Mavericks CEO Rick Welts maintains that the team’s ownership group “does not have a ‘casino component’ attached to current plans for a new arena” despite the team’s ownership demonstrating an interest in legalizing gambling in Texas, according to Devyani Chhetri of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. Welts in a statement “reemphasized the absence of gaming elements” from the team’s plans for a new entertainment district, including a new arena, corporate headquarters, practice facility, hotel, retail and dining. Asked if those plans will change in the future, Welts said, “No, our plans will stay consistent with no casino component.” Welts’ statement offers the “most definitive answer yet” on whether a casino will be attached to the basketball arena, especially as the team nears a self-imposed July 1 deadline to decide whether a new arena belongs in downtown Dallas, possibly the City Hall site, or up north at the former Valley View mall. The Dallas City Council is “expected to decide this summer whether it will fix or abandon the I.M. Pei-designed City Hall.” Welts also “dismissed concerns a new arena could open a pathway to gambling” (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5/26).
