Quote:
Originally Posted by llamaorama
My Arena prediction:
1. UT will decide they want an arena all to themselves and want it sooner rather than later, and will find a place on campus to cram in it. Their money, their choice, they'll get it done by the time the Erwin Center faces the wrecking ball.
2. City of Austin voters will reject any attempt to build a public sports arena to replace the civic function the Erwin Center used to have, especially one that would have no tenants to start with.
3. Private investors and a suburban city like Buda or Georgetown will then build some kind "Entertainment District" out in a greenfield location along I-35 or 130. An Arena mostly for traveling events like concerts or maybe minor league hockey with ~15,000 seats, that will anchor a cheesy outdoor mall filled with chain bars and restaurants like Hard Rock Cafe and the whole thing will have a captive customer base and produce lots of sales tax revenue.
4. Not long after, Austin residents will wish the city had its venue closer to downtown and get the ball rolling on some ambitious
expensive proposal.
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I think UT would want to partner with the city on a nice stadium but the 10-1 council will never go for it. You're right. They will build a smaller arena on campus and Austin might lose out on some tour dates from various artists/wwe. I'm not sure there will be a market for an arena outside the city. There is already the cedar park center and COTA. Arenas are very rarely built outside of the city limits and many of them are near city downtowns. You would have to go back a while to find an NBA arena built in a neighboring city/ far suburb I believe.