Sports betting at PNC Arena: Sports book, new bars among proposed improvements

By Brian Murphy, WRAL reporter

A long-discussed plan to revamp Raleigh's 24-year-old PNC Arena is finally getting into specifics with proposed enhancements to nearly every part of the building.

Not all of the 70-plus projects included in a 117-page presentation delivered Friday morning to a Centennial Authority committee will make the final cut for the enhancement, which is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars. NC State and Hurricanes personnel will get a similar look at the projects next week. Decisions could come within the next three to four months, Centennial Authority executive director Jeff Merritt said.

"Time is of the essence," board member Doyle Parrish said. "We need to be making these decisions and we need to be having a plan on how to make these decisions."

Among the proposals: a sports book, bars in the upper level that face the playing surface, refreshing restrooms and suites, re-purposing the box office concourse, creating multiple access points, improving behind-the-scenes infrastructure for concerts and other events.

No cost is associated with each individual project included in the proposal, though board members will need those before it can make its final decisions.

"We think that the building itself is in great shape," board chairman Philip Isley told WRAL News earlier in the week. "We know that the enhancement and the elaborate process we're getting ready to undertake is going to continue to make this building great for a long time."

PNC Arena is home to the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes and NC State's men's basketball program. It also hosts concerts and other events. The money for the enhancement will come from a portion of the taxes collected on hotel stays and prepared food and beverage through an agreement with the city of Raleigh and Wake County. The governments have not yet allocated that money to the enhancement.

Discussions about significant improvements to the building started in 2014 and accelerated in 2019, but were slowed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Each project is tied to one of five pillars: aesthetic improvement, general administration, guest experience, operational efficiency and revenue enhancement.

The Authority's building and construction committee met Friday to begin deliberations on the list of proposed enhancements, which was presented by CAA ICON along with Ratio HOK and TA Loving Blum Metcon Tri Venture.The Centennial Authority is also negotiating a long-term lease agreement with the Hurricanes, which could include developmental rights to land around the arena.

This story is developing and will be updated.