CHAPEL HILL — The chairman of a group opposed to relocating North Carolina’s basketball arena off campus has a new demand for the university’s leadership.
The Committee for a South Campus Arena is chaired by Rusty Carter, a 1971 graduate of the university, who previously served on the Board of Trustees and Board of Visitors and is chairman of Atlantic Packaging.
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The group has released videos starring former UNC coach Roy Williams, whose name is on the court at the Dean E. Smith Center, and former star Tyler Hansbrough, whose jersey is honored in the rafters, in support of renovating the 40-year-old building rather than moving it to an off-campus site such as Carolina North.
The group has taken out full page advertisements in The Daily Tar Heel, the student newspaper where Carter’s father once served as editor in chief. Students brought the paper to a recent home game against Notre Dame.
Nearly 27,000 people have signed a petition on the group’s website calling for UNC to “renovate, don’t relocate” the Smith Center.
The group now wants the university to “fund a full and independent cost study of a Smith Center phased renovation and the comprehensive seating revenues so we can have an accurate comparison,” Carter said in a statement.
"We see no way a decision could remotely be made to relocate the arena without such comparative information. There are numerous examples of how other elite programs have executed renovations of their older arenas, remained on campus, and preserved their legacies. Who would ever give up our home court advantage if winning is a top priority?"
Chancellor Lee Roberts previously outlined three major factors in making a decision about the future home of the men’s basketball program – winning, student access and proximity to the court and fan experience.
“Those are the considerations that we’ll be keeping in mind as we try to make the best decision that we possibly can about the arena,” Roberts said in January.
He also announced the formation of two more committees to study the issue — one made up of basketball folks and another to address student concerns and feedback.
In 2024, the university was considering six potential options for a new basketball arena. The six options were the Bowles Parking Lot, Odum Village, a Smith Center renovation, a Smith Center replacement, the Friday Center and Carolina North. All locations could fit a 16,000-seat arena, according to the final report by the Physical Master Plan Working Group commissioned by Roberts. None of the options were without considerable challenges.
“There’s no perfect solution,” Roberts told WRAL in an interview last month.
Roberts said that the opinions of Williams and Hansbrough would carry extra weight and that he welcomed the fierce debate about the arena as a sign that people care about UNC basketball.
Carolina North is a proposed expansion of campus on university-owned property about 1.5 miles north of Franklin Street. It is the site of the Carolina North Forest and the old Horace Williams Airport. The board of trustees gave its approval for $8 million in preliminary planning and site work last week. Roberts outlined his hopes for the new campus, which could include student housing, classrooms, research labs, a hotel and other amenities. Construction could begin as soon as 2027.
UNC’s men’s basketball program made nearly $40 million in revenue during the fiscal year from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. The bulk of the revenue came from ticket sales ($17.1 million), media rights ($6.8 million), advertising and sponsorships ($7.4 million) and endowment and investments income ($2.5 million). Media rights is all revenue received for radio, television, internet and digital rights, including the portion of ACC distributions related to media rights.
The Smith Center is in need of repair. Roberts said repairs to the roof, concourse/bathrooms and other renovations to make the building more accessible for guests with disabilities could cost more than $100 million.
