Dallas Mavericks CEO Rick Welts is holding firm to the franchise’s vision of a new arena and entertainment district within Dallas.
And it definitely won’t include the Dallas Stars.
Its planned location remains a mystery, and Welts offered no clarity while speaking Wednesday with columnist Ben Cohen during The Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything program.
Welts spoke for more than 20 minutes about the franchise, the Luka Dončić trade and the plans for a new arena.
Many of the details have been previously reported, but Welts’ comments and earlier conversations with The Dallas Morning News offered further insight into the project. Welts said the Mavericks hope to open the new area before the 2031 season when the lease at the American Airlines Center expires.
“We’re going to build a brand new arena and entertainment district in Dallas to really take us into the next 30 years of our history,” he said. “It’s owned by Las Vegas Sands Corporation, the Adelson family. They build amazing, beautiful projects in Asia, ... and we’re going to do that in Dallas.”
Split with the Stars
Welts once again made it clear that the new arena will be a basketball-only facility, ending a more than 30-year roommate relationship with the Dallas Stars.
Welts said building a basketball-only arena will improve the viewing experience for Mavericks fans and compel them to attend a game in person.
“We’ve made the decision not to build it as a hockey facility,” he said. “If you’re building around a basketball floor versus building around a hockey rink, you’re able to create a much better viewing experience for basketball fans. (It’s) closer ... better sidelines. You don’t have to make the compromises, especially at the ends of the court, that you have to do if you’re going to try to accommodate both NBA basketball and hockey.”
What will the new arena look like?
No renderings or sketches have been released, but Welts said the Mavs facility will not resemble Chase Center in San Francisco — the indoor arena Welts helped build when he worked in the Golden State Warriors front office.
“We’re not going to build Chase Center in Dallas. My goal is that, when you walk into our building for the first time in 2031 in Dallas, people are going to say, ‘Wow, these people really understand Dallas.’
“I don’t know exactly what that is right now,” he added. “But I do know that the economic drivers that are there are on a par with the Bay Area.”
What are possible arena sites?
In an interview earlier this month, Welts said site selection is in its early stages. He said they hope to identify a site before the end of 2025.
The area needs to be between 30 and 50 acres to accommodate the district that Mavs ownership envisions. Mavs brass and city staff continue to meet.
“We have had sites suggested by the city, but we’re by no means close,” Welts said. “We’ve asked them to take a look at some additional sites, and the process is going to go on, I would guess, for months. But, no, we’re not like on the 10-yard line.”
Earlier this year, real estate experts who spoke with The News offered several possible locations where the Mavericks could build its new complex.
These sites include near the Dallas convention center project, the former Valley View Center site, the current Dallas County jail and others.
Welts made no mention of Irving during the interview or during Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal event. Las Vegas Sands Corp. d companies own more than 200 acres near the former Texas Stadium site. The Sands’ chief operating officer is Patrick Dumont, the Mavericks governor.
“It’s a top-of-mind, top-of-agenda project for the (Dallas) city manager and the mayor and us, right? So there’s a lot of activity,” Welts told The News.
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