{"id":404717,"date":"2025-11-26T00:05:25","date_gmt":"2025-11-26T00:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/404717\/"},"modified":"2025-11-26T00:05:25","modified_gmt":"2025-11-26T00:05:25","slug":"if-the-dallas-stars-move-to-the-suburbs-what-city-deals-could-help-fund-a-new-1b-arena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/404717\/","title":{"rendered":"If the Dallas Stars move to the suburbs, what city deals could help fund a new $1B arena?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As speculation surrounds the Dallas Stars<\/a> eyeing a move to the site of a Plano shopping mall<\/a>, there are few details available on the NHL team<\/a>\u2019s potential new $1 billion arena \u2014 or the incentives cities may offer to attract the team in a competitive market. <\/p>\n

From grants to tax breaks, there are several tools Texas cities can use for economic development. Some go to the ballot, but other incentives can go through without a vote as cities vie for the prestige, potential economic boost and tax revenue that comes with hosting a major sports team<\/a> and its stadium. <\/p>\n

After discussions with Frisco, The Colony, Arlington and Fort Worth, the Dallas Stars are considering relocating from the American Airlines Center<\/a> in Dallas to The Shops at Willow Bend, two people with knowledge of the team\u2019s efforts told The Dallas Morning News this fall, potentially following the lead of many major U.S. sports teams<\/a>\u2019 exodus to the suburbs.<\/p>\n

Nola Agha, professor at the University of San Francisco, researches the economic impact of teams and stadiums. While a team\u2019s move might not generate<\/a> much new economic activity at the regional level, a move within North Texas can make things competitive, she said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen you live in a suburb, and you care about your own tax base \u2026 you see this competition between municipalities for shifting that activity,\u201d Agha said. <\/p>\n

City officials will not comment on the Stars or a potential arena<\/a>, but Plano has historically used incentives to attract companies like Toyota, Capital One and JPMorgan Chase to anchor regional headquarters in the city.<\/p>\n

Ted Benavides, former Dallas city manager and a professor of social sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas, said Plano is well-positioned to pursue a deal with the Stars, as cities like Arlington and Frisco have done with major North Texas teams. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey have money,\u201d Benavides said. \u201cThey\u2019re very active on the economic development front, so there\u2019s a lot of things they could do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An exterior view of The Shops at Willow Bend mall at W Park Blvd and the North Dallas Tollway in Plano, Texas, October 28, 2025.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Grants and loans<\/p>\n

Texas law allows cities to use money to promote economic development. In addition to tax breaks, a city can award companies grants and loans to incentivize them to stay in, move to or invest in a city.<\/p>\n

In 2006, the Plano City Council approved a property tax increase of two cents per $100 property valuation for an economic development incentive fund. The city caps annual contributions to the fund at $8.5 million, city documents show, and uses the money to offer loans and grants that promote economic development.<\/p>\n

Benavides said Plano was likely motivated to compete with cities like McKinney, Frisco and Allen that use the sales tax they are not contributing to public transportation<\/a> to fund economic development corporations. <\/p>\n

Plano contributes a one-cent sales tax to Dallas Area Rapid Transit<\/a> \u2014 $116 million in the 2023 fiscal year, according to DART documents. The city plans to hold an election<\/a> to withdraw from the agency next May and, if voters choose to exit, eventually regain that penny of revenue. <\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/p>\n

Cities can award grants for a number of reasons, including to promote redevelopment and revitalization of retail centers or cover a company\u2019s fees to the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has to make financial sense for us,\u201d said Doug McDonald, Plano\u2019s economic development director<\/a> and the city\u2019s next deputy city manager. <\/p>\n

McDonald would not comment on specific economic development projects not yet brought to the City Council, but gave insight into how Plano\u2019s incentives generally work. <\/p>\n

Economic development agreements involving grants typically last 6-10 years, he said, and factor in the tax revenue a project might generate and what service costs it might create. <\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"ResidentRedevelopment tools<\/p>\n

Agha has found municipalities compete for sports teams to shift economic activity from one area to another, with cities traditionally using sales tax to finance sports development projects. <\/p>\n

For example, in 2004, Arlington voters approved<\/a> a half-cent sales tax increase and other increases to hotel and rental car taxes to help pay for the city\u2019s $325 million contribution to AT&T Stadium, where the Dallas Cowboys play. The Cowboys paid the remaining cost of the $1.2 billion venue, according to the city. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s fallen out of favor \u2026 because people don\u2019t like to be taxed,\u201d Agha said. \u201cIt usually has to go up to a vote, and it very commonly gets voted down. Because of that, the most popular financing technique, especially for smaller cities, is tax increment financing.\u201d <\/p>\n

This tool captures the growth in a property\u2019s tax revenue created by new development within a defined area. When businesses and property owners invest in improvements in the area and those improvements increase tax revenue, that increase can be used to reimburse project costs or fund additional improvements that spur continued growth in the area.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A view of The Shops at Willow Bend mall sign at W Park Blvd and the North Dallas Tollway in Plano, Texas, October 28, 2025.<\/p>\n

Tom Fox \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Frisco<\/a> and its school district have used this economic development tool to fund several projects<\/a>, such as Toyota Stadium, PGA golf courses, the Ford Center and more. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s popular because it\u2019s relatively hidden, meaning the taxpayers don\u2019t have to know that a city is using property tax and giving it back to a developer,\u201d Agha said. \u201cThey don\u2019t have to vote on it, and it can incentivize a developer to build something.\u201d<\/p>\n

But when economic development projects happen without voter approval, there may be fewer opportunities for residents to weigh in. <\/p>\n

Plano currently has four such reinvestment zones, which are historically in \u201cblighted or underdeveloped areas,\u201d according to the city\u2019s website. The existing zones are in East Plano, at Silver Line stations, at Collin Creek Mall and in Plano\u2019s Legacy district.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe intent of these districts is to help encourage areas that are in need of redevelopment and reinvestment,\u201d McDonald said. <\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"AnBond funding on the ballot<\/p>\n

Cities can also ask voters to approve issuing bonds<\/a> to fund projects and borrow money.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery once in a while, there are different things that come up in the community that are important enough that the bond committee of citizens puts something on the ballot,\u201d McDonald said. <\/p>\n

Some cities have funded large sports projects with bond funding. In 2016, Arlington voters approved $500 million in bonds to partially fund Globe Life Field. <\/p>\n

Tax breaks<\/p>\n

Another economic development tool is a break from certain taxes<\/a>. Cities can offer companies tax abatements, reducing taxes for businesses on improvements to property. These can apply to things like commercial construction or facility expansions.<\/p>\n

Tax abatements are an option if a company is adding significant value to a site, McDonald said. <\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Pedestrians<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t typically use tax rebates or abatements when the building is already there unless there\u2019s going to be a significant or complete demolition and rebuild,\u201d McDonald said. <\/p>\n

Agha said for large projects, tax breaks are a drop in the bucket.<\/p>\n

\u201cArenas and stadiums are running close to a billion dollars,\u201d Agha said. \u201cProperty tax abatement is probably a very small piece of what the total cost would be.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s at stake <\/p>\n

Economic development projects are meant to add value to the community<\/a> in the form of high-paying jobs, sales tax, property tax and more. Their incentives often have expiration dates. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur hope is that the company stays here and continues to invest in the community,\u201d McDonald said. <\/p>\n

Related<\/p>\n

\"Plano<\/p>\n

Suburbs with more land flexibility can add development around the stadium to \u201csweeten the pot,\u201d Benavides said, and add different streams of income. For example, the Texas Live!<\/a> entertainment and hotel complex in Arlington near its ballpark<\/a> received tax and grant incentives. <\/p>\n

But new developments can disrupt traffic and the regular patterns of economic activity. They are not always popular. McDonald said city officials listen to concerns and will try to mitigate them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s potential for gain<\/a>,\u201d Agha said, if economic activity shifts from Dallas to Plano. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe important caveat to that is, will the city enter into some sort of financial agreement where they essentially give back all that new economic activity to the team?\u201d Agha asked. \u201cThe devil can be in the details.\u201d<\/p>\n

Email tips on all things Collin County to lilly.kersh@dallasnews.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As speculation surrounds the Dallas Stars eyeing a move to the site of a Plano shopping mall, there…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":404718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,7583,1596,1320,50,10548,4329,6270,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-404717","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-collin-county","10":"tag-dallas","11":"tag-dallas-stars","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-plano","14":"tag-real-estate","15":"tag-retail","16":"tag-texas","17":"tag-tx","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115613082593045685","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}