{"id":690555,"date":"2026-03-31T20:53:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T20:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/690555\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T20:53:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T20:53:15","slug":"dallas-mavericks-ceo-rick-welts-tries-to-clarify-comments-about-city-hall-timeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/690555\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas Mavericks CEO Rick Welts tries to clarify comments about City Hall timeline"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dallas Mavericks CEO Rick Welts on Tuesday sought to add context to comments he made during a sports economics panel last week, when he said Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert first approached the Mavericks more than a year ago about City Hall likely being an available site for the team\u2019s new arena and entertainment district.<\/p>\n

Welts, who joined Mavericks President Ethan Casson for a lunch with D-FW media, characterized his remarks during Friday\u2019s panel as a \u201cvery quick answer that really didn\u2019t capture the context\u201d of what he called a \u201cvery long conversation\u201d more than a year ago with Tolbert.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were discussing a variety of potential sites for a future Mavericks\u2019 arena,\u201d Welts said. \u201cAnd in that conversation, she told me that it could cost hundreds of millions of dollars to renovate City Hall, and it could be that the city would have to consider moving out of City Hall. That really was the summation of our conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Welts on Tuesday reaffirmed the franchise\u2019s commitment Dallas, called the city\u2019s engagement \u201ctremendous\u201d and reiterated that the Mavericks are \u201con the clock\u201d as they pursue a move to a new arena when their lease at the American Airlines Center expires in 2031.<\/p>\n

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They have narrowed their focus for the new arena to two locations: the 110-acre former home of Valley View and downtown Dallas.<\/p>\n

Welts said any decision on the arena\u2019s location beyond July would \u201cstart to put real pressure\u201d on opening the venue in time for the 2031-2032 basketball season. When The Dallas Morning News asked if there is a possibility the American Airlines Center lease could be extended a year, if needed, Welts said, \u201cNo idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Welts said the city will determine whether to renovate or relocate City Hall and \u201cthen we will react to that.\u201d Asked by The News if the city\u2019s timetable for deciding the fate of City Hall aligns with the Mavericks\u2019 timeline for choosing an arena site by July, Welts said, \u201cThat\u2019s out of our control. I don\u2019t know [the city\u2019s timeline]. They haven\u2019t laid out a timeline that I have seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Friday, Welts said Tolbert approached the team and said, \u201c\u2018Look, I\u2019ve got to move out of City Hall. I can\u2019t afford to operate what we do in that building going forward for the taxpayers.\u2019\u201d The remarks sparked sharp reaction from some City Council members who said Welts\u2019 comments suggested a predetermined outcome for City Hall\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

When asked to directly address concerns that Welts\u2019 comments suggest a predetermined outcome on City Hall\u2019s future, Tolbert on Friday instead defended her record as Dallas city manager saying it\u2019s \u201cno secret that I have aggressively approached problems facing the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tolbert confirmed that she has met with the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars to discuss their needs for modern, fan-friendly arenas and the future of American Airlines Center, as well as the Convention Center and downtown revitalization.<\/p>\n

She stressed that the decision to repair or move out of City Hall rests with the City Council, and until then, her team will continue discussions with the Mavericks on other matters.<\/p>\n

Council member Paul Ridley on Friday called Welts\u2019 comments \u201calarming,\u201d noting that it was the first time he\u2019d heard the city manager admit that Dallas couldn\u2019t afford to operate City Hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut to have said that a year ago to a sports team executive without authorization from the City Council, to put City Hall on the market, is just astounding,\u201d said Ridley, who represents the downtown area where American Airlines Center sits. \u201cIt clearly exceeded her authority and she should publicly explain herself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Welts on Tuesday repeated that the City Council\u2019s 9-6 vote on March 5 to approve a resolution to explore options for leaving City Hall was a very important step in the team\u2019s arena project journey.<\/p>\n

He explained that the vote enables the Mavericks and the city to formally discuss what the Mavericks\u2019 50-acre entertainment district and arena could look like in the downtown footprint if the city opts to move operations out of the 48-year-old I.M. Pei-designed building.<\/p>\n

\u201cConversations can accelerate now,\u201d Welts said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dallas Mavericks CEO Rick Welts on Tuesday sought to add context to comments he made during a sports…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":690556,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3793],"tags":[6071,7,3025,686,149,4057,87179,166,6,9125],"class_list":["post-690555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas-mavericks","tag-american-airlines-center","tag-basketball","tag-business","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-mavericks","tag-dallasmavericks","tag-kimberly-tolbert","tag-mavericks","tag-nba","tag-rick-welts"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116325777829058145","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690555","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=690555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/690556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=690555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=690555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=690555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}