American Airlines Center

Lore & Background

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. 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.

On March 18, 1999, American Airlines (AA) announced that it would be acquiring the naming rights for the arena for $195 million. 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. The first event was Michael Flatley's Feet of Flames tour on July 17, 2001.

The first sporting event was a Dallas Stars preseason game against the St. Louis Blues on September 21, 2001. 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. Principal design work was carried out by the Driehaus Prize winner and New Classical architect David M. Schwarz of Washington D.C. American Airlines Center was designed to be the heart of a new urban, commercial area designed to reinvigorate the city of Dallas called Victory Park.

The facility itself features a conservative, traditional design with sweeping brick façades and smooth arches. The interior includes retractable seating, public art and a technological arena. Because of the Quonset hut-like appearance of its roof and the fact that American Airlines holds the naming rights some fans have come to refer to the arena as 'The Hangar'.

Reader's Guide

The AAC hosted the Big 12 Basketball tournament in 2003, 2004 & 2006. The PBR hosted a Built Ford Tough Series bull riding event at the AAC, annually, between 2005 & 2009. American Airlines Center, as well as the then-named American Airlines Arena (now Kaseya Center) in Miami, Florida, hosted the 2006 and 2011 NBA Finals, in which the Dallas Mavericks played the Miami Heat in both franchises' first two Finals appearances. The Heat won the 2006 series 4–2, closing out in Dallas, and the Mavericks won the 2011 series 4–2, closing in Miami.

Because American Airlines held the rights to both venues in the NBA Finals, these series were nicknamed by some as the 'American Airlines series'. The arena also hosted the 2024 NBA Finals, in which the Boston Celtics split the two games in Dallas while winning all of its games at TD Garden to win the championship in five games. Hosted the 55th National Hockey League All-Star Game on January 24, 2007. Hosted a watch party for the 2020 Stanley Cup Finals between the Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning.

However, the Stars lost to the Lightning in six games. On Saturday June 18, 2011, it played host to Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum. UFC 103: Franklin vs. Belfort was held at the Center on September 19, 2009. UFC 171: Hendricks vs. Lawler was held at the Center on March 15, 2014.

UFC 185: Pettis vs. dos Anjos was held at the Center on March 14, 2015. UFC 211: Miocic vs. dos Santos 2 was held at the Center on May 13, 2017. UFC 228: Woodley vs. Till was held at the Center on September 8, 2018. UFC 277: Peña vs. Nunes 2 was held at the Center on July 30, 2022.

On September 24, 2016, the arena hosted the Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions. American Airlines Center hosted the opening round of round-robin matches of New Japan Pro-Wrestling's G1 Climax series on July 6, 2019. The arena also hosted the Junior Gold Championships Opening Ceremony. The Junior Gold championships is an annual bowling tournament every July, for the best youth bowlers in the country and in the world.

American Airlines Center hosted first and second-round games of the 2006 and 2018 NCAA men's basketball tournaments. For the NCAA women's basketball tournament, American Airlines Center hosted the Finals in 2017, and in 2023, along with the regional semifinals/finals in 2016 and 2011.