After the Norman City Council approved a tax to fund a new entertainment district in the city as well as a new arena for the University of Oklahoma’s athletic programs, OU President Joseph Harroz joined News 9 to talk about what fans can expect from upcoming sporting events.

Harroz said he was excited about the future of the university and the surrounding community and said the decision will bring continued success to the region.

“It’s so exciting. I’m pretty exhausted, but it’s absolutely fantastic,” said Harroz. “Kudos to the mayor, Mayor Heikkila, and the city council. What they did Tuesday night and Wednesday morning is true leadership.”

The district and the new arena, which will benefit OU’s basketball and gymnastics programs, are a “building block” for success, according to Harroz.

“When you look at the formula, it’s really special. It takes three components to be truly successful,” Harroz said. “One is being in the Sun Belt, and we are. The second is having a major research university that’s growing, and we’re one of the few that’s doing that, our record class is up. The third is having a live, work and play environment that people want to come to, to attract the best faculty, staff and students, that people want to be and live in.”

“Change is difficult, I completely understand that, it’s a big step,” Harroz said. “The good news is that there are no new taxes for the city or county to do this. It’s just an increase in taxes for that area. Anytime there’s big progress there’s a certain dynamic tension, but kudos to the mayor and city council for their true leadership.”

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In the near future, Harroz said, the OU community is looking forward to its entry into the Southeastern Conference with Saturday’s game against the University of Tennessee.

“Josh Heupel is coming home, our first ever SEC game. It’s against Tennessee and the atmosphere couldn’t be better,” Harroz said. “We have College Game Day here, the first time since 2020. There were no fans, so the first time with fans was 2012. It’s electric. It’s really just different.”

Harroz encouraged fans who wanted to come to the game on Saturday to not only come, but also to show their enthusiasm.

“Come and show what you want. This is just different,” Harroz said. “It used to be that Big 12 games had to offer a maximum of 850 tickets to visiting schools; SEC games have a minimum of 5,000. So this is a whole different thing; people have already camped out. Come and show them your Sooner pride.”