How much did Obama pay to renovate the White use? For the basketball court?
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Executive summary
The viral assertion that President Barack Obama spent $376 million (or similar $300–$400 million figures) to build a White House basketball court is false: reporting and fact-checks show Obama adapted an existing tennis court for dual tennis/basketball use in 2009 and that the extreme dollar figures are not supported by evidence [1] [2]. The precise amount paid for the small 2009 adaptation has not been publicly disclosed, but facility-cost estimates and contemporaneous descriptions make it clear the work was modest — likely in the low tens of thousands to at most a few hundred thousand dollars — and far below the viral claims [3] [4] [5].
1. What actually happened in 2009: a modest adaptation, not a new $376M project
Shortly after President Obama took office he had the White House’s existing South Lawn tennis court altered so it could also be used for basketball — essentially adding hoops, markings and making the court dual-use rather than building a new structure — a change described in White House archives and repeated by multiple fact-checkers [2] [1] [4]. Fact-check outlets and news summaries emphasize that the work did not entail major demolition or construction; it was an adaptation of a court that existed since the Eisenhower era [1] [4] [5].
2. Debunking the $300–$376 million claims
Multiple fact checks have traced the viral claims and found no evidence that the Obama administration spent anywhere near $300–$376 million on a basketball court; those figures appear to be social-media exaggerations or deliberate comparisons floated amid debate over a later Trump-era ballroom project [1] [2] [4] [5]. Snopes and other outlets specifically called the high-dollar figure unfounded, noting the adaptation did not require extensive construction [1] [4].
3. What the public record does and does not show about cost and funding
There is no publicly disclosed line-item showing a $376 million expenditure for a White House basketball court during the Obama years; in fact, some reporting notes the exact cost of the 2009 adaptation has not been revealed by the White House or government accounting and is difficult to find in public records [3] [6]. Market and sport-surface cost benchmarks cited by multiple outlets place high-quality outdoor courts in a much lower price band — commonly quoted ranges are roughly $17,000–$76,000 (Angi) or $50,000–$200,000 for high-end surfaces — figures orders of magnitude below the viral claims [2] [3] [4] [5].
4. Plausible explanations for the absence of a precise dollar figure
Contemporary reporting and historical context explain why a precise number is scarce: the scope of the 2009 work appears limited (adding hoops and lines, not rebuilding), White House communications about small recreational upgrades are often brief, and earlier renovation budgets can be bundled into broader maintenance/utility work, so a standalone, publicly itemized cost for the basketball conversion was not published [1] [6]. Market-cost estimates cited by journalists provide reasonable upper bounds but are not official invoices [3] [4].
5. Competing narratives and political context
The $376M claim gained traction amid partisan comparisons to later Trump-era renovation proposals (ballroom projects estimated in the hundreds of millions), a context that incentivized viral contrasts and occasional misrepresentation; fact-checkers warn that such comparisons sometimes conflate different projects, funding sources and scales [1] [7] [8]. Some outlets note the Trump project was described as donor-funded while reporting on past renovations sometimes cited taxpayer spending, which can create confusion when people draw direct equivalencies between very different undertakings [1] [8].
6. Bottom line: answer to the question asked
How much did Obama pay to renovate the White House? For the basketball court? There is no public evidence that Obama or taxpayers paid $300–$376 million for a White House basketball court; the 2009 adaptation was modest, the exact cost has not been disclosed in public records, and industry estimates and fact-checks place any realistic cost for such an adaptation far below the viral figures — likely in the low tens of thousands up to at most a few hundred thousand dollars, not hundreds of millions [1] [3] [4] [5].