USA Broadcasting, team sign multiyear deal for Dallas-based KSTR-TV

GREATER DALLAS -- Capitalizing on what it views as a successful experience in Miami, USA Broadcasting plans to use sports as the centerpiece when it launches a new station in Dallas later this month and quite possibly in other markets around the country.

Dallas Mavericks games and Mavericks-themed shows will be featured programming for USA Broadcasting's new Dallas-based station, KSTR-TV. The multiyear USA Broadcasting-Dallas Mavericks TV deal, signed in August, promises to go well beyond a typical rights agreement between a pro franchise and a local station.

"We anticipate joining forces (with the Mavericks) to work on other sports entertainment deals," said Jon Miller, USA Broadcasting's CEO.

The fact that Mavericks owner Ross Perot Jr. is building the new American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas as part of his 65-acre Victory Development project should open a lot of opportunity in the entertainment and merchandising area, Miller said.

"What you're seeing," Miller said, "is these new arenas are becoming the focal point of downtown entertainment. We really want to be part of that...