American Airlines Center

American Airlines Centre is a multi-purpose arena near Downtown Dallas in Victory Park. Dallas City officially opened the arena on 17th July 2001 and spent an estimated amount of 420 million dollars on the construction work. It has been home to the American professional team "Dallas Mavericks" and the "Dallas Stars" of the National Hockey League since 2001.

The arena also serves for conducting concerts and live entertainment shows. Moreover it was designed by David M. Schwarz Architectural Services and built on a site for of an old power plant.

David built the conventionally designed arena structure with the motive to re-kindle the commercial parts of the Dallas city. The center has a capacity of 21,146 for basketball matches (along with standing rooms), 19,323 for ice hockey events, and 21,000 for concerts. 

History of American Airlines Center

The history of the construction of this stadium began in 1998 when H. Ross Perot Jr owned the Dallas Mavericks. Dallas Stars demanded a new arena as the old one was undersized.

To build this stadium, the Dallas taxpayers approved a new hotel tax and rental car tax to raise the revenue for funding to construct a new arena for the city. In this way, with the help of new taxes it raised some portion of the funds for installation.

On 18^th March 1999, American Airlines (AA) acquired the naming rights for the arena for 195 million US dollars. The American Airlines Stadium is situated nearby Fort Worth of Texas and is based at Dallas / Fort Worth International Airport.

Dallas City opened the stadium on 17^th July 2001, and the first event was the concert of the Eagles music band. The first sporting event was World Indoor Soccer League (WISL) match between Dallas Sidekicks and San Diego Sockers.

The stadium's design was done by the Driehaus Architecture Prize winner David M. Schwarz of Washington D.C. American Airlines Center's primary purpose of designing was to make the city look more attractive for tourism purposes and part of Victory Park.

Construction

The facility features a conservative traditional design with the sweeping brick facades and smooth arches and has been awarded with many awards.

The interior of the arena includes retractable seating, public art and a state-of-the-art technological arena. The Quonset-hut (It is a lightweight prefabricated structure of galvanized steel having a semi cylindrical cross-section) -like appearance of its roof and the fans named it as “The Hangar”.

PNC Plaza

PNC Plaza (formerly known as Victory Plaza and AT&T Plaza) on the south side of the arena serves as the principal entrance into the arena. It was designed by Athena Tacha (A multimedia visual artist) in 2000.

Moreover, the plaza provides an open space with fountains bordered by retail and office buildings. The plaza is often used for outdoor events and movie showings.

Stakeholders

• Architect – David M. Schwarz / Architectural Services, Inc.  Johnson / Mckibben Architects, Inc.
• Project Manager – International Facilities Group, LLC
• Structural Engineer – Walter P Moore
• Services Engineer – Flack and Kurtz Inc.
• General Contractor – Austin Commercial / H.J. Russell
• Tenants –

1. Dallas Mavericks (NBA) – 2001 to Present
2. Dallas Stars (NHL) – 2001 to Present
3. Dallas Desperados (AFL) – 2002, 2004 – 2008
4. Dallas Vigilantes (AFL) – 2010-2011

Significance

• Dallas Desperados played for the first and third seasons in the AAC, where they played until the league folded.
• Stadium also hosted the Big 12 Basketball Tournament in 2003, 2004 & 2006.
• Built Ford Tough Series was hosted in the stadium by the PBR between 2005 & 2009.
• The 2006 NBA Finals was hosted by American Airlines, therefore American Airlines Center and American Airlines Arena. American Airlines also held the rights to both venues in the NBA Finals; some nicknamed the "American Airlines series."
• AAC also hosted the 55th National Hockey League All-Star Game on 24^th January 2007.
• On Saturday, 18th June 2011, it played host to Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum.
• UFC 103, 171, 185, 211 & 228 was held at the American Airlines Center.
• The Kellogg's Tour of Gymnastics Champions was also held at the stadium.
• American Airlines Center hosted the WWE pay-per-view Great Balls of Fire.
• The opening round-robin matches of New Japan Pro-Wrestling's G1 Climax series were held on 6th July 2019.
• The stadium also hosted first and second-round games of the 2006 and 2018 NCAA men's basketball tournaments.