Las Colinas will likely have another college sports tenant in 2020.

The American Athletic Conference will move its headquarters from Providence, R.I., to the Dallas area next year, and officials hope to join a legion of leagues and staples of college football by making the neighborhood in Irving its home.

After this week's American spring meetings, where school administrators and league officials shared excitement about the relocation -- and the pending close proximity to SMU -- commissioner Michael Aresco will browse Friday for a new space to give increased visibility and access to the conference offices.

"One of the things that we love about being located in Dallas, it's becoming a little bit of the epicenter of college athletics in some ways," SMU athletic director Rick Hart said. "The conference footprint, I don't know that we're exactly in the center of it, but we're certainly easier to get to and pretty accessible to all the league members. I'm an advocate for Dallas."

While the American has waited for its lease to end in the summer of 2020, officials have been talking to employees about the move to Dallas for several years and warning new hires about the prospects of relocating. After all, the American doesn't have a program central to Providence -- the closest is UConn nearly 50 miles away -- and a majority of its member schools cover the South and Southwest after realignment from the Big East.

"Whoever succeeds me down the road as commissioner is going to thank me, because the travel," Aresco said. "It's a killer."

The immediate benefits will be obvious: With SMU in Dallas, Aresco said the league will have more frequent contact and opportunities to interact with athletic directors, presidents and coaches who will visit for games and events.

Plus, Aresco is looking forward to "cross pollination" with other conferences and college football institutions. The Big 12 and the College Football Playoff have headquarters in Irving. Conference USA is based in Dallas. Arlington, Dallas, Frisco and Fort Worth combine to host four bowl games.

Aresco said the American still plans to leave marks up north with its media days and signature clambake scheduled to stay in Newport, R.I., and the women's basketball conference tournament continuing at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., to draw ardent support from UConn's popularity.

But much like Conference USA moving from Chicago to Irving, Aresco views the American's pending transition as practical and productive.

"We wanted something that was closer to most of our schools and in a major market," Aresco said. "That's the main rationale behind being in Dallas. It just makes all the sense in the world."

Twitter: @CallieCaplan