Photo of the court at the Staples Center during a Los Angeles Clippers game.

Image Credit: Winni3 - Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0)

See how much money was spent on constructing your favorite NBA arena. 

 

1. Barclays Center - $1+ (B)

2. Amway Center - $480 (M)

3. American Airlines Center - $420 (M)

4. Staples Center - $375 (M)

5. Air Canada Centre - $265 (M)

6. Moda Center - $262 (M)

7. Capital One Arena - $260 (M)

8. FedEx Forum - $250 (M)

9.  Philips Arena - $213.5 (M)

10.  American Airlines Arena - $213 (M)

11.  Wells Fargo Center - $210 (M)

12.  Toyota Center - $202 (M)

13.  AT&T Center - $186 (M)

14. Banker's Life Fieldhouse - $183 (M)

15.  United Center - $175 (M)

16.  Spectrum Center - $160 (M)

17.  TD Garden - $160 (M)

18.  Pepsi Center - $160 (M)

19.  Madison Square Garden - $123 (M)

20.  Smoothie King Center - $114 (M)

21.  Target Center - $104 (M)

22.  Quicken Loans Arena - $100 (M)

23.  Vivint Smart Home Arena - $93 (M)

24.  BMO Harris Bradley Center - $91 (M)

25.  Talking Stick Resort Arena - $90 (M)

26. Chesapeake Energy Center - $89 (M)

27. Palace of Auburn Hills - $70 (M)

28. Power Balance Pavilion - $40 (M)

29. Oracle Arena - $25 (M)

 

Summary

Right off the bat, it's obvious that many of the cheapest NBA arenas to construct are also the oldest. Since 1996, Oracle Arena, home of the Golden State Warriors, has poured more than $300 million into renovating their arena; more than any other basketball arena thus far. After the 2012 season, the New York Knicks will have completed a $850 million renovation to Madison Square Garden in two phases. The Madison Square Garden renovations are the main culprit for rising ticket prices to New York Rangers and New York Knicks games. 

The BMO Harris Bradley Center, home of the Milwaukee Bucks, is considered perhaps the most outdated arena in the NBA. It lacks club seating, has poor parking in the surrounding areas and extremely small concourses. There have been recent proposals by the city to construct the Bucks a new arena but nothing has been finalized.

The Barclays Center, future home of the Brooklyn Nets, will be featured in a $4+ Billion dollar project that will include an arena as well as residential and retail space. The Barclays Center is also home to the NHL's New York Islanders. The arena has been projected to only be able to occupy less than 15,000 at capacity for ice hockey. The venue sold it's naming rights to Barclays PLC out of London, England.

Nine of the thirty NBA arenas are already home to NHL franchises. The Staples Center is the only arena to host three professional franchises; the Los Angeles Kings, Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers.

Power Balance Pavilion will possibly be the first NBA arena on this list to be demolished in coming years. The Sacramento Kings recently reached a deal with the city of Sacramento to erect a new arena in the downtown central business district. The current site is located in the Sacramento suburb of Natomas. In case you didn't notice, the Indiana Pacers no longer play in Conseco Fieldhouse; Bankers Life and Casualty recently purchased the naming rights to the Fieldhouse.

 

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