The Mavericks and Stars have arena leases that expire in nine years.
In the sports world, nine years is a long time and in nine years, the National Basketball Association’s Dallas Mavericks organization and the National Hockey League’s Dallas Stars organization will have expiring leases at the Dallas arena the two businesses call home. It probably takes about four years to build a new arena from conception to lobbying a municipality to getting approval to build an arena and then come up with the needed financing and arena building is not getting any cheaper. There is not an immediate urgency to get a new or renovated arena in Dallas. At least not yet. But Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said about a year ago that the odds of remaining at the now 21-year-old facility was “less than 50 percent” But Dallas Stars ownership is open to keeping its business at the facility but the venue needs to be kept up with the times.
“We think it’s a great place to play for a long time,” said Stars CEO Brad Alberts in an interview with the Dallas Business Journal. “We love this location. We love being in the city of Dallas. At the same time, it’s more than 20 years old. and it’s no different than a house that’s 20 years old. It’s got great bones. It doesn’t need to be torn down, but it needs a renovation. It needs interior finish-outs and needs some new facelifts.” What Alberts didn’t say is this. The arena needs to be modernized with the latest money generating gadgets. Alberts used the catchphrase “upgrade the fan experience.” That means that the building should have more restaurants, food courts and a merchandise area. Maybe a sportsbook although at the moment Texas lawmakers are not very concerned about legalizing sports betting. Cost and money will be the ultimate decider if Dallas gets a new building.
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