American Airlines Center
The American Airlines Center (AAC) is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the Victory Park neighborhood in downtown Dallas, Texas. The arena serves as the home of the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League and Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association. The arena is also used for concerts and other live entertainment. It opened on July 17, 2001, at a cost of $420 million.
For the arena in Miami formerly known as the American Airlines Arena, see Kaseya Center.Address
2500 Victory Avenue
Center Operating Company, L.P.
(a joint venture between the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars)[2]
Basketball: 19,200, up to 21,146 with standing room
Ice hockey: 18,532, up to 19,323 with standing room
Concerts: 21,000
840,000 sq ft (78,000 m2)
September 1, 1999
July 17, 2001
David M. Schwarz/Architectural Services, Inc.
HKS, Inc.[4]
Johnson/McKibben Architects, Inc.
International Facilities Group, LLC.[5]
Austin Commercial[7]/H.J. Russell
History and construction[edit]
By 1998, the Dallas Mavericks, then owned by H. Ross Perot Jr., and the Dallas Stars were indicating their desire for a new arena to replace the aging and undersized Reunion Arena, which closed in 2008 and was demolished the next year. Dallas taxpayers approved a new hotel tax and rental car tax to pay for a new arena to cover a portion of the funding, with the two benefiting teams, the Mavericks and the Stars, picking up the remaining costs, including cost overruns. The new arena was to be built just north of Woodall Rodgers Freeway near Interstate 35E on the site of an old power plant.[8][9]
On March 18, 1999, American Airlines (AA) announced that it would be acquiring the naming rights for the arena for $195 million.[10][11] AA is headquartered in nearby Fort Worth and is based at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. From its opening in 2001 until 2013, the AAC had the then-current AA logo; thereafter the AAC has used the current AA logo.[12]
The first event occurred the next day with an Eagles concert. On the next night, the arena hosted the last show of Michael Flatley's Feet of Flames tour. The first sporting event took place on August 19, 2001, with the Dallas Sidekicks of the World Indoor Soccer League taking on the San Diego Sockers.[13]
The AAC includes a practice court for the Mavericks, who used it for regular practices until 2017 when a separate facility was built in the Dallas Design District near the arena.
The Mavericks' lease on the AAC runs through to 2031.
American Airlines Center-Mavericks Victory Party for NBA Championship 2011
Inside American Airlines Center prior to a Mavericks game
Inside American Airlines Center during a Stars game
Western entrance of the American Airlines Center before game 3 of the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs between the Dallas Stars and the Nashville Predators
American Airlines Center during warmups before game 3 of the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs between the Dallas Stars and the Nashville Predators
