We've GOT to have a big, new arena with a seating capacity slightly larger than that of the American Airlines Center in Dallas, AND OUR OWN NBA team. No matter how great a city is (with very few exceptions), the general populace around the nation and the world never think of it as amounting to much unless it has at least one major-league team with that city's name on it.
We share the baseball and football teams with Dallas and Arlington, and even though they play in Tarrant County, most people around the world think of them as Dallas-area teams. We've got to have a major-league team with Fort Worth's name on it. A big new arena will also enable us to draw the big-name entertainment shows to FW and to draw more and larger, more news-making conventions, including the NATIONAL political conventions. Even now, the city should much more aggressively be luring major events to fort worth on a more constant basis, including the try-outs for TV shows like "American Idol" and the "X-Factor". We need a big new arena in 2 to 5 years, not 2023. There is a tremendous amount of wealth in the private sector in the Fort Worth area. Obtain all of the public financing you can, and then get some of the wealthy individuals, families, and companies in this area to pay for the rest. If they get major projects in Dallas done like that (one after the other), fort worth should be able to as well.