How does one obtain permission to use the Obama basketball court for a private function?
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Executive summary
The Obama Presidential Center’s Home Court — a 45,000 sq ft multipurpose athletic and events facility with an NBA‑regulation main court — is being offered for rentals and event bookings by the Obama Foundation; the Foundation’s event page describes Home Court as available for athletic events, large gatherings and rental of program rooms [1] [2]. Construction updates and press materials confirm Home Court’s Main Court is intended to host events when the campus opens in late 2025 / early 2026 [3] [4].
1. What “the court” is and who runs it — quick orientation
Home Court is part of the Obama Presidential Center campus and is operated by the Obama Foundation; Foundation materials describe a 45,000‑square‑foot athletics and events facility with a professional‑sized Main Court and adjacent program rooms that the Foundation positions for community programs and private rentals [2] [4]. The Foundation’s “Home Court rentals” page markets the Main Court as the largest convening area and explicitly invites groups to host athletic events, parties and meetings there [1].
2. How to request permission — the straightforward route cited by the Foundation
The primary, documented route to use the court for a private function is to follow the Obama Foundation’s event‑rental process: the Home Court rentals page promotes renting Main Court and program rooms and presents the space as available for hosting athletic and social events [1]. The Foundation’s press materials likewise frame Home Court as accommodating large events and formal banquets, implying a booking system administered by the Foundation [2]. Available sources do not provide step‑by‑step booking instructions, contact email, rates or contract terms; those details are not included in the pages provided [1] [2].
3. Timing and availability — opening window and current status
Construction updates and press releases state Home Court was slated to open as the first building on the OPC campus in late 2025 and to be available to host events as the campus opens in spring 2026; reporting from late 2025 indicates the building has reached completion and events were being held there as of December 2025 [3] [5] [6]. The Foundation language and local reporting both present Home Court as already taking bookings and holding events in the run‑up to the full campus opening [6] [5].
4. What you can and cannot assume about cost, terms and special permissions
Foundation pages describe the space and its flexibility for events but do not list rental fees, insurance requirements, capacity limits, permitted uses, or security protocols in the provided extracts; those critical booking terms are not present in the current reporting [1] [2]. Outside websites and price estimates about unrelated Obama basketball courts (e.g., the White House court conversion) offer speculative numbers and context but do not substitute for formal rental rates from the Foundation [7] [8]. Therefore, precise costs and contractual obligations must be obtained directly from the Foundation — available sources do not mention specific fees or booking procedures [1] [2].
5. Background context and a common confusion to watch for
Reporting and archives show President Obama once adapted a White House tennis court to double as a basketball court; several fact‑checks and histories stress that adaptation was modest in scope and not a large construction project [9] [10]. Some later articles and aggregators conflate or compare the White House court with the new Home Court at the Obama Presidential Center; don’t assume documents about the White House installation apply to the Foundation’s rental policies [9] [4].
6. Practical next steps — how to proceed with a booking request
Based on the Foundation’s own marketing and press materials, the correct next step is to contact the Obama Foundation’s events or rentals team via the Home Court rental page or official Foundation press channels to request availability, a cost estimate and contract terms [1] [2]. Because public pages do not list fees or procedures in the provided sources, requesters should ask specifically about hourly rates, minimums for private functions, security requirements, AV and catering rules, insurance and cancellation policies — details absent from the available reporting [1] [2].
Limitations: this analysis relies solely on the Obama Foundation pages and contemporary reporting provided; those sources confirm Home Court is intended for rentals and events but do not publish booking forms, contact emails or pricing information [1] [2] [3]. For contractual specifics, the Foundation’s event staff is the authoritative source.