Is Mark Cuban selling the Dallas Mavericks?
Mark Cuban has entered an agreement to sell a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks to the Adelson and Dumont families, while still continuing to own a “significant share” of the basketball franchise and most important to Mark Cuban continue to have a say over the basketball operations side of the business.
So who are the Adelson and Dumont families that will be taking over the Dallas Mavericks? The Adelson and Dumont families own and operate the Las Vegas Sands casino company, which had revenue of $8.57B in the 12 months ending September 30, 2023, while enjoying a 114.30% increase in year-over-year growth. The Las Vegas Sands has a market cap worth $34.7 billion dollars as of November 2023, and has enjoyed a 7.40% increase in their valuation in the last year. Not bad!
The Adelson and Dumont families have also been lobbying the state of Texas to legalize gambling in the state, and since they already own a wildly successful casino in Las Vegas I just have to imagine they are angling to open a casino in Dallas, Texas. So this deal to buy the Dallas Mavericks is probably as much about owning a successful and profitable NBA team as it is about a real estate play and the future of gambling in Texas.
Why would Mark Cuban want to sell the Dallas Mavericks now of all times, with the NBA’s TV rights set to expire at the end of the 2024/25 season with the NBA aiming for a massive 10-year $75 billion TV rights deal. The rumored valuation of the Dallas Mavericks in this deal is estimated to be $3.5 billion dollars, which is below what some analysts estimate that the team is worth as much as $4 billion dollars, but what $500 million dollars between friends right?
To get inside Mark Cuban’s head it helps to remember that he bought the team for $285 million 23 years ago back in 2000 when basketball and the NBA were very different, and now he’s selling Dallas Mavericks at a valuation of $3.5 billion. I don’t care who you ask, that’s an insane return on investment (ROI)! They say timing is everything, and I’m guessing Mark Cuban is just looking to cash out his chips now that a good deal has come along that allows him to continue to focus on the things about owning the Dallas Mavericks that he loves. This news is hot on the heels of reports that Mark Cuban will be leaving the TV show Shark Tank that he has starred on for 14 years since it debuted in 2009.
So what does all this mean for the fans of the Dallas Mavericks? I’m guessing not much. There’s that old adage “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Fans will still be about to watch their NBA championship winning team at their Dallas, Texas arena which I’m guessing may get a pretty sweet upgrade in the next decade or so, and I’m sure we’ll continue to see Mark Cuban rack up fines for arguing with the refs. Some things will never change.
Mark Cuban enters agreement to sell majority stake of Mavericks