Texas Legends president and general manager Malcolm Farmer is bringing the American Heart Association's biggest North Texas fundraiser to his own home court this fall. The 2026 Collin County Heart Ball is set for Thursday, November 5, 2026, at Comerica Center in Frisco, with ticket and table registration closing November 2. Farmer and his wife, private wealth advisor Carey Blair Farmer, were named co-chairs of the campaign in July.
The couple's appointment creates a direct link between the event and its venue, since Comerica Center is the home arena for Farmer's Texas Legends G League franchise, according to Local Profile. The outlet reports the Farmers cited personal family experience with heart disease as their motivation for taking on the role. Ticket prices for the gala run $1,000, with tables priced at $7,500, according to event details reported by CultureMap Dallas.
CultureMap Dallas reports the evening will include a dining experience with local business and community leaders, survivor stories about heart disease and stroke, and live entertainment from the Emerald City Band. Organizers describe the event as bringing together community leaders, advocates, and supporters to raise money for lifesaving programs and research.
A Different Venue Than Last Year
The move to Comerica Center marks a change from the prior year's gathering. The 2025 Heart of Collin County campaign was co-chaired by Meg and Michael Gratch and wrapped with a November 14 gala at Cosm Dallas in Grandscape, which featured an immersive shared-reality screening, per Dallas Doing Good. Comerica Center regularly hosts professional sports and major North Texas civic events beyond its role as the Legends' arena.
Regional coordination for the Heart Ball runs through the American Heart Association's North Texas administrative office in Irving, which oversees corporate sponsorships across the metroplex. Nationally, the organization's annual Heart Ball campaigns generate more than $51 million, feeding into over $123 million in yearly research and community grants.
Why Collin County's Numbers Matter
The fundraising push lands against a backdrop of stark local health data. As of 2023, 31.3% of Collin County adults had high blood pressure and 4.8% suffered from coronary heart disease, while stroke caused 34.3 deaths per 100,000 residents, according to a needs assessment from Health Services of North Texas. Statewide, cardiovascular disease and stroke rank as the first and third leading causes of adult mortality, per the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Those figures echo a broader build-out of cardiac infrastructure across Frisco. Just this week, Hoodline reported that Baylor Scott & White Health began a $1.55 million expansion to build a dedicated outpatient cardiac rehabilitation gym at its PGA Parkway campus, a project tied to research showing completed rehab programs cut repeat heart attack risk by 47 percent.
CPR Training Ties Into the Mission
Community CPR readiness has also been a focus of AHA-linked efforts in the region. Medical research from the American Heart Association shows immediate bystander CPR can double or triple a cardiac arrest victim's chance of survival, a finding Hoodline detailed earlier this year in coverage of AHA-backed CPR training and defibrillator deployments in North Texas patrol cars. Many cardiac arrests happen outside hospital settings, underscoring why bystander readiness remains a priority for the association's fundraising arm.
Full event details and registration for the Collin County Heart Ball are available through the American Heart Association's event page. With Farmer's Texas Legends ties now woven into the campaign, organizers are hoping the Comerica Center setting draws fresh attention to a cause that touches nearly a third of Collin County's adult population.
