00:00It's always a good time of the year for you to be here. You're on deck for the Minnesota Wild.
00:04This is your fourth consecutive trip to the playoffs. The last three, you went to the
00:09Western Conference Finals. Obviously, of course, the goal is always the Cup.
00:13Well, for sure it is, and it'll be again this year. And I think hopefully we can, you know,
00:18we can overcome that last hurdle and get ourselves into the finals and, you know,
00:22have the opportunity to compete for the Cup. We're certainly, you know, our organization
00:26is built now to be consistently, you know, contending and in the playoffs.
00:30And I think that's probably one of my most, you know, I guess, thrilling things about what we're
00:37doing here is we've now built a consistent winner that's in the playoffs on a every year basis.
00:42You know, it's a different time in sports. There are a lot of trades in certain sports,
00:46salary caps. How do you build a consistent winner? Well, it starts with drafting because you really
00:52have to be able to draft well in order to get, you know, a really good team. You've got to
00:56have
00:56good young talent and then fill in around it. You can't depend on free agency and trades to do it.
01:03I think you've really got to draft. If you look at the teams that are contending,
01:07they've really built from the bottom and drafted well.
01:11Last time when you were here, we talked a lot about Victory Plus. It's a free streaming service
01:15for the Stars fans. A lot of streaming services do change. This has stayed the way it is for now.
01:20Fans can enjoy these games. You know, how long do you expect that to continue? And what do you really
01:25see as the future of streaming games in sports? Well, television continues to be somewhat of a
01:33question mark. I think certainly what we've done now for two years, we're really happy with
01:38the fan experience, the technology, ease of use, ease of getting the app. I think it works really well.
01:45I think the economics around it continue to be a question mark and how this is going to work
01:51financially for both the networks that are producing it and distributing it and the teams
01:56that are, you know, they're receiving the rights fees. You know, we talk about linear TV. It's such
02:01massive change. Yeah, big time. And I, well, technology's changing this. And I think we're all
02:07going through this change at the same time. And the who, what, where, when, why, and kind of how much,
02:12I think is still TBD. And I think over the next five years into the end of the decade,
02:18I think a lot's going to happen in this space. The numbers are just staggering. When you look
02:22at valuations of teams in major league sports, do you see some type of ceiling on this? How high can
02:27they go? Yeah, we ask ourselves that internally a lot. I think, you know, the last five years,
02:33valuations have skyrocketed. There's probably a lot of opinions as to why I think certainly private
02:38equity, you know, coming into the space and looking to invest in it is, you know, probably at the top
02:43of that list. But also the popularity around sports and the revenue growth, the viewership.
02:49I mean, it's now king of TV. Live sports has kind of overtaken. Hollywood is the thing
02:56in the country. And I think all of those variables are leading to this.
03:00Where do you see the private equity going?
03:03I don't think it's stopping. I think it's going to continue.
03:06I think sports are a real spice for people to look to invest. I think what, you know,
03:12what we're all talking about in this city, the mixed use, real estate play with sports being,
03:18you know, the anchor around this is a big part of the business and the future. And I think private
03:23equity likes the space. You know, you're talking a little bit about new spaces and arena.
03:27You are likely having a new arena. You've discussed Plano in the past. It's a favorite location.
03:32What's your timetable? What are you looking at at this point?
03:35Yeah, we're still in the middle of it all trying to figure out what we're going to do. We do
03:38have
03:38to make decisions pretty quickly. I think this summer, you know, decisions have to be made. I
03:42mean, it still seems like a long time to 2031, but it isn't when you think about what you have
03:47to do
03:48in order to build arenas and build mixed use. So, you know, clocks ticking. I think, you know,
03:53next four or five months are going to be important.
03:55When you talk about mixed use, you know, and you're looking at a new arena for fans. I mean,
04:00you've sold out for the last 158 games. What kind of experience do you hope to give fans in a
04:07new
04:07arena?
04:08Well, I think one that feels more star centric would be where we start. I mean,
04:13the American Airlines Center is great, but it's also a dual building where you have to feel like
04:18the NBA team. You have to feel like an NHL team. I think if we went into our own building,
04:23it would feel very much like the star's home. I also think that there's a number of,
04:28you know, amenities that we can offer, better club spaces, better suite experiences,
04:36and then, you know, controlling the exterior around the arena is important for a team financially,
04:42and having those, you know, dining experiences, those additional entertainment opportunities
04:46that could come our way depending on where we go.
04:48I do want to talk to you about, again, what's next for a team. You do share that arena with
04:52the
04:52Dallas Mavs. The lease is up in 2031. They've sued over breach of contract. You've countersued a
04:59Texas Business Court decision favored the Mavs. Now the Dallas Morning News reporting that the Mavs
05:05do want some type of resolution. What can you tell us about your position?
05:09Well, I hope that this ends. I think that's our position. We want to get back to normal business at
05:16the arena. It's an unfortunate thing that happened. And I think normalcy needs to return. And that's
05:23certainly our intention. Talking about business at the arena. Again, let's turn back to it seems to
05:28be normal business. You are heading to the playoffs now. Do you feel like since the Olympics, which was
05:34such a great time for Americans to watch hockey and really hockey fans all over the world, do you think
05:40it changes the attention on the game? Well, our sport in Dallas right now is really popular. So
05:45it's hard for me to figure out, did the Olympics push it? I think a lot of it has to
05:49do with our
05:50success. The guys on our team, you know, boys and girls, you know, of all ages are playing hockey at
05:56levels we've never seen before. We continue to try to build more ice to be able to accommodate
06:01everybody. The sport, our team is very popular right now. It's popular as we've ever been. And I think
06:09the Olympics certainly play a role in that. But it's more about the stars, I think, than anything.
06:13You did touch on Dallas. It's, you know, we live here. We consider it a sports town. But do you
06:19think
06:19the attention because of the return to the playoffs here, because of the World Cup coming here, do you
06:26think it really gets more eyes on Dallas as, hey, it's really a sports city? Oh, for sure. I mean,
06:31we are
06:32a major market with a lot of sports here. Everybody wants to be here. The World Cup's a prime example.
06:38This is a big, big time sports city. And it's not going to stop anytime soon.
06:45Before I let you go, the readership of the Texas newsletter, it's a lot of Texans, but it's also
06:52a lot of Buffalonians due to where I'm from. The Buffalo Sabres are going back to the playoffs this
06:59year. It's a 14-year drought. I mean, what do you think their chances are?
07:03Well, they've got a really good team. I think they're going to realize that the playoffs are
07:08a different thing than the regular season. And it's great for Buffalo and our league to
07:12have them back, you know, competitive. They've got a really good young core. Lindy Ruff, we
07:16know him well. He obviously coached with us. We wish him well. And, you know, maybe it would
07:21just be ironic that we could meet up at the end again with Lindy behind the bench. It would
07:25be quite a story.
07:26Well, come back and see us for sure. We want to keep in touch with you during the playoffs.
07:30We always appreciate having you here. Thanks so much.
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