Mavericks Take Control of AAC; Stars Counter

The Dallas Mavericks’ majority owner, Dallas Sports Group (led by Miriam Adelson), filed a 253‑page petition in Texas Business Court alleging the Dallas Stars (owned by Tom Gagliardi/Northland Properties) breached a 1998 franchise agreement by relocating their headquarters to Frisco in 2003, forfeiting ownership rights and obstructing maintenance and a proposed $300 million renovation of American Airlines Center (AAC). The Mavericks say they exercised a contractual right to redeem the Stars’ stake, have taken control of the arena operating entities and placed arena proceeds in escrow, and asked the court for injunctive relief to allow renovations to proceed. The Stars immediately filed a counterclaim denying any breach, arguing only the City of Dallas can declare a relocation event and calling the Mavericks’ action an attempted hostile takeover. The City of Dallas has sided with the Mavericks on the renovation dispute, and both teams say fan operations at the AAC will continue during litigation. The dispute comes as the franchises explore new venues — the Mavericks scouting a downtown Dallas basketball-only site while the Stars consider Plano, Frisco or other locations including a possible $1 billion arena — and both teams’ current AAC leases run through 2031 with no legal or operational resolution reached.