The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is entering a period of historic change, thanks in large part to a set of sweeping facility decisions by the region’s pro sports teams. 

The NHL’s Stars said late Tuesday that they have entered into a non-binding letter of intent with suburban Plano, Texas, to build an arena and mixed-use development there. The move, confirming reporting last fall by Front Office Sports, will see the team leave American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas and build a sports-centered complex modeled in part by The Battery in Atlanta. 

The letter of intent has been placed for consideration on the Plano City Council’s agenda for Monday. The Stars have targeted a 2031 opening of a new arena. 

“This project would present a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our franchise,” said Stars owner Tom Gaglardi in a statement. “We eagerly await the vote by the Plano City Council and look forward to continuing the conversation to be part of the redevelopment of The Shops at Willow Bend.”

Big Departure

The Stars, however, are hardly alone in the sports efforts rippling across the North Texas region. Among the others:

• Just a day before the Stars’ announcement, the NBA’s Mavericks said they also intend to leave American Airlines Center and seek their own arena and entertainment district in the Valley View area of Dallas, located about 13 miles north of the team’s current home. The massive pivot arrives as a previously contemplated downtown arena and casino resort project has not materialized, due heavily to the ongoing resistance by Texas to legalize sports betting there. The Mavericks have entered into an “option agreement” to purchase 104 acres of land at the site of the former Valley View Mall. 
• The NFL’s Cowboys still have their home venue, AT&T Stadium, in the Arlington sports and entertainment district, and its separate training facility and commercial development, The Star, further out in Frisco, Texas. MLB’s Rangers, meanwhile, neighbor the Cowboys in Arlington with their Globe Life Field.

The Arlington City Council recently approved a lease extension for the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium running through 2055, and the new term calls for more than $1 billion worth of facility upgrades over the elongated term, with the team funding about three-quarters of that. 

When all is said and done with the new venue projects, there will be at least four sports-oriented mini-cities in the Metroplex between Plano, Valley View, Frisco, and Arlington—and none of them will be in downtown Dallas. 

The leases for both the Stars and Mavericks at American Airlines Center expire in 2031, and they have been at legal odds as they plot out their respective futures. A Texas judge last month ruled in favor of the Mavericks in that dispute, giving the basketball team control over the current arena, though the Stars have already filed a notice of appeal. 

With both teams now set to leave, though, there is something of an expiration date on the practical effect of that matter. And despite their many differences, both the Stars and Mavericks agree that American Airlines Center is now outdated. Those teams have also been at the center of a wave of large-scale media shifts in the market.

Changing Times

It’s hardly uncommon for pro teams to base themselves outside of an urban core, and the NFL’s Bears are on the cusp of becoming the next to do so. But Dallas, the No. 4 U.S. media market, is set to become the largest in the country without any of its major men’s pro teams located in a downtown area. 

The Mavericks will still be within the Dallas city limits, though not by much. Mavericks CEO Rick Welts has been the team’s point man on the long-running arena deliberations.

“The Valley View site meets most of the criteria established at the outset of our evaluation process,” the team said. “It is our goal to stay in the city of Dallas, and we believe this site provides the strongest opportunity to achieve that goal.”

The WNBA’s Wings look to be the outlier to the geographically outward sports trend. Despite recent delays in the team’s construction schedule, the Wings intend to play in a renovated Dallas Memorial Auditorium located downtown beginning in 2028, with an interim stay next year at American Airlines Center.

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