HOOK 'EM & BOOK 'EM

Irving Azoff and Tim Leiweke’s Oak View Group, Live Nation, C3 Presents and Matthew McConaughey will build a new basketball arena for University of Texas in Austin. The $338 million venue is expected to open in 2021.

UT has struck a 35-year deal with the consortium, going by the name ArenaCo, that will replace the 41-year-old Frank C. Erwin Center, which will make way for the future expansion of the Dell Medical School.

The arena will seat 10,000 for Longhorn basketball games and can be expanded to 15,000 for concerts and shows.

“There are very few brands as dominant and as well-known as The University of Texas and Longhorns, and there are very few cities that are growing at the speed of Austin,” said Leiweke, CEO of OVG.

“This is a rare opportunity to be partners with one of the greatest academic institutions in the world, UT, and to be building a world-class arena for one of the world’s great emerging markets, Austin.”

McConaughey will act as the “Minister of Culture” at the venue. Meanwhile Irving has been working on getting just the reflection in saying “alright, alright, alright.”