Dallas had no choice but to let the Stars bolt for ‘burbs and Plano
Dallas city officials will be crushed for the next several years, and mayor Eric Johnson’s political career may not survive.
On June 1, it was the Mavericks and the next day it was the Stars.
Beginning in 1978 when the city started to build Reunion Arena, the city of Dallas accommodated both the Mavericks and Stars with buildings that became key pieces to its growing downtown landscape.
In the fall of 2031, the Stars will be in the ‘burbs and the Mavericks will be in north Dallas, close but yet very far away from downtown. The results look the same, but the needs are different.
Whereas the Mavericks want to do this, the Stars had to do this and there was little chance the city of Dallas was going to keep the NHL franchise from pursuing this route.
NHL’s economic landscape forced Stars’ to leave
NHL teams make their money on gate revenue, parking, ticket sales and people being in the building buying beer, hot dogs, and other over-priced concession items. Pro hockey teams make their big money on playoff games.
It’s always been that way, and in the age of digital streaming, NHL teams have a greater need to create more of those types of dollars.
Of the four major professional sports leagues in North America, the NHL’s national TV contract is by far the least lucrative; seven years, $4.5 billion. For the NHL, this is great.
Last year, the NBA started the first year of its 11-year, $76 billion national TV contract.
For more than 20 years, NHL teams made their media right’s money on the regional cable sports TV model that guaranteed X plus Y millions of dollars every year. As the cable TV world slowly collapsed to streaming and “cord cutting,” those millions dwindled.
With the creation of the Victory + app where Stars fans can watch games on a streaming device, the club solved their distribution challenge, but the money generated here is a fraction of the previous deal with Fox Sports Southwest/Bally Sports.
The team’s priority for a new arena is creating ways to supplement its revenue by owning the surrounding area of its arena.
When Plano reportedly offered the Stars $700 million for a new home at the area that was the Shops at Willow Bend, this was a no-brainer decision for the Stars.
There was no way the city of Dallas could, or should, have matched such an offer. This is the case of a desperate suburb looking to create activity around a neighborhood that was dead.
The Stars relocate to an area of North Texas where the majority of their fans already live. They will create an “entertainment” district that will likely look something like Texas Live!, the bar/restaurant spot adjacent to Globe Life Park in Arlington.
Downtown Dallas loses a tenant that was “open” for approximately 48 days a year; that’s regular season plus preseason and playoffs.
Even if the numbers make sense, it’s a loss for downtown Dallas.
The Mavericks’ decision to leave is different than the Stars
Long before he sold the franchise, former Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said for years he planned to move the team out of the American Airlines Center to a basketball-only facility.
Cuban was loyal to the city of Dallas, but he wanted a home where the priority was basketball, and he didn’t have to share it with another franchise. When the AAC was built, the Stars were the hot team, and the sight lines and some of the building’s particulars prioritized hockey. If you can believe that.
Patrick Dumont waited about three seconds after he bought the team from Cuban to announce plans for a new arena complete with hotel space and an entertainment area. This is the family business.
Dumont convinced Basketball Hall of Famer Rick Welts to come out of retirement to serve as the team president with one goal — a new arena. Welts was adamant that the plans for this project will not include any potential space for gambling, just in case that is ever actually allowed in Texas.
The respective sites for these new building projects are 8.8 miles away. They will both feature many of the same features. Keep an eye on if their respective home schedules ever overlap.
The Mavs want to do this, whereas the Stars had to.
It could cost a mayor his job.
This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 9:06 AM.
