Milwaukee Bucks new arena opening delayed until 2018

The Milwaukee Bucks have moved back the timeline for the opening of their new downtown arena a year.

The Milwaukee Bucks have moved back the timeline for the opening of their new arena by one year, according to the Associated Press.

The original plan for the team to begin playing in the new arena by the 2017–18 season is now increasingly unlikely, with team spokesman Jake Suski saying that proposal “simply isn’t realistic.”

Co-owner Mike Fascitelli told the Milwaukee Business Journal in September that the team would break ground on the new arena in 2016 and that it wouldn’t be ready until October 2018. However, Suski maintained that the Bucks’ had an aggressive goal of playing in the arena in two years. The arena will cost around $500 million.

The NBA has been pushing for an improved home for the Bucks, who have played in the BMO Harris Bradley Center since 1988. BMO Harris Bradley Center is the fourth oldest arena used by an NBA team, behind Oracle Arena (1966), Madison Square Garden (1968) and the Palace of Auburn Hills (1988). 

The Bucks submitted plans for the arena to the city of Milwaukee on Monday. Those plans will be reviewed on Nov. 9. 

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