Just how much longer the Dallas Stars will play their home games at American Airlines Center remains to be seen. The franchise\u2019s tiff with their co-inhabitants, the Dallas Mavericks, has spilled into public view to the point that regular folks who would generally be fans of both are taking sides. For now, the two green teams will continue to share the AAC and will, probably, continue to fight in the court of public opinion, if not eventually in the court of law, too.<\/p>\n
As to why this writer personally thinks the Stars should do everything in their power to stay in downtown Dallas, James Mirtle at The Athletic had some thoughts. The long-time NHL writer published his rankings of the best arenas in the league<\/a> this week and American Airlines Center cracked the top half. Justifiably.<\/p>\n In his four metrics – location, amenities, atmosphere, and affordability – the AAC rated just about right smack in the middle with an average ranking of 15.5 among the NHL\u2019s 32 arenas. Its location ranking was 16th, the amenities 17th, its atmosphere 12th, and its affordability 17th. Based on fans\u2019 responses, all of those fall more or less in line with expectations. It\u2019s no surprise that atmosphere ranked highest, either.<\/p>\n A Stars Move to Plano Would Be Terrible<\/p>\n Mirtle noted, too, that when talking to fans about the potential move, that the ranking would almost certainly fall. It could crater, even. The City of Plano has been tempting the franchise<\/a> with a possible move north near Willow Bend Mall. Anecdotally, fans seem against the idea.<\/p>\n For example, the arena that ranked 15th, one behind the American Airlines Center, was the St. Louis Blues\u2019 Enterprise Center. It would have ranked ahead of Dallas\u2019 home were it not for poor location metrics (24th). Enterprise Center is technically in downtown St. Louis, but those who have been there know it isn\u2019t necessarily a good thing. It isn\u2019t the cultural hub of the city nor party central. Outside of a few square blocks around Busch Stadium on Cardinals game days, downtown St. Louis lacks much of interest, even if it isn\u2019t necessarily bad, exactly.<\/p>\n