to the UO, development staff’s ability to attract new donors, and UO Admission’s ability to attract students.
• The arena will serve as a beautiful gateway to the university and east Eugene.
• The arena’s programming will reach beyond Oregon Athletics to include a variety of shows and concerts.

Site Selection History and Financing
• The first site seriously considered for a new UO arena was Howe Field, located near the intersection of 18th Avenue and University Street in Eugene. Construction was scheduled to begin in mid-2004 with the opening in time for the 2006-07 basketball season.
• The above plan was put on hold indefinitely in early 2004 due to scheduling and cost concerns.
• In 2005, the UO purchased the Williams Bakery site for $22.2 million and plans for a new arena there began to materialize. The initial date estimate for completion was the fall of 2008.
• Phil and Penny Knight announced a cornerstone gift of $100 million to the UO Athletics Department’s Legacy Fund in August 2007.
• The Knight gift helped to move the Williams site plan forward. While the donation was earmarked to help underwrite the cost of general Athletics Department operations, and not to pay for the arena costs directly, it helped to support the UO’s request of the state legislature for $200 million in 30-year state-backed bonds to pay for the arena construction.
• State lawmakers approved the arena financing plan in June 2008.
• The Eugene City Council approved the vacation of two alleys located on the construction site in August 2008.
• University staff worked closely with the Fairmount Neighborhood Association group on traffic, parking and noise issues, culminating in the approval of a conditional-use permit in November 2008 and a green light for construction.

New Arena Design Highlights
• All 12,500 seats in the new 385,000 square-foot arena will have excellent views of the court.
• The pitch of the seats rising from the court will be the steepest among all newly built arenas in the U.S. today to duplicate the intensity and intimacy of McArthur Court.
• The nearly 2,000-seat student sections will increase active participation by student fans. Mac Court currently reserves approximately 1,600 seats for students.
• Seats will be comfortable — larger and with backs. (Student seats will not have backs.)
• There are approximately 250 seats designated for people with disabilities, considerably more than in Mac Court.
• Two practice courts are a part of the arena design.
• More than 500 on-site parking spaces will be available, including those in an underground parking garage.

Construction Timeline
• Shoring and excavation will begin the week of Dec. 15, 2008.
• A groundbreaking ceremony will be scheduled for mid-January 2009.
• The Matthew Knight Arena will open by the start of the Pacific-10 Conference basketball season in 2011.

Arena Programming
• In addition to the UO men’s and women’s basketball programs, the Matthew Knight Arena will be home to the UO women’s volleyball program.
• Mike Duncan has recently been hired as the General Manager of Oregon Venues. In this capacity, Mike will oversee non-athletic event programming for the Matthew Knight Arena as well as for other venues within Oregon Athletics.
• The Athletics Department estimates that the arena will host approximately 25 non-athletic events per year. Categories of these events could include family events, concerts, area high school events and graduations.

Ticket Prices (based on 18 games per season; prices guaranteed through 2012)
• Excluding the relatively small number of courtside seats, seating for students and the news media, the average ticket price per game across all sections will be approximately $28.
• Season tickets for seats in the lower level along the sidelines and baselines will range from $540 to $630 per seat, or $30 to $35 per game.
• Season tickets for seats in the upper level along the sidelines and baselines will range from $270 to $540 per seat, or $15 to $30 per game.
• UO faculty and staff will continue to receive discounted tickets.
• A recent comparison of men’s basketball season ticket prices for seats in the middle of the lower level for arenas at all Pac-10 universities, excluding Oregon, show an average price of $649. For comparable seats in the Matthew Knight Arena, the price ranges from $540-$630.

Construction Fees (payable over five years)
• A one-time construction fee applies to 7,400 seats (about 60% of the total number of seats) and ranges from $250 per seat for mid-court of the upper level to $2,500 per seat for the mid-court of the lower level.
• The seat construction fees are conservative when compared to arenas constructed in the last decade at universities around the country.
o USC’s Galen Center built three years ago required a construction fee for people choosing premium seating of between $2,500 and $10,000 per seat.
o University of Virginia sold 6,900 premium seats for $5,000 and 112 courtside seats for $250,000 in 2006.
o Ohio State University pre-sold exclusive access to 4,600 premium seats for a range of $5,000 to $20,000 per seat in 1998.

Duck Athletic Fund (DAF) Donations
• Donations to the DAF will be solicited for seats in the lower level and for the first row of the upper level and will range from $100 to $500 per seat, per year. (This range excludes the Legacy Fund donation for courtside seats, and is considerably lower than the current DAF donation range for men’s basketball seats which goes up to $1,750 per seat.)
• DAF donations to the men’s basketball and football programs will be separate beginning in 2010.

Legacy Fund
• Arena seats allocated to Legacy Fund donors total approximately 1,200 and are all in premium court-viewing locations.
• Donors to the Legacy Fund will have access to one or more premium hospitality areas in the arena.

Seat Selection Plan
Specific seats in the new arena will be allocated in the following order and based on priority points within each category, if relevant —
• All Founders Level donors
• All Champion Level donors
• DAF donors with basketball season tickets
• DAF donors that are new season ticket holders
• Basketball season ticket holders that are not DAF donors
• University of Oregon donors and alumni
• New season ticket holders that are not UO donors.

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