Rendering of the new arena planned for Ft. Worth.
The old and the new will come together in Fort Worth when a $450-million, multipurpose arena opens in December 2019 just southwest of the Will Rogers Memorial Center that has existed since 1936 and is home to the popular Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo.
“The arena will truly be multipurpose in hosting our annual rodeo affiliated with the 120-year-old Stock Show, various sporting events such as basketball and hockey as well as concerts, equestrian shows and expositions,” said Bob Jameson, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau.
While the stock show will move its rodeo to the new arena, it will continue to use the Will Rogers Coliseum for new events such as horse shows and will allow the Will Rogers Auditorium to also be used for the show. The new arena will seat 12,500 for end-stage concerts, 14,000 for concerts in the round and 9,300 for rodeo. The coliseum currently seats 6,000.
“We consider the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo our anchor tenant,” said Matt Homan, who was brought on last August to serve as general manager for the new arena. “The rodeo right now does 36 performances in the old Will Rogers and they need room to expand.”
As for generating new business, Homan is excited about those prospects after having worked for Global Spectrum (now Spectra) at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and before that the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines.
“We will go after first class entertainment,” Homan said. “Fort Worth is the 16th largest city in the United States by population alone. I think there’s a need for an arena here and we have an opportunity to do some big concerts and family shows.”
Citizens got behind the project last November by voting to fund the arena through a combination of user taxes on event tickets, parking and livestock stalls and pens coupled with state and local hotel sales tax, occupancy tax revenue and money from the city of Fort Worth and Tarrant County for infrastructure.
“This facility has been anticipated in our public/private facility planning process and received overwhelming support in the local election held authorizing the City Council to impose user fees when necessary,” Jameson said.
“The city is capped at $225 million and it is anticipated that revenue bonds will be issued,” said Kirk Slaughter, public events director of the Will Rogers Memorial Center. “The private sector, Events Facilities Fort Worth, will provide the remaining $225 million and any additional funding if the project exceeds $450 million.”
As with any venue, Homan has his eyes set on a future naming rights partner.
“We are looking at the process for naming rights within the next couple of months,” he said. “We will break ground next February right after the Stock Show, but securing a naming rights partner is something we will obviously be pursuing.”