Future of this North Texas tourist destination & DFW staple is, at best, cloudy
The vision that was the American Airlines Center was realized, right about the same time its primary tenants that created the traffic will vacate the premises, which will change downtown Dallas.
Every night the Dallas Stars host playoff games, the area in and around the American Airlines Center vibrates with activity, commerce and life. The same for the Dallas Mavericks, when they used to actually make the playoffs.
People take the TRE from all over DFW to the Victory Station train stop to see a game. The entire scene is on a shot clock. Both the Stars and Mavericks have made their respective intentions known they plan to leave the AAC when the lease expires in 2031.
With the pro sports revenue model shifting away from local media rights money fueling teams, the franchises have to find a different way to make money. One way is real estate.
“We have every intention to fulfill the end of the lease,” Dallas Stars president Brad Alberts said in an interview with the Star-Telegram. “There is no set date we have to notify [the AAC]. We are definitely not doing anything yet, but to do something in a new building, the construction would have to start in the middle of 2028, or early 2029.”
The Stars are expected to follow the same game plan executed by the Atlanta Braves and Texas Rangers; move into a new venue, and create new revenue by owning the surrounding properties, too.
Alberts did not say it, but all signs point to the team moving to Plano for a new development where Willow Bend Mall was once stood. It is 18 miles north of the AAC, a 21-minute drive without traffic ... which these days means 1 a.m. to 3 a.m.
The Mavericks remain waist-deep in negotiations with the city of Dallas to build a new arena and entertainment district with hotel and entertainment space. They want to have a site, preferably in the city of Dallas, announced by July 1, with the goal of moving into the new arena for the 2031-32 season.
Their expected departures from an arena that opened in 2001 creates a challenge for city leaders that has no great solution.
What will happen to the American Airlines Center
Without the Stars and Mavericks filling up around 90 or so days on the calendar with games, as well as concerts and other events, will the AAC stay open for business? Initially, yes. Long term, doubtful.
The Stars and Mavericks will open new buildings with the plan to host events other than hockey and basketball games. The acts and performers that play the AAC now will go to the new, shiny arenas. Dallas Mavericks president Rick Welts has said the plan is for their new arena to be a main attraction for concerts.
The WNBA’s Dallas Wings plan to leave their home at the College Park Center on the campus of Texas-Arlington for Dallas next year, although the particulars remain in a difficult negotiation with the city of Dallas. The AAC is not viewed as a potential long-term home for the Wings, primarily because of practice space.
Across the country, with rare exception, when these buildings no longer house a major league team, they die. They are too expensive to operate, and justify their existence.
The former home to the Stars and Mavericks, Reunion Arena, was basically vacant for almost a decade before it was demolished in 2009. The area was always “just an arena” on the edge of downtown Dallas with no development around it, and that location remains mostly unchanged.
Name the arena around the country — the Omni in Atlanta, the Palace at Auburn Hills in Michigan, Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Chicago Stadium, Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, the Boston Garden, Market Square Arena in Indianapolis — and all of them were demolished after the team, or teams, left.
The notable exceptions are Houston’s Astrodome, The Forum in Los Angeles, and the former Ballpark in Arlington. The Astrodome, which has been used mostly as a storage shed for the city of Houston since the Astros moved to a new park in downtown Houston after the 1999 season, remains one of the most vexing issues for a city that can’t let go of its past.
The Kia Forum, which was once home to the NBA’s Lakers and NHL’s Kings, sat dark for nearly 15 years before it was refurbished as part of the development around SoFi Stadium and the Intuit Dome in L.A.
The Ballpark, which the Rangers vacated after the ‘19 season, has been repurposed as a mixed-use event area, and it’s hanging on.
This would be a surprise if Dallas is able to find a purpose for the AAC after the new buildings open. Expect a number of potential new purposes to be discussed — think gambling — but historically they don’t work out.
The more likely scenario is that the AAC will ultimately come down, and the surrounding neighborhood, which now features a pricey hotel as well as condos, apartments and restaurants, will continue, but it won’t be the same.
It will still be called Victory Plaza, but it will be known as the area where the Stars and Mavs used to play.
