American Airlines Center

American Airlines Center
AAC
The Hangar
Address 2500 Victory Avenue
Location Dallas, Texas
Coordinates 32°47′26″N 96°48′37″W / 32.79056°N 96.81028°W / 32.79056; -96.81028Coordinates: 32°47′26″N 96°48′37″W / 32.79056°N 96.81028°W / 32.79056; -96.81028
Public transit Mainline rail interchange Tram interchange Victory (joint TRE and DART station)
Owner City of Dallas[1]
Operator Center Operating Company, L.P.
(a joint venture between the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars)[2]
Capacity Basketball: 19,200, up to 21,146 with standing room
Ice hockey: 18,532, up to 19,323 with standing room
Concerts: 21,000
Field size 840,000 square feet (78,000 m2)
Construction
Broke ground September 1, 1999
Opened July 17, 2001
Construction cost $420 million
($580 million in 2017 dollars[3] )
Architect David M. Schwarz/Architectural Services, Inc.
HKS, Inc.[4]
Johnson/McKibben Architects, Inc.
Project manager International Facilities Group, LLC.[5]
Structural engineer Walter P Moore[6]
Services engineer Flack & Kurtz Inc.[6]
General contractor Austin Commercial[7]/H.J. Russell[8]
Tenants
Dallas Mavericks (NBA) (2001–present)
Dallas Stars (NHL) (2001–present)
Dallas Desperados (AFL) (2002, 2004–2008)
Dallas Vigilantes (AFL) (2010–2011)

American Airlines Center (AAC) is a multi-purpose arena, located in the Victory Park neighborhood in downtown Dallas, Texas. The arena serves as the home to the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association, and the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League. The arena is also used for concerts and other live entertainment. It opened in 2001 at a cost of $420 million.

History and construction

By 1998, the Dallas Mavericks, then owned by H. Ross Perot, Jr., and the Dallas Stars were indicating their desire for a new facility to replace the dated Reunion Arena. Dallas taxpayers approved a new hotel tax and rental car tax to pay for a new facility 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.[9][10]

On March 18, 1999, American Airlines announced that it would be acquiring the naming rights for the arena for US$195 million.[11][12] American Airlines is headquartered in Fort Worth and is based at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

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]

Design

Athena Tacha, ground-plan of AT&T Plaza with star fountains, in front of American Airlines Center (2,000 sq ft (190 m2), 40,000 sq ft (3,700 m2), in collaboration with SWA)

Principal design work was carried out by David M. Schwarz Architectural Services 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, and has been graced with a number of awards (below). The interior includes retractable seating, public art and a state-of-the-art 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 it as "The Hangar".

On the south side of the arena AT&T Plaza (also called Victory Plaza) serves as the principal entrance into the facility, designed by artist Athena Tacha in 2000. The plaza provides an open space with fountains flanked by retail and office buildings. With several high-definition video displays from Daktronics mounted on the side of the arena and office buildings, the plaza is often used for outdoor events and movie showings.[14]

Notable events

Sports

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.

Concerts

In film and TV

  • The AAC was pictured in The Simpsons episode "The Burns and the Bees" as "Dallas Arena".
  • On Tuesday, June 21 and Wednesday, June 22, 2011, it played host to the Dallas audition stages in the first season of the Fox singer search programme The X Factor.

Other events

Other information

  • Built on and in the shadows of the former Dallas neighborhood of Little Mexico, the beginnings of the Mexican American population in the Dallas area.
  • A few weeks after the first event, it was found that the glass installed in the bathrooms was not the same as what was originally intended. Many who drove by the arena complained they had a clear view into the restrooms. The glass was quickly changed to the correct type the next week.

References

  1. ↑ "#6 Dallas Mavericks". Forbes.com. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  2. ↑ "The Most Trusted Place for Answering Life's Questions". Answers. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  3. ↑ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Community Development Project. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved January 2, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Experience Places". Hksinc.com. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  5. ↑ "American Airlines Center". International Facilities Group, LLC. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  6. 1 2 "Architects, Contractors, and Subcontractors of Current Big Five Facility Projects". SportsBusiness Journal. July 20, 2000. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Special Report: What's On Deck?". SportsBusiness Journal. June 30, 2001. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  8. ↑ "American Airlines Center". Emporis. Retrieved September 18, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 29, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  10. ↑ Brick, Michael (May 1, 2002). "COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE - Downtown Dallas Project Mired in Disputes". NYTimes.com. Dallas (Tex). Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  11. ↑ "American and the Arena Group Announce Agreement To Name New Dallas Facility American Airlines Center". American Airlines Center. Archived from the original on October 18, 2006. Retrieved October 25, 2006.
  12. ↑ "Owners Add Upgrades to American Airlines Center". American Airlines Center. Archived from the original on October 18, 2006. Retrieved October 25, 2006.
  13. ↑ "2001 Season Opening Night: Dallas Sidekicks 6 San Diego Sockers 5 (OT) at the American Airlines Center". Kicksfan.com. August 19, 2001. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
  14. ↑ "Entertainment Venue – American Airlines Center". American Airlines Center. Archived from the original on July 30, 2008. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  15. 1 2 "2011 NBA Finals: American Airlines Series, The Rematch". Zimbio. May 28, 2011. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  16. ↑ Hemlock, Doreen (May 27, 2011). "American Airlines is NBA Finals Winner, with Arenas Bearing its Name in Miami and Dallas". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Fort Lauderdale. Retrieved February 1, 2013.
  17. ↑ "Dallas Stars to Host 2007 NHL All-Star Game" (Press release). Dallas Stars. January 23, 2007. Archived from the original on April 27, 2006.
  18. ↑ "UFC 103 in Dallas a sellout with 17,428 attendees, $2.4 million estimate gate". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved September 20, 2009.
  19. ↑ Matt Erickson. "UFC 171 heads to American Airlines Center in Dallas on March 15". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
  20. ↑ UFC Press Release (January 20, 2015). "UFC returns to Dallas in March with two title fights". ufc.com. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  21. ↑ Newswire (January 24, 2017). "UFC 211 headed for Dallas, will take place May 13". mmafighting.com. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
  22. ↑ "WWE Great Balls Of Fire PPV Dallas". WWE.
Events and tenants
Preceded by
Reunion Arena		 Home of the Dallas Mavericks
2001 – present		 Succeeded by
current
Preceded by
Reunion Arena		 Home of the Dallas Stars
2001 – present		 Succeeded by
current
Preceded by
Xcel Energy Center		 Host of the NHL All-Star Game
2007		 Succeeded by
Philips Arena
Preceded by

Lucas Oil Stadium		 NCAA Women's Division I
Basketball Tournament
Finals Venue
2017		 Succeeded by

Nationwide Arena
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