UNC Weighs Options for Basketball Arena

University of North Carolina officials are examining seven possibilities for where its basketball programs will play. Administrators have admitted they made mistakes when talking with key people about potential plans.

Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham said, per WRAL, that the school didn't properly speak with donors, former players, and supporters between October 2024 and December 2025. "Quite frankly, I think that we dropped the ball," Cunningham said. "We did a really good job of taking this expert opinion and building that. And then the next step of our process was to communicate all the things that we've learned and then get input from the basketball community, the students, everybody else that goes to our games."

Seven choices sit on the table. These include repairing and maintaining the current venue, renovating it, rebuilding on the same site, or constructing new arenas at Bowles Lot, Odum Village, Friday Center, or Carolina North. Just keeping the Smith Center running would cost between $150 million and $200 million over 20 years. Renovation would run about $600 million. Building fresh means roughly $800 million.

A Committee for a South Campus Arena launched "Renovate, Don't Relocate" and has gathered more than 34,000 petition signatures. The debate ignited after some donors first learned about potential relocation plans in early December 2025.

Rusty Carter chairs the committee and previously served on the Board of Trustees. He said the administration has not spent enough energy examining renovation options. "They have not spent 10% of that energy on why we should and can stay," Carter said. "That is the issue here."

Incoming Athletics Director Steve Newmark said the school will share more financial information as it narrows its options. No timeline has been set for a final decision.