Two arenas could be built in the area.
It appears the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex may have two arena games going. The owners of the National Basketball Association’s Dallas Mavericks franchise are looking around the area and possibly could end up building a basketball only venue in Irving or maybe stay in Dallas. The Mavericks ownership’s lease with the city of Dallas ends in 2031. Now, the ownership of the National Hockey League’s Dallas Stars franchise is kicking the tires about the region and may be eying Plano as a landing spot. The two franchises apparently are looking to leave the 24-year-old city of Dallas arena. Initially, Stars ownership was not opposed to giving the old building a facelift but that may have changed.
According to Front Office Sports, Stars ownership is looking at the possible purchase of land in Plano. Stars ownership owns some hockey related business there as it operates a youth hockey facility. The team’s practice facility in Frisco. According to the report, Arlington is also in the mix. Arlington is the home of the National Football League’s Dallas Cowboys franchise and Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers franchise. It also is a United Football League hub. Each of those areas is about 20 miles from downtown Dallas. The Stars ownership also could be looking for a new arena in Dallas. The franchise ownership is in the kicking the tires phase of the arena game. Stars ownership is going from town to town trying to find out if any of those municipalities would be first interested in having the franchise in town and then it is how do we finance this thing. Stars CEO Brad Alberts said it is early in the stadium game. “There’s no favorites at this point. We’re all just doing our work.” Part of that work is to get municipalities in a bidding war because that is how the stadium-arena game works.
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