👋 Good morning! This will be my final dispatch of the week, as by the time you read this, I’ll probably already be en route to the airport to head to (gulp) Philadelphia. I’m too chicken to wear a DLLS shirt on the plane, but if anyone asks where I’m from or what matters to me most, I won’t lie to them. At least I know I have a few friends at the PHLY studio if things start getting a little too Philly-ish. Y’all have a great weekend, stay safe for me, and I’ll be back on Monday! — Bobby Karalla

The Dallas Mavericks made news for an off-the-floor hire, adding former Minnesota Timberwolves CEO Ethan Casson as the team’s new president. Casson will work alongside Mavs CEO Rick Welts in a newly created role and will handle day-to-day responsibilities while Welts focuses on getting an arena built.

Welts took it one step further than that in the team’s press release, however, and this quote caught my attention: “(Casson) will be my partner in charting the team into the future and will allow me to devote more time to our strategic priorities, including the building of our new arena and entertainment district in Dallas, and our transition from a basketball organization to a sports and entertainment company operating our own venue.”

That last part in particular is an explicit declaration that the Mavericks plan to fund their own stadium and surrounding development, similar to the Golden State Warriors and their Chase Center, which has become a gigantic ATM for the team.

I worked for the Mavs for a decade. Without getting too into the weeds here, the Mavericks are just the basketball team run by Dallas Basketball Limited. The organization has never owned its own stadium — that is, it’s only ever had a lease agreement with a venue, first Reunion Arena and now American Airlines Center. When a team leases a building, it can play all its games there and everything, but there is obviously a revenue split between the org and (for lack of a better term) the landlords, in this case American Airlines Center, which is run by Center Operating Company.

That split does not extend, of course, to concerts or other events, and the AAC puts on a whole lot of those every year. If the Mavs funded, owned, and operated its own venue though, every single cent that thing makes — from ticket sales to parking, from concessions to merch, from Mavs games to concerts to any convention under the sun — goes directly into the company’s deep pockets.

Whoop dee doo, good for Patrick Dumont and Miriam Adelson, right? Yes, but also it could be good for fans. Tons of revenue could mean more of a willingness to agree to a hefty luxury tax bill. If the venue is built with basketball in mind first, it could mean great things for the in-arena experience. (Think of what the Clippers were able to pull off with their new arena.) Sadly, though, it means the Mavs might not be playing in downtown-adjacent Victory Park much longer, unless somehow the Design District rumors turn out to be true after all. (Those feel like a distant memory, though.)

Operating a stadium requires a whole lot of staff, oversight, management, expenses, and more. Frankly the business infrastructure to handle such an enormous workload is not currently in place, so it makes sense that Welts is focused squarely on that while Casson handles everything else. The “everything else” is what’s currently much more important to fans, though, who are facing increased ticket prices amid the ongoing recovery process after the Luka trade. Casson isn’t stepping into the most comfortable situation in the world by any means, but it does seem like the Mavericks understand the gravity of it all better now than before, and hopefully for all of us a new voice will help further smooth things over with the fans.

The Dallas Cowboys can’t stop, won’t stop fighting. As our Clarence Hill reports, it’s starting to get on head coach Brian Schottenheimer’s nerves to the point where he stopped practice to make the team run as punishment, before ending it early.

The Rangers avoided suffering a sweep in LA with a much-needed win. Check out our postgame show for great analysis and good vibes! It’s the best Rangers show you’ll find anywhere.

CeeDee sees the vision. It’s time to lock in!

Be sure to subscribe to our shows wherever you listen to your podcasts. Traffic can be the worst, and one of the best ways I get through it is by listening to the audio versions of our DLLS shows. You should, too!

Bobby Karalla
DLLS Sports Head of Content​
[email protected]