A segment of Dallas Mavericks fans is expressing frustration over a change to the team’s partial season-ticket plan for the 2026-27 season.
In two different 10-game plans the Mavericks are offering for the upcoming season, one regular-season game has been replaced with a preseason game.
The Mavericks’ Oct. 14 preseason game against the New Orleans Pelicans is included in the “Three Point” 10-game plan the team is offering, while the Oct. 16 preseason game against the Atlanta Hawks is part of Dallas’ “Weekend” 10-game offering.
Season-ticket holders accustomed to 10-game packages that only contain regular-season games have called the change a “bait and switch” on social media. Some have also noted that marquee games involving Luka Dončić’s Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James’ Philadelphia 76ers are not included in any of the 10-game packages.
When asked for comment, a Mavericks spokesperson told The Athletic that among the eight season-ticket plan options the team offers, two include only regular-season games, five contain at least one preseason game and one provides the option to purchase preseason games.
“The ‘Three Point’ and ‘Weekend’ plans each include 10 Mavericks home games, consisting of nine regular-season games and one preseason game,” the spokesperson said. “These are two of eight ticket-plan options we are offering for the 2026-27 season. The packages were designed to provide fans with a strong mix of opponents, dates and overall value at their respective price points.”
The Athletic confirmed the four 10-game ticket packages have the same price.
In February, Mavericks CEO Rick Welts said that season-ticket prices for the 2026-27 season wouldn’t increase, at the behest of team governor Patrick Dumont.
“It was one of the strangest meetings I’ve been in in my 48 years in the league, where you sit down with the owner,” Welts said in February. “The staff has done two months of work to figure out where tickets might be underpriced.
“Patrick preempted the conversation before it got started and said, ‘Look, we didn’t deliver this year. We didn’t deliver on the team as expected. We’re not going to raise one ticket price this year.’ A popular decision. The right one as well.”
There is no uniformity across the NBA regarding which teams include a preseason game in their partial season-ticket packages. According to the San Antonio Spurs’ website, their two 10-game plans both contain one preseason game. But the Houston Rockets — the Mavericks’ and Spurs’ neighbor in the Lone Star State — don’t include preseason games in any of their four different 10-game season-ticket packages. Several other teams, including the Golden State Warriors, offer packages that include 10 regular-season games and one additional preseason contest.
According to Mavericks fans on social media and other fans who reached out to The Athletic directly, the team initially planned to include one preseason game in select 10-game season-ticket packages ahead of the 2022-23 season, before reversing course. At that time, Mark Cuban was still the Mavericks’ majority owner. However, Cuban offloaded his majority stake in the team to Miriam Adelson and Dumont in December 2023.