This season’s NBA news that was probably the least expected comes from the heart of Texas.
After purchasing the Dallas Mavericks in 2000, Mark Cuban has served as both the team’s owner and governor. The Adelson family, who built their riches in casinos, will purchase the majority of the team. Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that Cuban is selling the team for a $3.5 billion value, but he will still own all of the team’s shares and have complete control over the organization.
2000: For $285 million, Mark Cuban purchases the Mavericks.
2023: Cuban strikes a contract to sell the Mavericks’ majority ownership for a projected $3.5 billion in value, but he retains a significant interest, complete control, and the last word in basketball operations.
References: For a price in the neighborhood of $3.5 billion, Mark Cuban is selling the majority of the Dallas Mavericks to the Adelson family, who owns a casino, and Miriam Adelson. Cuban maintains ownership of the team and complete control over basketball operations in one of the most unusual arrangements in NBA history.
Of course, the majority of Cuban’s fellow owners and governors must approve the agreement.
When it comes to selling a team, Cuban has accomplished the uncommon achievement of having his cake and eating it too. Even if they still own a small minority stake in the team, almost everyone else who has sold the bulk of the team’s shares similarly forfeits decision-making authority over its destiny. The Charlotte Hornets experienced that most recently following Michael Jordan’s June sale of the organization. Cuban maintains ownership over the franchise, though, and continues to be active in league and team matters. Commissioner Adam Silver may be happy that he may still hold a position at certain significant league boards, given that a well-known owner has resigned that he still has Cuban at his disposal, whose knowledge of media and technology can only help the league in the long run.
The Adelson household has a long history with sports. Sheldon, Miriam’s late husband who passed away in 2021, was credited with providing some of the initial finance for Allegiant Stadium, earning him the title of “the driving force” behind the Raiders’ move to Las Vegas. The franchise gives the casino tycoon credit for persuading state legislators to approve a hotel tax as part of the public financing for the stadium, even though he would later back out of the agreement (for unspecified reasons).
As the NBA gets closer to the 2025 expiration of its existing broadcast media rights agreements, franchise valuations are still rising. The new agreements, the league aims to reach a total of about $7 billion, will contribute even more to those gains. However, nothing resets the market for a franchise quite like the previous one’s sale, and given that Cuban made over ten times his initial investment in just 23 years, the next club up for sale might fetch an unbelievable price.
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