The American Airlines Center (AAC) is a multi-purpose arena, located in the Victory Park neighborhood of 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.
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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.
On March 18, 1999, American Airlines announced that it would be acquiring the naming rights for the arena for US$195 million. 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.
Design
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.
Notable events
Sports
- After the Dallas Desperados played their first season in the AAC, they moved to nearby Reunion Arena and played there for their second season. For their third season, they moved back to the AAC, where they played until the league folded.
- The AAC hosted the Big 12 Basketball Tournament in 2003, 2004 & 2006.
- The PBR hosted a Built Ford Tough Series bull riding event at the AAC, annually, between 2005 & 2009.
- American Airlines Center, as well as American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida, hosted the 2006 NBA Finals, in which the Dallas Mavericks were defeated in six games by the Miami Heat. This was both teams' first appearance in the Finals. Because American Airlines held the rights to both venues in the final, the series was nicknamed by some as the "American Airlines series".
- Hosted the 55th National Hockey League All-Star Game on January 24, 2007.
- Co-hosted the 2011 NBA Finals (Games 3, 4, and 5) with American Airlines Arena in Miami (the same venues as the 2006 Finals), a rematch of the 2006 championship series against the Miami Heat. It was both teams' second appearance in the Finals, and this time the Mavericks won in 6 games.
- On Saturday June 18, 2011, it played host to Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum.
- UFC 103 was held at the Center on September 19, 2009. UFC 171 was hosted at the Center on March 15, 2014. UFC 185 was held at the Center on March 14, 2015. UFC 211 was held at the center on May 13, 2017.
- American Airlines Center hosted the WWE pay-per-view Great Balls of Fire, which took place July 9, 2017.
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
- On Monday, September 14, 2015, Republican Party presidential candidate Donald Trump held a campaign rally in the arena.
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.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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