The PDN Group will subcontract with the Downtown Management District to work with a committee of local government officials and business leaders to oversee the plan, Deckert said. The plan could include an arena but would not be driven by it, she added.

"We would not fund a pipe dream. We will take a realistic stock of what we have and what we can attract," said Rick Horrow, president of Horrow Sports Ventures.

"We're not entering this not to win," he said.

Horrow said he's not just an arena consultant, but has had great success in urban infrastructure projects such as the redevelopment and revitalization of Downtown Oklahoma City. He has been behind more than 100 public/private partnership deals worth more than $20 billion in cities across the nation, he said.