Like Cats and Dogs: Why NHL’s Dallas Stars and NBA’s Dallas Mavericks are Suing Each Other

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Living under the same roof since 2001, the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League, and the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association, have found themselves in an intense legal battle over the tenancy of the American Airlines Center (AAC). 

Issues arose on 18th October 2025, when the Mavericks accused the Stars of violating the terms of the Center Operation Company agreement by moving their headquarters away from Dallas to Frisco, Texas, approximately a 30 minute drive from Dallas. According to Maverick’s ownership, the Dallas Sports Group (DSG), this is a violation of the agreement, which posits that both clubs’ operations should remain within the Dallas Metropolitan area until the expiration of the lease in 2031. The DSG claims that in doing so, the Stars are blocking the upgrades to the facilities of the AAC. “Despite initial signs of cooperation, Stars’ ownership has consistently resisted efforts to improve the facility,” DSG said in their statement upon launching the lawsuit against their housemates. This comes almost a year after the proposed $300 renovation project for the arena had fallen through, with the Mavericks identifying the Stars as the guilty party in the collapse of the deal, accusing the Stars of “holding the American Airlines Center hostage” in their lawsuit. 

In response, the Dallas Stars have fired back with a counter-suit, affirming that the Mavericks’ claims are “nothing short of an attempted hostile takeover of the management of the AAC,” later adding that the lawsuit had been launched with the intention of reducing the Stars to “a mere tenant”. On top of that, the Stars emphasised the franchise’s recent $30 million investment in renovations with the goal of enhancing the fan experience at the venue. 

In a recent development, the Stars’ lawyers have found a loophole in the Mavericks’ suit and have accused the latter of committing the same violation of the lease agreement that the Stars had allegedly committed, by basing the operating headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada. In their court documents published on November 18 2025, the Stars highlighted the distance between Las Vegas and Dallas in their counter action against the NBA club.  The legal counsel for the Stars, Joshua M. Sandler, declared in a statement that, “the Mavericks engaged in the very conduct they allege entitles them to take full control of the American Airlines Center”.

A jury trial date has officially been set for 11th May 2026, where we could finally see the end of this lengthy tenancy dispute. Regardless of how far gone the partnership between the two seems to be, Dallas City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert expressed her desire for both teams to continue their 25-year cooperation in the heart of Dallas, under the roof of the American Airlines Center.