While in town to announce the Stars’ upcoming game at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium, Gary Bettman addressed the dispute between American Airlines Center tenants.

DALLAS — While in town to promote a collaboration between the Dallas Stars and the Dallas Cowboys, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman ended up fielding questions about the dispute between the Dallas Stars and the Dallas Mavericks.

On Monday afternoon, Bettman appeared on ESPN (alongside Jerry Jones) ahead of the Cowboys’ Monday Night Football matchup with the Arizona Cardinals to announce that the Stars would host one of the NHL’s Stadium Series games at the Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium in 2027.

Moments after that surely blockbuster announcement, however, the hockey commissioner hosted a short press conference that almost entirely focused on the Stars’ strife with fellow local sports teams as opposed to its friendships.

“I am frankly somewhere between amazed and appalled by what I’m seeing,” Bettman said.

Last week, local sports fans’ heads turned with the revelation that the Dallas Mavericks were suing their arena-mates in the Dallas Stars over allegations that the latter franchise was in violation of the contract the teams entered into with the City of Dallas over operations of the city-owned American Airlines Center, where each team plays. 

The whole thing’s been a mess.

So, naturally, reporters were justifiably curious as to what thoughts Bettman — a former lawyer who served as the NBA’s general counsel and senior vice president before decamping for his role with the NHL in 1993 — had on the matter. 

Bettman didn’t hold back with his takes on the situation. Here’s what he had to say.


General thoughts on the dispute between Mavs and Stars

“I am frankly somewhere between amazed and appalled by what I’m seeing. 

“I understand the injunction that was initially issued was vacated today. No surprise, because I think the initial lawsuit is frivolous. I don’t know what’s motivating it. 

“Tom Gaglardi has been a terrific owner for 15 years. He was part of a partnership in running the American Airlines Center, and I guess someone new at the Mavericks has decided — and I don’t know if it’s arrogance or bullying tactics or what have you — that they want to change the state of play. I don’t get it. 

“If I look at it long-term, it seems to me that the Mavs don’t want to be in the American Airlines Center. They want to be somewhere else, doing something else. 

“The Stars are committed to their fans, to Dallas, [the] greater Dallas area. And, so, this doesn’t make sense on a whole host of levels, unless it’s just somebody who thinks they [the Stars] can be pushed around. And that’s not the hockey mentality to be pushed around. It’s not [Stars owner] Tom Gaglardi’s mentality. 

“The Stars, from an attendance standpoint, do at least as well as the Mavericks. I think their television ratings are significantly higher. So, I don’t get any of this. And hopefully it gets resolved quickly.”


On Mavericks allegedly holding Stars arena proceeds in escrow

“It [still] gets counted in HRR [Hockey-Related Revenue, which determines, among other things, the NHL salary cap]. It’s monies that have been earned.

“I guess that’s one of the tactics that the Mavericks are using to try to exert pressure on the Stars to do something that wouldn’t be in the Stars’ best interest.

“Listen, ultimately, this will either get resolved by negotiation or the courts will resolve it. And being a bit of a lapsed lawyer, I like what I see from the Stars’ side. 

“It’s not impacting them. That’s not an issue. And, frankly, that’s the least of it under all this. Withholding funds from the Stars is not nice, and maybe the Mavericks think, erroneously, that somehow the Stars are desperate for the money. The Stars can take care of themselves. Tom Gaglardi can take care of the Stars. Not an issue.

“Tom has operated the Stars in that building for 15 years and this all seems, unless there’s another agenda going on totally unnecessary.”


On recent trend of NBA teams building basketball-specific arenas

“I don’t believe that that’s necessarily a good trend, but it seems to be the case that a number of NBA teams think they’d rather go it on their own.

“What I think is probably the better situation is what they’re doing in Utah. They have figured out from an engineering standpoint how to have two different sets of risers so that the game, or that the arena, can be optimized for both basketball and hockey.

“But y’know what? If a basketball team wants to go it alone, if the owners of a basketball team decide that they want a setup like they have in a different place, like with a casino or something, it’s not for us to interject. But unless they legalize gambling in Texas, that’s not going to happen.”

On rumors Stars are considering a move from Dallas to suburbs themselves

“I think the Stars are being prudent and looking at what their options are. Because, obviously, based on where we find ourselves today, the Mavericks have made the situation untenable.”Â