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Millions more dollars are set to flow into the American Airlines Center as part of efforts to keep the professional sports venue operating at the top of its game.
Center Operating Company LP, the operator of the 23-year-old arena home to the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars, will begin upgrades on escalators and elevators and add about 4,950 square feet of "floor slab infill for patron circulation" in November, according to a Sept. 16 filing with the state. Those renovations are estimated to cost about $30 million and should be completed in August 2025.
Center Operating Company is a joint venture between the Mavericks and Stars, while the AAC is owned by the City of Dallas. In addition to games, the center hosts many large concerts and other special events throughout the year.
Dave Brown, chief operating officer and general manager of the American Airlines Center, compared the renovations to what's needed to keep a house in working order. He said while there aren’t specific plans in place in terms of what all will be done, the operators of the AAC want to do whatever it takes to keep the center up to date.
Dallas-based architecture firm HKS Inc. was listed as the project's design firm in the filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
This appears to be the first major piece of arena work since the Mavs' run to the NBA Finals, and since Miriam Adelson and her family bought a controlling stake in the team from Mark Cuban for $3.5 billion in December. Adelson's family owns Las Vegas Sands Corp., a casino company, and Cuban has cited their real estate expertise as one of the reasons he sold a majority stake as he looked ahead to the Mavericks' future arena needs.
The new owners have been open about plans to upgrade the facility: Patrick Dumont, son-in-law of Adelson and governor of the Mavericks, previously said the facility improvements will focus on enhancing the fan experience.
"You'll see (improvements) from top to bottom, but it's gonna take a little bit of time because it's a living, breathing arena,” Dumont said in June. "It's busy all throughout the year, so we're gonna have to be mindful in the way that we do it and realize that we're kind of doing an operation while we're running a sprint. But we'll get it done. And I think when we're done, I hope that will be something that the community enjoys and appreciates."
The improvements will follow the $20 million in upgrades that occurred at the property last year. Those represented the largest capital improvements in the center’s history, Brown previously said, and included a larger LED video board and replacing all 19,134 seats with darker fabric and more ergonomic cushions.
The Mavericks' lease at the AAC expires in 2031 and Cuban, who maintains a 27% stake in the franchise, has put its odds of staying at the venue at "less than 50%." Instead, Cuban envisions a new arena as part of a destination casino resort.