Publicly, the prevailing perception is that the Mavericks’ efforts to build a new arena by 2031 are moving at glacial pace.
Behind the scenes, indications are that those efforts are ramping up.
Dallas City Council’s hotly debated 9-6 vote on March 5 primarily was to approve a resolution to explore options for leaving City Hall.
The vote also, however, enabled the Mavericks and City to formally discuss what the Mavericks’ 50-acre entertainment district and arena might look like in the downtown footprint if the city ultimately decides to move operations out of the 47-year-old I.M. Pei-designed building.
Mavericks
That by no means indicates that is definitely where the Mavericks will build, but until the March 8 resolution there was no point considering the City Hall site as a possible option. The Mavericks also are considering the former Valley View Mall site in North Dallas.
Mavericks CEO Rick Welts has said numerous times that the franchise prefers to have an arena and entertainment district site selected by July 1. If the debate over City Hall’s future rages into the summer, the Mavericks can pivot to the 110-acre former home of Valley View, which was demolished in 2021.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks franchise is forging ahead as though it expects to have a new arena and entertainment district somewhere by the summer of 2031, when its American Airlines Center lease expires.
The Mavericks’ February hiring of CAA Sports to lead its commercial strategy, and last November’s appointment of Curt Waugh as senior vice president of ticket sales and service, are indicators of team governor Patrick Dumont beefing up executive level staff.
“We’re investing in talent,” Welts told The Dallas Morning News. “Part of it’s that we’re going through this transition over the next few years, going from a team that shows up and plays its games in an arena to a sports entertainment industry that programs our own building 365 days a year.
“So we’re going to have to evolve the level of talent that we have in the organization to do that. Curt was a big example.”
Waugh came from the San Diego Padres, which for the past five seasons set attendance and revenue-generating records and had a 93% season-ticket retention rate. Last week, Welts told The News that 87% of 2025-26 Mavericks season-ticket holders have renewed for 2026-27, and that he expects the number to climb to at least 90%.
Before this season, the Mavericks hired Ethan Casson as team president, enabling Welts to delegate much of the franchise’s day-to-day operations so he can devote most of his time to the arena project.
Last week on the Intersections podcast with Kyle Waldrep and former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, Welts described the franchise’s vision for the arena and entertainment district.
Beyond the previously reported arena, team headquarters and training facility, Welts said plans for the 50 acres also include a 4-star hotel and a potential 4,000-to-5,000-seat entertainment venue, with Live Nation already expressing interest in building that.
The Mavericks’ current partnership with UT Southwestern, the team’s official medical provider, also could expand to the academic medical center partnering in the future training facility and medical complex.
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