One Hot Ticket

Dallas Mavericks cash in among most expensive tickets in NBA right now

Cooper Flagg's Mavericks and Luka Doncic's Lakers have two of the highest priced tickets in the NBA this season.

Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

With a losing record of 13-23 as of Monday, January 5, the Dallas Mavericks probably aren’t the hottest ticket in town. Nonetheless, a ticket to a Mavs game at the American Airlines Center fetches one of the highest prices in the NBA right now.

Based on data from ticket broker SeatGeek, online betting platform eSportstars.io ranks a Mavs ticket as the fifth most expensive in the NBA, with an average price of $215. Ahead of the Mavs are the Los Angeles Lakers ($365.75), Golden State Warriors ($279.47), Boston Celtics ($247.96), and New York Knicks ($238.49).

In the past couple of years, Mavs fans have witnessed two significant on-the-court and off-the-court changes that could have affected ticket prices.

Last February, the Mavs traded point guard and shooting guard Luka Dončić to the Lakers as part of a three-team deal. Dončić now plays under a three-year, $165 million contract whose value could balloon to a record-setting $417 million in 2028. Five years ago, Dončić signed a five-year, $207 million contract with the Mavs.

In 2024, a year before the Dončić trade, Dallas billionaire Mark Cuban sold a majority stake in the Mavs to the family of Las Vegas casino billionaire Miriam Adelson for about $3.5 billion. He retained a 27 percent minority stake along with control of basketball operations.

Months afterward, Cuban revealed the primary reason for selling the $3.5 billion stake.

“Running a professional sports team isn’t always good,” Cuban said. “When you’re winning, it’s great. When you’re going to the finals, everybody loves you. But when you’re having a bad season — you see the hate on social media. I just don’t want [my three children] to put up with that abuse.”

Although both events were momentous, Dončić’s exit from the Mavs and Cuban’s sale of a majority stake apparently haven’t had a big impact on the team’s lofty ticket prices.

In fact, according to eSportstars.io, it’s cheaper to see Texas’ two other NBA teams — the San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets — in action than the Mavs. The average ticket to a Spurs game costs $141, putting it in 12th place among NBA teams. The Rockets sit at No. 23, with an average ticket price of $95.50. So far this season, the Spurs and Rockets enjoy winning records.

Just north of Texas, the Oklahoma City Thunder boasted the best NBA record (30-6) as of Monday, January 5. The average ticket to a Thunder game goes for $137, sandwiching it between the Spurs and Rockets.

While a Mavs ticket might be the most expensive among Texas’ three NBA teams, the Dallas franchise isn’t the state’s most valuable. That honor goes to the Rockets, whose value stood at $5.9 billion in 2025, making it the league’s seventh most valuable NBA franchise, according to Forbes.

The Mavs landed at No. 13, with a value of $5.1 billion, and the Spurs ranked 19th, with a value of $4.4 billion. The NBA’s most valuable team? The Golden State Warriors, at $11 billion.

rankings nba most expensive dallas mavericks

History on Display

Landmark Nelson Mandela exhibition to kick off in Dallas during World Cup

Photo courtesy of Lawrence Jenkins

Mandela: The Official Exhibition will open at The African American Museum, Dallas on June 13.

The African American Museum in Dallas will capitalize on an expected influx of global tourists by hosting Mandela: The Official Exhibition, opening on June 13 to coincide with the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The exhibition will offer an attraction in Fair Park, which will also host a Fan Festival for the World Cup.

The World Cup will take place June 11-July 19 in locations throughout North America. Nine World Cup games will be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington between June 14 and July 14.

Making its debut in Texas, Mandela: The Official Exhibition explores the life of late South African president Nelson Mandela, one of the world’s most recognizable champions of freedom and justice.

Mandela also had strong ties to soccer, embracing the sport as a tool for unity and hope in post-apartheid South Africa. From organizing matches while imprisoned to championing the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Mandela demonstrated how soccer could bridge deep divisions.

His appearance at the tournament’s closing match, when he donned South Africa’s national team jersey, became an enduring symbol of sport’s power to unite a nation and inspire the world. Mandela died in December 2013.

“Nelson Mandela devoted his life to justice and to the fight against apartheid, enduring 27 years in prison before becoming South Africa’s first democratically elected president,” said Lisa Brown Ross, president and CEO of the African American Museum, Dallas, in a statement. “This exhibition tells the full arc of his life and affirms the Museum’s role as a vital cultural destination for North Texas and for visitors from around the world.”

According to the release, the exhibition will span all four galleries and unfold through multisensory experiences, tracing Mandela’s extraordinary journey from his rural childhood in the Eastern Cape to his decades of resistance against apartheid and his election as South Africa’s first democratically elected president.

His journey to becoming the “Father of South Africa” and a globally revered figure is presented in personal and revealing ways. Through his own reflections and stories shared by his family and those who knew him best, visitors will see Mandela - respectfully called Madiba - in a new light. Madiba is his Thembu clan name and is used as a sign of respect and affection.

One gallery will be transformed into a fully immersive, multimedia environment that places visitors within defining chapters of Mandela’s life. Guests will encounter rarely seen films, photographs and personal artifacts on loan from the Mandela family, as well as museums and archives worldwide, illuminating the people, places and pivotal experiences that shaped one of the 20th century’s most remarkable leaders.

The exhibition will remain on display through November 1. Admission to the museum is free, and it is open Tuesdays through Fridays from 11 am-5 pm and Saturdays from 10 am-5 pm, with special summer hours to be announced. Free self-parking is available in nearby lots.

exhibitions-visual-arts galleries history museums nelson mandela soccer sports world cup