Tag: Dallas Mavericks

The surprising decline of downtown in ‘Big D’

American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas


In case you haven’t been scoring at home, the city of Dallas is reeling from some pretty big blows to its self-image. Big D’s downtown is losing the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, the NHL’s Dallas Stars, AT&T’s corporate headquarters, as well as Comerica bank and the iconic Neiman Marcus store.

Whew!

That’s a huge hit, even for a city as big as Dallas, with 1.3 million residents and a DFW metro area population of more than 8 million people.

Here’s what has gone down:

First, AT&T announced it was moving its corporate headquarters out of downtown Dallas and relocating to the northern suburb of Plano. Plano! Let someone in, say, Bend, Oregon, try to figure out where Plano, Texas, is when they see it in the dateline of future AT&T news releases.

Then, in the wake of its February acquisition of Dallas-based Comerica financial services company, Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bancorp announced it was moving Comerica employees out of the 60-story Comerica Tower to Preston Center, far north of its current downtown location.

The next blow to its image was the announcement last week that the famous Neiman Marcus downtown Dallas store that has been in operation since 1907 will close down in September. The retailer’s corporate owner, cited a “changing environment and declining foot traffic” in downtown Dallas.

Then Dallas was hit by what may be the two biggest blows, at least for sports fans like me. The Mavericks and the Stars announced this past week that they are abandoning American Airlines Center for yet-to-be built arenas in North Dallas and in the suburb of Plano.

Both franchises claim that the 25-year old American Airlines Center was not built for the ‘modern fans’ who demand more amenities like upscale dining and beverage options, as well as “social areas” that allow fans to mingle during the game.

But it goes beyond the arena experience. Each franchise envisions an ‘entertainment district’ built around their arena that features restaurants, bars and other business to draw people to the venue.

Similar stadium-and-entertainment districts are popping up in other cities with professional sports franchises, including OKC where the OKC Thunder is expected to demolish Paycom Center and create an entertainment district after its new arena opens. (Don’t we already have a downtown entertainment district in Bricktown?)

Here’s what I’ve read about the Mavericks move: The team plans to build a multi-billion dollar arena and entertainment complex on the 104-acre site of the former Valley View Mall, approximately 10 miles north of downtown along the Dallas North Tollway and I-635. Unlike the American Airlines Center, located along the Dallas Area Rapid Transit rail line, the new site offers little public transportation options. So fans likely will have to negotiate crowded freeways before enjoying NBA games and the entertainment options. Read more about the move at ESPN.

The Mavs made no mention of operating a casino in their news release, for which the team’s ownership had been advocating. Mavericks CEO Rick Welts was quoted in a Dallas Morning News article: “I think if Dallas had it all to go over again, I think there might have been a little bit of a different approach on American Airlines Center. It does not serve … the needs or the expectations of a sports fan in 2026 who goes to a professional sporting event. We don’t have any of the hospitality amenities that one would expect in other markets, and I think we’re really looking forward to that.”

As for the Stars, here’s what I’ve found: The NHL franchise has signed an agreement with the city of Plano to move to what is now known as the Shops at Willow Bend in Plano, a retail center that is on the decline. The Stars envision a new arena and entertainment districts, similar to what the Mavericks plan on the Valley View Mall site a few miles to the south. Read more at ESPN.

Dallas residents vented their frustrations on the spate of exits from downtown at a recent city council meeting.

“The Valley View Mavs, the Plano Stars, Fox 4 gone, AT&T gone, Neiman gone,” said Sana Syed, the President of the Dallas Farmers Market Stakeholders Association. “What an embarrassing and painful city this week.”

Meanwhile, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram seemed to be enjoying some schadenfreude over the plight of Fort Worth’s big brother city 30 miles to the east. The headline on an article about the downtown departures reads “Mavericks’ site for new arena would turn downtown Dallas into a ghost town.”

Said Star-Telegram columnist Mac Engel: “Both the Mavericks and Dallas Star have stated their intentions to leave the American Airlines Center after their respective leases end with the facility in the spring of 2032. If they both leave, it would turn downtown Dallas into an evacuation site almost every night at 5 p.m.”

So, what’s behind the mass exodus from downtown Dallas. I asked a friend I’ll call “Andy” who lives in the DFW metro to share his perspective. Parking challenges for employees and the large number of homeless people inhabiting the area play a role, he said.

Workers have to park blocks from their offices and then are harassed by the homeless as they walk in, Andy told me.

So, employers are choosing to locate elsewhere like suburban communities far removed from downtown and the challenges it presents in 2026.

The decline of downtown Dallas brings to mind OKC’s downtown when I first came to town in 1983 to work for The Daily Oklahoman at its then-downtown newsroom. Downtown was dark and mostly abandoned after 5 p.m., with few restaurants, only one hotel — the Sheraton.

Fast forward to 2026 and we can see the renaissance brought to OKC by passage of the original MAPS program in 1992. Today, our downtown thrives with a busy entertainment area in Bricktown, multiple hotels and restaurants scattered throughout. Yay for investing in ourselves.

We have our own issues with homelessness, but there are organizations like Curbside Enterprises and SidexSide OKC that offer a path to housing and employment. We’re not running away from the problem.

So, while downtown Dallas declines, downtown OKC continues to rise up with new sports venues, an awesome park and convention center that give people a reason to come on down. (I’m not counting the exodus of Devon Energy because I see that as related to a corporate merger)

Can Dallas reverse the exodus and have a downtown worthy of its ‘Big D’ image? Stay tuned.

A passion for the Thunder and game-day experience

Paula TV
Paula Stafford stands close to the television as the Thunder-Mavericks games plays ojn

Watching the televised Thunder-Dallas game with my wife this past Saturday afternoon turned out to be a personal treat for me.

Not because the Thunder won or lost (they lost).

Paula and I were both disappointed to see our Thunder lose and go down 2-1 in their NBA second round playoff series to the Mavs.

Rather, it was the rare shared experience of watching a game together and being able to see Paula’s passion for the Thunder as the game progressed.

As a fan, Paula is a Thunder veteran. She’s attended a vast majority of Thunder games in the arena since the team relocated here in 2008. This year she saw most of their home games live as she accompanied her mother to the Paycom Center.

I mostly watched from home, and saw only a handful in person.

So, we watched separately most of the time. As for televised out of town games, they are usually played at night when we are trying to wind down and get our 4 year-old grandson in bed for the night.

It’s even worse for the playoffs when start times for NBA Western Conference teams like the Thunder are at 8:30 pm or later.

So Saturday afternoon brought us together in front of the TV for a rare shared watching experience.

Paula made it fun by wearing her passion on the sleeve of her Thunder T-shirt, so to speak.

Before the game, she offered a coaching tip to Thunder coach Mark Daigneault. Send Gordon Hayward out on the court to give Luka Doncic a couple hard fouls early and protect Lu Dort from accumulating fouls.

And when the Thunder have the ball, go hard at Luka, whom she perceives as soft on defense.

Later, we both decided that Hayward wasn’t tough enough to rough up Luka, so we settled on Kenrich Williams as a good matchup.

Daigneault did not heed her coaching tip.

Still, the Thunder hung with the Mavs throughout the game, even taking the lead several times.

Paula took to barking whenever Jalen Williams — J-Dub to fans — made a great play. J-Dub started the barking trend in post-game interviews, and it has spread to fans, even those at home.

As the game progressed, Paula would call her sister or our friend Donna and break down what just happened with them or celebrate a good play. Sometimes, they called her.

She chanted “Let’s go Thunder” periodically like they do in the arena, or “Rebound Thunder!” when they needed a boost.

The phone line was hot. In fact, out of the blue, her sister, JoAnne, suggested that the Thunder put Hayward on Luka to give him some hard fouls.

Where had I heard that?

But the Thunder couldn’t hold off the Mavs in the second half, and Paula was indignant over how the game was called by the refs.

“It’s hard to win when you are having to play against both the Mavericks and the refs,” she said. “Every call has gone Luka’s way because he’s getting star treatment.”

And so it went. I enjoyed watching her reaction as much as the game itself.

When it was over, Paula called her sister and our friend Donna, and they all commiserated over the loss and the unfair star treatment Luka received. The consensus was that Luka is a drama queen. I concur.

As for me, I enjoyed Paula’s enthusiasm for the Thunder to the end of the game and beyond.

It was a great afternoon of basketball.