There’s no going back now, is there? No crossing back over the Rubicon, no resurrecting what was the most durable partnership in local sports. Dallas’ NBA franchise and NHL franchise are through, a year-long cold war turned scalding after the Mavericks sued the Stars on Tuesday, followed by the Stars countersuing Wednesday. Hanging in the balance is the American Airlines Center, the second building these two have shared in Dallas and a home that seems destined to be abandoned when the teams’ leases expire in 2031.
You would do well to read the full reporting from the Morning News’ Brad Townsend and Lia Assimakopoulos, which traces the roots of the conflict to a failed negotiation to extend one or both parties’ lease with the AAC in October 2024. It’s necessary context for understanding the rather petty mechanism the Mavericks are taking legal action over: the Stars’ headquarters and practice facility are located outside the city of Dallas. This is allegedly a violation of the agreement the teams signed in 1998 to share control over the ACC and also something that feels a tad beside the point, given that the Stars moved operations to Frisco all the way back in 2003 and previously maintained its corporate office in Irving.
If the Mavericks can prove the Stars broke the agreement, they can assume total control of the building. The Mavericks are already operating accordingly, using the breach as pretext to buy the Stars out of the Center Operating Company, the company that leases and operates the AAC. The Mavericks have since held in escrow the Stars’ quarterly arena proceeds, which the Stars estimate run into eight figures. The Stars’ countersuit is predicated on the claim that only the city, not the Mavericks, can declare the hockey team to be in violation of the agreement.
(Interesting hypothetical from our Sean Shapiro: the NHL salary cap is calculated in part by total hockey-related revenue across the sport, which includes arena proceeds. If the Stars are missing out on tens of millions of dollars, does that mean an NBA franchise is inadvertently impacting the NHL’s entire operation because of a turf war?)
The Mavericks allege that the Stars backed out of an agreement in which the city and the Mavericks would have shelled out a combined $300 million to renovate the American Airlines Center in exchange for the Stars signing a new lease through 2061. The Mavericks then would have built a basketball-only arena elsewhere in town. The Stars contend that the only deal they agreed to was both teams extending their term at the AAC by another five years, with each sharing renovation costs. The Mavericks blame the Stars for blocking arena improvements. The Stars feel they were bait-and-switched. The Mavericks, per their legal filing, believe “the Stars are holding the American Airlines Center hostage.” The Stars, in theirs, characterize the Mavericks’ actions as “an attempted hostile takeover” of the building.
There is little common ground, and much like another salacious lawsuit involving the Mavericks, most people won’t be impacted by which version of events is correct. The implications are what matter here, none more than this: the city of Dallas must keep the Mavericks.
Because whether or not the Mavericks are in the right, Tuesday’s lawsuit and subsequent reporting made clear that city manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert believes they are. Dallas has chosen its side in the great sports divorce, and while Tolbert has and likely will continue to make overtures to the Stars, they feel unlikely to amount to much. Per documents obtained by the Morning News, the Stars’ latest round of demands include the city waiving all rent requirements on the AAC, plus the city funding $400 million to $500 million in renovations along with all future capital expenses, without financial obligation from the team. Those feel less like negotiating points than a scorned partner going through the motions. No team seriously interested in sticking around would make those asks, because no reasonable city could entertain them.
Sure enough, hours after Stars president Brad Alberts spoke to the Morning News about the Mavericks’ lawsuit, the paper just so happened to break the news that the Stars are eyeing the 107-acre site of Willow Bend Mall in Plano for its next arena. That scans like a suitable marriage between a team eager to be a priority and a city that could use a big score after Frisco snatched its chain as the “it” suburb up north—although, the paper notes, Frisco joins The Colony, Arlington, and Fort Worth as other cities in negotiations with the team.
At the moment, every one of them feels far more viable than staying in Dallas. To wit, here was Alberts’ tepid response to the paper when asked about the prospect of the Stars sticking around:
“Creating 365-day revenue, I feel, is essential to the health of sports and entertainment businesses, especially NHL businesses that depend on local revenue far more than others. I think the biggest problem that we have with staying in Dallas is that we don’t have that. We don’t control any of the real estate outside of the building. We’re looking for that opportunity that can create 365-day-a-year revenue outside and also have an incredible in-venue, in-arena experience.”
That leaves the Mavericks, who have been rumored to leave the AAC since the Adelson family assumed control of the franchise in 2023. We know that team president/arena guru Rick Welts has unambiguously said that the team wants to remain in Dallas. We also know that the Adelsons own a healthy chunk of land in Irving and that there is a history of teams using the city as leverage to secure a better deal elsewhere. And anyone who monitored the last Texas Lege session is well aware of how rough the family will play to get what it wants.
The city is on its back foot in these negotiations. It cannot alienate the last, best chance it has at keeping one of the four major sports in Dallas County—and, in so doing, avoid becoming the only media market of its size to lose all four of them to the suburbs. So everything will be on the table. Tax breaks? Sure. The demolition of City Hall? Why not? The lawsuits make it clear that the Adelsons understand how badly Dallas needs them.
Perhaps it’s best in the long run that the teams split up. The Mavericks’ spending priorities are not the Stars’, and the Mavericks’ resources are not the Stars’, either. A conscious uncoupling would seem pragmatic, especially as more cities trend toward separate buildings for their NBA and NHL franchises. But this legal battle has cast a pall over the city’s sports scene. We’re about to learn how loudly Dallas will sing for its supper.
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Mike Piellucci
Mike Piellucci
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Mike Piellucci is D Magazine's sports editor. He is a former staffer at The Athletic and VICE, and his freelance work has been featured in The New York Times, Sports Illustrated, Los Angeles Magazine and The Ringer. A Dallas native, he is a graduate of Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas and the University of Southern California. He’s a big fan of Star Wars and Johnny Cash.