What we know about plans for a ‘state of the art’ new sports arena in Macon
After months of talk, Macon is making progress towards building a new sports arena.
The Macon-Bibb County Commission approved a contract June 3 with MFA Program Management — a project management company based in Memphis, Tennessee — to plan and oversee the construction of a new sports arena.
Chris Floore, chief communications officer with Macon-Bibb County, said Tuesday that the specifics of the new arena are still being hashed out. County officials are working with MFA Program Management to plan the project, including deciding where it will be located, how much it will cost, what features it will have, and its size.
County leaders said the new facility will help boost tourism and development in Macon, and make it competitive among other cities in Georgia, including Atlanta.
“We want a versatile facility that is state of the art, that will meet the needs of multiple attractions,” Floore said. “This is a huge first step.”
Why does Macon need a new sports arena?
Gary Wheat, president and CEO of Visit Macon, said the Macon Coliseum is an aging facility that lacks the seating and features to accommodate the type of events the city is looking to attract. These include state championships, conferences and shows.
The Macon Coliseum currently hosts the Macon Mayhem hockey team, and hosted Georgia state championships for basketball last season.
Macon isn’t alone in wanting an upgrade. Cities across Georgia have made major investments in sporting and event arenas in recent years.
Athens put about $151 million towards renovating its venue, the Classic Center, to include an upgraded 8,500-seat sports arena called Akins Ford Arena that opened in December 2024. Savannah spent $165 million building Enmarket Arena, a sports facility that can seat up to 9,500 and opened in 2022, and Augusta broke ground on a new arena in July 2024 that is projected to seat more than 10,500.
Wheat said it’s essential for Macon to make similar investments to keep up.
“It’s something that will help us absolutely stay competitive in the marketplace,” Wheat said.
The sports arena is also meant to work alongside other development projects to bring tourism and business to Macon. Wheat and Floore said the new arena would be an asset alongside the convention center and mixed-use development the county plans on building on the former site of the old Ramada Hotel, which was demolished in January.
“We’ve already seen a significant increase in tourism in the last couple of years, and we want to keep that going,” Floore said.
What do we know about the construction?
While the deal is a big first step, Floore said, the arena is still in the early stages of planning and many details have yet to be determined.
While the county commission approved the deal with MFA Program Management, Floore said they are still working out how much the project will cost. The county will likely pay for portions of the new arena using Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax money.
Additionally, Wheat said Visit Macon is providing information to the county commission and MFA Program Management to determine what features the arena should have in order to best serve the community. One of the biggest priorities is to increase seating capacity so the new arena can host larger events. The Macon Coliseum currently has a capacity of about 9,000.
While the Macon Coliseum won’t necessarily be demolished to make way for the facility, Floore said, the county and Visit Macon envision the new arena eventually overtaking the Macon Coliseum as the primary destination for sports, entertainment and other events.
“The historic Macon Coliseum has served the community for decades and served a purpose, but the evolution of facilities throughout the years means we need to bring those modern updates and amenities,” Wheat said.
A timeline has not been announced for when construction will begin on the new arena.
This story was originally published June 11, 2025 at 1:36 PM.