The American Airlines Center is an arena for hockey games, basketball games and concerts. It is located in the Victory Park neighborhood near downtown Dallas, Texas. The leading sports teams Dallas Stars (NHL) , Dallas Mavericks (NBA) and Dallas Desperados (Arena Football League) use the magnificent American Airlines Center as their home venue.
The Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars showed their intentions for a new facility to replace Reunion Arena by 1998. In order to meet the financial expenditure for the new facility, Dallas taxpayers approved a new hotel tax and rental car tax. It covered a portion of the funding and the remaining costs were to be managed by the two teams, the Mavericks and the Stars. The new arena was to be built on the site of an old power plant. American Airlines acquired the naming rights for the arena for US$195 million.
This outstanding facility was opened on 27 July 2001. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the ribbon-cutting ceremony was the largest ever. An Eagles concert was the first event occurred at the arena.
The first sporting event took place on 19 August 2001. In this game,the Dallas Sidekicks of the World Indoor Soccer League took on the San Diego Sockers.
The American Airlines Center is of immense importance for the city of Dallas. It meant to be the heart of a new urban, commercial area designed to reinvigorate the city of Dallas called Victory Park. The facility itself features a conservative, traditional design with sweeping brick façades and smooth arches. The interior includes retractable seating, public art and a state-of-the-art technological arena. Because of the Quonset hut-like appearance of its roof and the fact that American Airlines holds the naming rights some fans have come to refer to it as "The Hangar." Others just call it the AAC (pronounced "double A-C").
This marvelous American Airline center has been graced with a number of awards. These awards include
Top Dog Venue of the Year, 2003 by Tour Guide Magazine, "Voice of the Fan" Program, 2002 & 2003 Top ranking facility in most customrer services and design related categories, Best Sports Venue, 2002 & 2003 by Dallas Observer, Facility of Merit, 2002 by Athletic Business, QUOIN Award, 2002 by Associated General Contractors of America/Dallas/Fort Worth Chapter, Engineering Excellence Award, 2002 by American Council of Engineering Companies, Real Estate Deals Award, 2002 by Dallas Business Journal, Project of the Year Award, 2002 by Masonry Construction etc. These are just few of the many prestigious awards which this remarkable venue has won.
This outstanding arena has hosted a great number of sports events since its opening in 2001.The American Airlines Center as well as the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida hosted the 2006 NBA Finals, when the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat competed for the NBA Championship. The arena hosted WWE Survivor Series 2003 and Saturday Night's Main Event on July 15, 2006. The 55th National Hockey League All-Star Game was held at this facility on January 24, 2007.
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