Tonight Only at the AAC: Mark Cuban, Chuck Greenberg, Eddie Gossage, Tom Leppert ...

Sam Merten

Chuck Greenberg

​You'll note there's an empty space on the American Airlines Center's calendar tonight, which doesn't meant it'll be dark. Far from it: The National Sports Marketing Network, a sports-biz trade organization with some 10,000 members, is holding its first North Texas Chapter meeting tonight, a three-and-a-half-hour networking backslapper that wraps with a 90-minute talk titled "The State of Sports Business in North Texas: The Economics & Growth of the Metroplex." It's not every day you get the owners of the Dallas Mavericks and Texas Rangers and FC Dallas, the president of the Texas Motor Speedway, the mayors of Dallas and Fort Worth and Arlington, and the president and CEO of the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee sharing sofas on the same stage. With Scott Murray co-moderating, no less.

Sam'll be there. Hard to miss this one, if only to see Mark Cuban and Chuck Greenberg share a stage following last summer's courtroom showdown over the Rangers.

Among the topics to be tackled: "the economics of hosting national sporting events in the Metroplex and how the market is presented to win events like the NBA All-Star Game and Super Bowl XLV"; "how North Texas will continue to attract major sporting events to the marketplace including future Super Bowls, World Cup, college bowl games and boxing events?"; "how the new ownership of the Rangers impacts the local marketplace and sports fan base"; "the unique business model of the Texas/OU Red River Rivalry and the future of the game"; and "the future of sports business in the Metroplex -- what can we expect in 5-10 years in terms of facilities, events, fan base, media properties and sponsorship?"