Some have wondered why Houston has earned a second NBA All-Star Game weekend in a seven-year span.  The fact is, Houston — and Texas — consistently churn out as much if not more basketball talent than basketball hotbeds like New York or LA, summer basketball one of the primary reasons for the surge.

Set in downtown Houston at the Toyota Center, the 2013 All-Star weekend will turn Houston into a festival of basketball, parties and celebrity events. Lebron James will try to win his second All-Star MVP, and the Slam Dunk Contest is always a blast with the no-hold barred mentality that you don’t get in live games. In 1989 Houston set the record crowd for an All-Star Game with 44,735 attendees- a record that was shattered by another Texas city when Dallas hosted in 2010, with 108,713 fans at the game.  NBA officials estimate the three-day event this weekend will have an economic impact of more than $80 million on the Bayou City.

In addition to hosting the NBA All-Star game, both Houston and Dallas have  drawn a number of other high-profile sporting events, including the Super Bowl.   New stadiums built in the last ten years have allowed these Texas giants to continue attract major events and support their portfolio of professional teams (both cities boast at least four). But despite the similarities between Houston and Dallas as sporting meccas, an ongoing cultural rivalry has driven many comparisons between the two cities, from food to architecture.  So in honor of the game this weekend, we’ve pitted the two cities against each other to determine who reigns supreme on some of the biggest stages in sports.