While Luka Doncic and his teammates dominated the Rockets, we learned that Mark Cuban was going to sell his shares in the Mavericks! Majority shareholder, the fiery owner of the Dallas franchise is reportedly on the verge of selling his shares to the Adelson family, owner of the Las Vegas Sands casino company.
Miriam Adelson, a physician and widow of casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, sold $2 billion worth of Las Vegas Sands Corp stock, according to an SEC filing, “ to finance the purchase of a majority interest in a professional sports franchise pursuant to a purchase agreement, subject to customary league approvals“. An approval that could take several weeks.
A room project in a hotel-casino!
According to Mark Stein And The Athletic, this professional sports franchise would therefore be the Mavericks, and the deal would value the Mavericks at $3.5 billion. There is talk of a 57% stake, and the Adelson family would have the ambition to set up casinos in Dallas.
For this to happen, gambling will first have to become legal in Texas… and Mark Cuban is at the forefront to force the hand of politicians. A year ago, he explained that he wanted to build the future Mavericks hall in a hotel-casino. He even named his future buyers!
“Texas is such an incredible state that we need to become a destination of choice. Gambling is one way to do that, and by partnering with Las Vegas Sands, there is no good reason not to build a massive resort in the city of Dallas. There are even plenty of places to do it. »
Mark Cuban remains in control of the athlete
Owner of the franchise since 2000, Mark Cuban would still remain “governor” of the franchise and he would control all decisions related to sport. He would therefore be a sort of CEO of the franchise, placed under the new owners.
Now aged 65, Mark Cuban seems to be at a turning point in his professional life since he also announced that he will leave next year the show “Shark Tank” which he has hosted for 16 years.
