The latest in the legal drama between the Dallas Stars and the Dallas Mavericks has the Stars alleging that the Mavs are actually based in Las Vegas.
Documents filed by the Stars on Tuesday allege that the owners of the Mavericks have violated the Mavericks Franchise Agreement with the City of Dallas.
According to the court documents, the Franchise Agreement requires the Mavericks to continuously designate the City of Dallas as the location of the team’s principal corporate and executive offices.
“In 2024, according to filings with the Texas Secretary of State, the new owners of the Mavericks designated the location for the team’s principal corporate and executive offices as Las Vegas, Nevada, which is 1,200 miles away and located outside the State of Texas,” Joshua M. Sandler, counsel for the Dallas Stars, said in a statement. “In other words, the Mavericks engaged in the very conduct they allege entitles them to take full control of the American Airlines Center.”
How we got here: Dallas Mavericks owners file lawsuit against Stars over American Airlines Center upgrades, Stars file countersuit
In late October, the majority owners of the Dallas Mavericks filed suit against Dallas Stars ownership, accusing the franchise of breaching its lease and blocking long-overdue upgrades to American Airlines Center.
Dallas Sports Group (DSG) alleges Stars ownership has resisted AAC improvements, despite initial support.
“Despite initial signs of cooperation, Stars ownership has consistently resisted efforts to improve the facility,” the Mavericks’ ownership group said in the statement.
DSG is controlled by billionaire physician Miriam Adelson and her son-in-law Patrick Dumont, president and COO of Las Vegas Sands Corp., who serves as the Mavericks’ team governor. The Adelson-Dumont family acquired a 69% majority stake in the Mavericks in December 2023 for approximately $3.5 billion. Mark Cuban retains a 27% minority stake and continues to oversee basketball operations, while Mary Stanton holds the remaining 4%.
A statement released by the Stars called the lawsuit “nothing short of an attempted hostile takeover of the management of the AAC,” and that the “lawsuit seeks to marginalize the Dallas Stars to the role of a mere tenant,” driving the team out of Dallas.
The Stars also announced it filed a lawsuit to restore normal operations at the AAC and prevent the Mavericks’ “attempted hostile takeover.”
Both teams, according to DSG, had committed to keeping their corporate headquarters in Dallas through 2031, but the Stars relocated theirs to Frisco — a move DSG says violates that agreement. The Stars said the team uses the Frisco office in conjunction with its principal office in Downtown Dallas.
“The Mavericks have known about the Stars’ Frisco office for more than two decades, but never raised any issue until the Mavericks changed ownership,” Sandler said in a statement released Tuesday. “In fact, for over a decade, the Texas Legends, the Mavericks’ G-League team, have played their games in Frisco at the Comerica Center, under a lease agreement with the Stars.”
City urges teams to stay committed
Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert expressed hope that both professional sports teams will maintain their long-standing commitment to the city and remain in Dallas.
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