Effective September 30, Center Operating Co., the company that operates the $420
million, year-old American Airlines Center in Dallas, is canceling its five-year agreement to run
Reunion Arena, also in Dallas, which would have run through 2003. For the past 12 months, Center
Operating estimated financial losses of approximately $1.7 million on Reunion
operations.
"It has been a challenge to book Reunion since American Airlines Center opened," said
Center Operating President Brad Mayne in the Dallas Morning News. "Promoters,
potential employees and event planners learned that there was no long-term
management or operating agreement for the building. They told us it didn't make good
business sense to book events that would occur two to 10 years from now with the
uncertainty of who will be managing Reunion Arena."
While Reunion has hosted a number of high-profile concerts this past year, including
Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, 'N Sync, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, it has only
logged 62 events with an attendance of 450,000, while American Airlines Center has
hosted 181 events and 2.7 million people.
