helping lead the Mavs in their search for a new arena

Rick Welts was introduced as the Dallas Mavericks CEO in December 2024, succeeding the transformative and charismatic Cynt Marshall. With Welts, the Mavericks added a proven NBA executive to lead the business side of the franchise.

"The great things Rick has done for the NBA league overall is really remarkable," said Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont at the Dec. 18 news conference.

Dallas Mavericks CEO Rick Welts shares three things he wants North Texans to know about him, from his first days as a ball boy to the family that supports him.

Welts brings nearly five decades of NBA experience, dating back to 1969 when he began as a 16-year-old ball boy with the Seattle SuperSonics. He later joined the team’s front office and was part of the 1979 NBA championship run.

He soon caught the attention of future commissioner David Stern, who hired Welts for the NBA’s league office. There, he helped build the NBA into a global brand, playing key roles in launching the Dream Team, the WNBA and All-Star Weekend.

In July 2002, Welts became president and chief operating officer of the Phoenix Suns, overseeing business operations for both the Suns and the Phoenix Mercury, who won WNBA championships in 2007 and 2009.

In 2011, Welts made national headlines by becoming the highest-ranking executive in men’s professional team sports to publicly come out as gay, in a front-page story in The New York Times. Just months later, he resigned from the Suns and moved to California.

The Golden State Warriors hired him as president and CEO the same year, marking his third NBA team. Under his leadership, the Warriors won championships in 2015, 2017 and 2018. That same year, Welts was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

In 2019, he helped open the Chase Center, the Warriors’ new home in San Francisco.

“This is a historic day in the Bay Area,” Welts said at the time. “Our vision was to build a unique venue that would become one of the must-see destinations in the world from both a sports and entertainment perspective.”

Welts retired in 2021. Three years later, at age 72, he returned to the NBA as the CEO of the Dallas Mavericks.

"This will be my 48th season associated with an NBA team or the league office. I've watched the Mavericks since their inception in 1980. I went to games at Reunion Arena. And always, this has stood out as one of the special markets for the NBA, the history of fan support," Welts said. "We're the fastest-growing community in the country. Amazing corporate base to support their teams. And just this affinity to the Mavericks that I've watched over decades now."

Welts started his new role on Jan. 1. In his first 100 days, he experienced the low of the shocking Luka Dončić trade and the high of landing the No. 1 draft pick, used to sign rookie sensation Cooper Flagg.

After the trade of Luka Dončić, Mavericks CEO Rick Welts says drafting Cooper Flagg reshaped the franchise’s future. NBC 5’s Deborah Ferguson sits down with the longtime NBA executive to talk about his first 100 days in Dallas, the return of NBA on NBC, and how he plans to build one of the league’s most powerful franchises.

"It was a tough 100 days. Not 98. Not 101. It was exactly 100 days after that trade took place," he said. "It's our job to take advantage of that luck now. And I think that's why there's so much excitement building for this season."

"I'm a glass-half-full kind full on everything. I think what I discovered was the depth of connection Mavericks fans have with this team. In my entire career, I don't think I've ever witnessed anything like that. And to me, as hard as it was for Mavericks fans, it also told me that if we frayed some relationships, there was an opportunity to get them back."

Welts says he and the more than 200 people in the Mavericks’ business office focus daily on elevating the fan experience, and it’s paying off.

"We've sold the third most new season tickets of any of the 30 NBA teams. We're on track this year to be back in a situation we're gonna have a waitlist for season tickets. We're gonna, in effect, be sold out of season tickets," he said. "Fans don't care about the revenue side. But on the revenue side, we're gonna have substantial increases both in our ticket sales revenue and our sponsorship revenue. So it's working. People are responding."

Looking ahead, Welts is now involved in plans for a new Mavericks arena and entertainment district, targeted for completion by 2031.

"This is not just an arena. This, as most sports teams now are looking at their future, this is not only the greatest NBA arena ever, but it's going to be a sports entertainment district," he said. "We want to build something that you walk into it the first time, your reaction is wow! These people understand Dallas."

After watching the Mavericks from afar for 45 years, Welts says North Texas is ready for a new era in NBA entertainment.

"I am here because I believe in North Texas. And I know that from an ownership perspective, we have the resources we need to do something really special here," he said. "Because this franchise should not just stand toe-to-toe as one of the best NBA franchises, but we really have the opportunity to create one of the great sports enterprises in the world."