Irving, Texas wants the business.
Irving, Texas wants to be a major league town again and the National Basketball Association’s Dallas Mavericks franchise is the object of Irving’s desire. But the Mavericks’ CEO Rick Welts seems to be more interested in developing an arena-village in Dallas. “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,” Welts said. The Mavericks ownership would like to build a basketball friendly arena which means no hockey because of sightline problems. Meanwhile, the Irving City Council has approved some zoning amendments that could pave the way for the construction of an arena-village. The majority of the Mavericks business is owned by Miriam Adelson, who is the largest shareholder of the Mavericks and her son-in-law, Patrick Dumont, who is the Sands Corporation’s COO. The zoning changes would apply to the 182-acre property, which coincidentally, is owned by an entity connected to the Las Vegas Sands Corporation.
The zoning changes would allow “an arena with a minimum of 15,000 seats and/or an indoor theater with a minimum of 4,000 seats” on the property. Additionally, there could be one or more luxury hotels, spas, pools and “may include Casino Gaming if authorized by the Constitution and laws of the state of Texas” within the property. Other arena-village entities that could sprout up on the property include a convention center, heliport/air taxi pad, restaurants, food truck park and indoor recreation “including but not limited to an athletic training facility.” The Mavericks ownership lease deal with Dallas for the use of the Dallas’ sports arena ends in 2031 so there is a long way to go. The franchise owners put out a statement denying the team was moving to Las Vegas. The Dallas and Irving arena game is on.
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