{"id":592637,"date":"2026-02-09T14:43:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T14:43:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/592637\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T14:43:23","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T14:43:23","slug":"ross-perot-jr-weighs-in-on-mavs-arena-ai-taylor-sheridans-landman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/592637\/","title":{"rendered":"Ross Perot Jr. weighs in on Mavs arena, AI, Taylor Sheridan\u2019s \u2018Landman\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

As multiple dramas unfold surrounding potential moves for the Dallas Mavericks<\/a> and Dallas Stars<\/a> \u2014 as well as the future of downtown<\/a> as AT&T prepares to relocate \u2014 one of North Texas\u2019 most prominent businessmen has some advice. <\/p>\n

\u201cTake your time,\u201d Ross Perot Jr. said at a Dallas Regional Chamber event on Wednesday, directing his comments at the leadership of the Mavs and Stars.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very strategic decision. Let the emotion get out of the system between the teams,\u201d the billionaire businessman and developer said. <\/p>\n

\u201cLet \u2018em learn how to get along \u2014 that building can take care of them for another ten years \u2014 and really plan this decision right. Because the impact on Downtown is going to be huge.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Hillwood \u2014 Perot\u2019s real estate firm whose projects include the massive industrial campus AllianceTexas<\/a> and the 450,000-square-foot production studios used by \u2018Landman\u2019 creator Taylor Sheridan \u2014 also has a more direct connection to the unfolding arena saga, which could ultimately see both franchises vacate their current home in central Dallas. <\/p>\n

In 1996, Perot Jr. bought the Mavericks, serving as majority team owner until he sold the team to Mark Cuban in 2000. It was also under Perot Jr.\u2019s ownership that Hillwood developed American Airlines Arena, which opened in 2001, and served as an anchor project to spur more development in Dallas\u2019 Victory Park neighborhood. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were competitors \u2014 hockey, basketball \u2014 historically we couldn\u2019t get along,\u201d Perot Jr. said, referring to Tom Hicks<\/a>, the late former owner of the Stars. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut Tom and I said, \u2018Look, we have to get along. I mean it\u2019s best for the city, and really it\u2019s best for us to get along.\u2019 And that\u2019s why we came together to build that building.\u201d <\/p>\n

At the time, Perot Jr. added, he considered himself too young for \u201ca 30-year-building,\u201d so he insisted on an arena with a longer lifespan. \u201cI want a 50-year-building, and maybe I\u2019ll keel over then,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Perot Jr. made the comments on Wednesday as part of a keynote discussion, moderated by Bank of America Dallas President Jennifer Chandler, at the DRC\u2019s annual forum. <\/p>\n

\u2018Can I kill him outside The Barn?\u2019 <\/p>\n

This year\u2019s annual event, rescheduled because of the recent winter storm, was held inside the Music Hall at Fair Park, the century-old Spanish Baroque-style performing arts theater on the grounds of Fair Park. The lower levels of the 3,400-capacity theater were mostly full. <\/p>\n

In addition to his comments on the arena, the charismatic developer also weighed in on new technologies, his famous father and Fort Worth\u2019s \u2018Landman effect,\u2019<\/a> among other topics. <\/p>\n

\u201cAI is the next great revolution. Everybody community that embraces it will benefit from it,\u201d Perot Jr. said.<\/p>\n

He went on to mention Stargate<\/a>, the massive-scale, Abilene-based data center project that politicians have touted as a force that will place Texas at the center of the AI boom. Separately, a major industrial deal his company closed last year with a Taiwanese firm is expected to build two new AI supercomputing facilities.<\/a><\/p>\n

Perot Jr. also recalled how he was having lunch with Sheridan at The Barn, a venue on Hillwood\u2019s sprawling Circle T Ranch campus in Southlake, when the director asked if he could film a scene for his new show \u201cLioness\u201d<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u201cYeah Taylor, you can film,\u2019\u201d Perot Jr said. <\/p>\n

But a few weeks later, Perot Jr. went on, another contact told him about the planned scene, which would involve someone getting killed. It led a venue manager to object: \u201c\u2018No no no, no one can get killed in The Barn.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOk,\u201d Perot Jr. recalled Sheridan replying, \u201cCan I kill him outside The Barn?\u201d <\/p>\n

The scene\u2019s eventual filming, which included hundreds of workers and \u201c300 drug dealers,\u201d Perot Jr. went on, ultimately was a hit for the venue, Perot Jr. said. He also argued that local Hollywood productions brought an immense benefit to North Texas. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019m at Davos World Economic Forum last week,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m with the prime minister of Pakistan, all Pakistanis. And they asked me, \u2018How did you get in \u2018Landman\u2019?\u201d (The hit show has also referenced Perot Jr. directly.) <\/p>\n

In addition to the keynote conversation between Perot, Jr. and Chandler, the DRC event featured welcome remarks from Darcy Anderson, vice chairman of Hillwood, and outgoing remarks from Jim Springfield, president of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. Anderson is now serving as the chamber\u2019s 2026 board chair, and Springfield served as 2025 board chair. <\/p>\n

Both men praised the chamber\u2019s recent work, citing the favorable North Texas business climate and the group\u2019s efforts in attracting dozens of new companies<\/a> to the region, and also spoke admiringly of Dale Petroskey<\/a>, who recently retired as the chamber\u2019s president. <\/p>\n

\u201cDale\u2019s leadership over 12 years at the helm of the DRC was incredible, and it was culminated by the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce being named the National Chamber of the Year,\u201d said Anderson. \u201cClearly a recognition that all of us in the room are proud of.\u201d <\/p>\n

In his own remarks, Brad Cheves<\/a>, the group\u2019s new president, repeatedly emphasized the event\u2019s theme of \u201cBold Bets, Big Futures.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that is an apt way to describe this region, and it\u2019s also an important reminder,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause bold bets don\u2019t just happen in moments of crisis or reinvention. They\u2019re made deliberately over time by leaders who are willing to make decisions to invest early, to think long-term and to stay engaged.\u201d <\/p>\n

For its part the DRC was working on developing its own three-year strategic plan in conjunction with a consulting group, Cheves added, to help shape the business group\u2019s work. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt the heart of that work is prosperity and economic development,\u201d Cheves said. \u201cWe are focusing on strengthening the region\u2019s competitive position, attracting companies, supporting innovation and telling the Dallas region\u2019s story through research, data and partnerships that reinforce why this is a place where business can grow.\u201d <\/p>\n

He also mentioned the chamber\u2019s focus on quality of life issues, shaping public policy and promoting economic growth in southern Dallas County<\/a>, a part of the Metroplex that for years has suffered from higher poverty rates and failed to attract the same levels of new investment as more prosperous northern areas. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As multiple dramas unfold surrounding potential moves for the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars \u2014 as well as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":592638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3793],"tags":[7,3025,686,149,79417,4057,7678,166,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-592637","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-mavericks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-dallas-mavericks","12":"tag-dallas-regional-chamber","13":"tag-dallasmavericks","14":"tag-economy","15":"tag-mavericks","16":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116041207369353180","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/592638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}