Dallas Mavericks CEO: New Arena an 'Exciting Prospect'

Bloomberg

Watch Dallas Mavericks CEO: New Arena an 'Exciting Prospect' - Bloomberg on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00The money in sports. You've been in the world for a long time, seen the rise of money in sports

00:05and the rise of financial firms in sports. Is this a good thing in your view?

00:10Well, it's not only a good thing, I think it's an essential thing. Really, when you look at the

00:15valuations of franchises today, there's really a smaller and smaller universe of individuals who

00:22would either choose to or have the ability to purchase a major league sports franchise today.

00:29So private equity's involvement is going to be something that's going to be absolutely essential

00:34going forward. You know, Rick, when you talk about the future of sports, I do want to get in with you

00:40the streaming rights. You know, Dallas Mavericks, they have Mavs television. And you actually are

00:45one of the few that also have a local deal, so you can see all the games here as well. But what do you

00:48see as the future of how we watch sports? Well, it's unfolding right now. The NBA is

00:55entering into a brand new set of broadcast agreements for this season. So we're adding

01:02Peacock and NBC. We're adding Amazon Prime. And we have to go where our viewers are watching us,

01:10right? And especially our younger viewers today who are just accustomed to using streaming as their

01:15primary platform in consuming sports. You know, let's talk a little bit about your viewers and your

01:20fans. They had quite a shock last year with the trade of Luka Doncic. You start tonight,

01:24you kick off your preseason. Do you feel that you've really managed to bridge that gap with them?

01:31Well, you know, this is my favorite time of year, right? Because there's optimism. As I checked the

01:36standings this morning, we're undefeated. We haven't played a game. And every team feels the same way,

01:42right? But we had, you know, that trade on February 1st. And then this is such a crazy industry,

01:48right? 100 days later on May 12th, with a 1.8% chance of winning the NBA draft lottery.

01:56Somehow we came away with the number one pick. And with that, Cooper flag. And that's what's

02:01starting tonight, a new era of Dallas Mavericks basketball.

02:05You know, when you talk about the finances of sports last year, you did lose some sponsors.

02:10And there were some season ticket holders that were, you know, very upset about this trade.

02:14But where did you land now? You know, sports is such a wonderful thing because it can change on

02:20a dime. And it did on May 12th with the drafting of Cooper flag. You know, the most decorated 18

02:27year old player in the history of basketball who plays his first game for the Mavericks

02:31tonight. And really everything changes. The optimism going into this season changed the business

02:37environment completely. We're third in the league in new season ticket sales. We'll finish this year

02:42ahead in revenue and season ticket sales, which, you know, I wasn't quite sure was going to happen

02:48on February 1st. So ahead of the year with season ticket sales now, but on the business question

02:54and on the sponsors returning to the organization, can you give us some numbers behind sponsorships or

02:59how flag has affected the way that companies are interested in partnering with the Mavs?

03:04Well, your second point is really spot on because the interest around Cooper flag and his potential

03:11all-star career in the NBA. But here in Dallas, it's combined with the optimism and energy around

03:18building a new arena and entertainment district to replace American Airlines Center where we played

03:24for the past 25 years. So it's a wonderful combination from a business standpoint because

03:28we have the optimism of the team, but also a really exciting prospect about what we're going to be

03:34building in Dallas, which will be the future of our franchise.

03:37Well, that's where we want to go to in terms of what you are building in terms of a new arena.

03:41Mavs lease is up in 2031, Rick. You share an arena with the Dallas Stars, but you've made it clear

03:48that the next arena that you have will be a basketball venue. I think the last time that we all caught up

03:54with you at Bloomberg, you said you had narrowed it down to several sites. So what can you tell us?

03:59Or feel free to announce where you guys are going to do it. We would love to know.

04:03I really, really wish I could do that. We're hoping by the end of the first quarter of 26 that we're

04:10going to have identified a site. Listen, our commitment, we've been very clear, we want to be

04:15in the city of Dallas. And the city has been a great partner to this point in helping us identify

04:21sites. Not easy to do because we're looking for a minimum of 50 acres to build the arena and an

04:26entertainment district. So not a lot of 50 acre parcels that you can even consider in Dallas.

04:32But we have narrowed it down and we're doing our due diligence on those. Very complicated project.

04:38These are very complicated things to get done. But again, we're hoping by the end of the first

04:43quarter next year to be able to announce where we're going to be. Of course, the team owners,

04:47the Adelson family, they've made no secret they would like to see casino gambling in Texas.

04:51You follow the Texas legislature. I follow the Texas legislature. That did not get anywhere this

04:57year. Does that affect really the plans and what's going to be next for the stadium?

05:01No, as we look forward, we don't think the prospects for that happening in Texas anytime soon are very

05:09likely. So the project that we're going to build has no casino component to it. We're talking about

05:14hotels. We're talking about retail. We're talking about restaurants. We're talking about big

05:18gathering places and an arena. So there's no there's no casino component. Something you don't

05:23see that often is a team opening their preseason, not in their arena. You will be playing tonight in

05:29Dickies in Fort Worth, a much smaller arena. And that's really where people will get their first

05:34vision of Cooper flag. You know, can you talk about that decision and what you're hoping comes out of

05:38the evening? Yeah, well, it was really in COVID when the commitment was made to play this game.

05:44The fact that it's going to be Cooper's first game in a Mavericks uniform in our home market,

05:48and we think of Dallas Fort Worth as our home market. I think Fort Worth looks at the Mavericks

05:54as their NBA team. So I think it's going to be a super exciting night. It's going to be the first

05:58time we'll get to see Cooper. And I think there's a big, big, big buzz about that. I think there's

06:03people that are interested in seeing Cooper globally. Speaking of global sports, the World Cup

06:09will be holding nine matches in Dallas. That's the most in any city in North America. You know,

06:13what does that do for this city in terms, this whole area, in terms of being branded really a

06:19sports town? I don't think people yet realize the impact this is going to have. This is the whole

06:24world is going to be focused on this. And I'm a huge soccer fan, you know, maybe this far behind

06:30NBA basketball. I own an ownership interest in a couple soccer clubs. So I think what's going to

06:35unfold here is really going to put Dallas on the map as a soccer mecca.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended