In 1998, the Dallas Mavericks and the Dallas Stars were indicating their desire for a new arena to replace the aging and undersized Reunion Arena. Dallas taxpayers approved a new hotel tax and rental car tax to pay for a new arena to cover a portion of the funding, with the two benefiting teams picking up the remaining costs. On March 18, 1999, American Airlines announced that it would be acquiring the naming rights for the arena for $195 million. The American Airlines Center opened on July 17, 2001 at a cost of $420 million.

The nearest airport to the arena is the Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL), which is about 6 miles away. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) is also nearby, at just 20 miles away.

Currently American Airlines and British Airways fly direct from London Heathrow (LHR) to Dallas/Fort Worth International (DFW) but not to Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL).

If you’re already in the US and looking to travel to/from the venue, then you have the choice of most US domestic airlines including Air Canada, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, American Eagle, Frontier Airlines, Jet Blue, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, United Airways and WestJet.

There are several public transportation options available around the American Airlines Center. The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) provides regular service to Victory Station at American Airlines Center via the Green Line and Orange Line. Both Lines operate regular service to Victory Station 7 days a week. If you ride a Red Line or Blue Line train, simply ride to the West End Station and transfer to a Green Line or Orange Line train. Additionally, DART Bus Route 49 provides service to the American Airlines.

You could use apps such as Moovit to get directions to the park using public transportation.

There are several popular neighbourhoods to stay in when visiting the area. One of them is Victory Park, which is located next to the American Airlines Center. The W Dallas Victory Hotel is a trendy hotel located in Victory Park and is one of the best places to stay when catching a game or concert. Another popular neighbourhood is Uptown Dallas, which is home to several hotels such as Hotel Crescent Court and Hotel ZaZa Dallas.

Beyond the Airbnb and Sonder options there are many hotels nearby to suit all budgets, which can be booked directly or via one of the popular hotel reservation booking sites.

The Dallas Mavericks sell their tickets via Ticketmaster.

The official ticket partner for the NBA is nbatickets.nba.com.

Here are links to the main ticket resale sites. Click on the link, which will open up a new window, and you can compare the prices on the different ticket resell sites, bearing in mind that the prices shown are before the selling platform fees are added, so take time to have a read of my tips to Buying Tickets in North America.

• SeatGeek
• SportsEvents365 (Click on the Search Button)
• StubHub International
• StubHub US
• Ticketmaster US
• TicketNetwork
• Viagogo
• Vivid Seats

I recommend downloading the team’s Mobile App to your phone as it contains much Gameday information for the stadium.