Dallas Stars announce move to Plano, plan to build new arena at Willow Bend Mall

One day after the Dallas Mavericks announced they are leaving the American Airlines Center, the Dallas Stars have announced they’re moving too.

The Stars will head north to Plano, where they plan to build a new arena at the Shops at Willow Bend Mall, WFAA has confirmed.

According to a Plano City Council agenda, councilmembers will discuss a non-binding letter of intent between the city and Dallas Sports & Entertainment, the parent company of the Dallas Stars.

According to the letter, the estimated cost of the new complex would be about $1 billion. Much like the new planned home for the Mavs, this would be an entertainment complex along with a new arena and play host to other events aside from Stars games.

When reached by WFAA, the city of Plano declined to comment on the matter.

For the past year, the Stars have been engaged in talks with the city of Plano about building an arena on the site of the former mall, which is set to receive its own mixed-use transformation. At the same time, the Stars and Dallas Mavericks have been locked in a legal battle over control of the American Airlines Center – and the city of Dallas has pushed publicly and behind the scenes to keep both professional teams within city limits.

The new arena will likely be located off Park Boulevard and the Tollway in the fast-growing Dallas suburb of Plano, according to previous WFAA reporting.

Developers plan to reimagine Willow Bend Mall as brick-and-mortar malls have struggled, and several major retailers, including Macy’s, Dillard’s and Neiman Marcus, have recently closed their stores at the mall ahead of demolition.

Demolition is scheduled to begin at Willow Bend Mall in the fall, making way for a new mixed-use development called The Bend, the Dallas Business Journal reported.

The developer of The Bend previously told the Dallas Business Journal that the site could house a roughly 20,000-seat Stars arena and entertainment venue.

The conversation with Plano has gone on for months. Plano’s Mayor previously told WFAA in December that it made an offer to the team, hoping to lure them into Collin County.

“It’s a really good offer, but at the same time it protects Plano’s community and what we’re doing right now for everyone and makes sure we protect the resources in Plano,” Plano Mayor John Muns told WFAA’s Inside Texas Politics.

After a Dallas City Council member told WFAA he heard that Plano presented the Stars with a letter of intent, the city later denied that any such offer was made.

The terms of the final deal were not immediately clear. WFAA reached out for more information.

How did we get here?

The Dallas Stars moved their headquarters to Frisco in 2003,

and the team’s presence there has recently caused legal drama between the Stars and their roommates at the American Airlines Center – the Dallas Mavericks. The team later established a headquarters in Dallas.

Since 2001, the Stars and Mavericks have shared the city-owned AAC. However, trouble began to brew just a few years later when the Stars moved their headquarters from Dallas to Frisco, prompting the Mavericks to claim that it violated a clause in their agreement to jointly operate the AAC.

That claim later resurfaced in 2024, leading to the current lawsuit between the two teams, which was scheduled to go to a jury trial on May 11, WFAA previously reported. The status of the lawsuit after the Stars announced its move was not immediately clear.

In a lawsuit filed in October 2025 by the Mavericks, the team claims the Stars violated their agreement and, in doing so, made the Mavericks the sole operators of the American Airlines Center. The Mavericks in April dropped one of their claims, filing a non-suit of tortious interference, essentially dropping claims that the Stars are interfering with the Mavericks’ business or contracts.

In a countersuit, the Stars refuted the Mavericks’ claims against the team and said the Mavericks’ lawsuit amounts to an attempted takeover of the American Airlines Center, WFAA reported.

Both teams’ lease at the AAC expires in 2031.

With the Stars officials moving to Plano, all eyes turn to the Mavericks, who are rumored to be considering a move to either the current site of Dallas City Hall in downtown or the Valley View Mall property at the corner of Preston Road and Interstate 635, WFAA reported. The team faces a July deadline to make a final decision.

Dallas City Manager Kim Tolbert previously told WFAA she wants both teams to stay in Dallas.

“We’re having great discussions,” Tolbert previously said. “We are working alongside of great leaders in both of those organizations who truly understand, you know, Dallas is home we want them to be at home. We want them to continue to be at home and so we’re actively taking care of that business”

It’s not clear what will become of the American Airlines Center and Victory Plaza when and if both teams move out.

WFAA reached out to the city of Dallas for comment, as well as the American Airlines Center.

Dallas’ loss is Plano’s gain

The Stars’ move northward is just the latest installment of an ongoing trend of companies moving to Plano.

Most recently, AT&T relocated its corporate headquarters from downtown Dallas to Plano, prompting questions about the viability of Dallas’ downtown central business district. Dallas has one of the highest rates of office vacancy in the country, WFAA previously reported.

When AT&T makes the move, the five largest companies in Dallas-Fort Worth will be located in cities other than Dallas.

According to Will Anderson, editor-in-chief of the Dallas Business Journal, there are several reasons developers and businesses might be attracted to a suburb like Plano. He calls it the northward movement of the corporate center of gravity.

“There’s just this low level of friction to building up here,” Anderson said. “There’s more space. Plenty of your workforce would live up here. Houses are being built like crazy.”

Tolbert, Dallas’ City Manager, has maintained that Dallas still has advantages over the suburbs.

“I don’t think either one of those amazing teams want to have to look out their window and their skyline is Applebee’s,” Tolbert said in her state of the city speech. “I said it, I said it.”

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