The other owners have officially validated the sale of the Mavericks. After buying the club for $285 million in 2000, Mark Cuban relinquished control of the franchise to the Adelson and Dumont families, at the head of the Las Vegas Sands casino company. The fiery billionaire thus sold 73% of the club, retaining only 27%. Enough to pocket nearly three billion additional dollars, since the overall value of the Dallas franchise is estimated at more than four billion dollars…
“Nothing has really changed except my bank account”, assures Mark Cuban. “It’s a great partnership. This is what the team needed, on and off the field. I will continue to oversee the basketball side of things, but having partners like Patrick, Sivan and Miriam, with their ability to build and remodel the arena and everything that comes after that puts us in a better position to compete. That's all. »
At 65, Mark Cuban assures that he will retain the sporting management of the club, Patrick Dumont will simply take care of the economic part. However, it is simply an oral agreement since absolutely nothing guarantees, in the sales contract, for the former owner to keep this status of sporting patron of the club…
“He basically told me: 'Do what you have to do. I want to win'. Financially, we are in a much better position this afternoon than yesterday afternoon to be able to be competitive” he explains.
Will Texas legalize sports betting?
The businessman thus describes himself as a “middle class billionaire” (sic), thereby expressing the fact that his investment capabilities are not unlimited. And above all that the development of sport has changed.
“It’s what I love doing, but I’m also realistic about what I can do. I know what I'm good at. When I bought the team, I knew more about technology, the internet, and streaming than anyone else in the NBA. So I had a real advantage. Now, 23 or 24 years later, that's no longer an advantage… The advantage is knowing what you can build and where. And it takes someone who is really, really, really good at it. And Patrick and Miriam are the best in the world, literally, at what they do. So when you have a world-class partner that can come in and grow your revenue base, so you're not dependent on the same things as in the past, that's a huge win. »
The main obstacle remains for Mark Cuban and the new owners who want to build a new room in a hotel-casino: obtaining the legalization of sports betting in Texas. Miriam Adelson and her family have been intensively lobbying Texan politicians for several years, spending millions of dollars with local legislators and the Republican governor, Greg Abbott. So far, without success.
