Mark Cuban has owned the Dallas Mavericks since January 2000, when he purchased the franchise for $285 million. Now, Cuban will cash out on that investment at more than $3 billion, while still remaining a very prominent part of the franchise.
According to Marc Stein and Shams Charania, Cuban will sell his majority stake in the Mavs worth $3.5 billion to Miriam Adelson, who owns the Las Vegas Sands corporation. However, Cuban will maintain some of his shares in the team and will continue to have full control over basketball operations.
The Adelson family is in the process of buying a significant stake in the Dallas Mavericks, @TheSteinLine has learned.
League sources say Mark Cuban would continue to retain operational control of the team.
More to come on this breaking news via https://t.co/A6ycVmnrjq
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) November 28, 2023
Sources: Mark Cuban is selling a majority stake of the Dallas Mavericks to Miriam Adelson and casino tycoon Adelson family for valuation in range of $3.5 billion. In one of most unique setups in NBA history, Cuban keeps shares in team and full control of basketball operations. pic.twitter.com/9iTqZvoGX1
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 28, 2023
It’s a rather bizarre setup, but Cuban cashes out while franchise valuations are incredibly high and gets to still have say over how the Mavs build their team. You’d be hard-pressed to find many folks that would turn down a return on initial investment of more than $3 billion, while still getting to run the whole operation. As for Adelson, she has never been involved in owning a sports franchise and it’s not clear exactly how hands on she figures to be with the organization, particularly if part of the agreement is that Cuban continues to oversee the basketball operations.
We won’t know how this impacts the Mavs, positively or negatively, for a few years, but it seems not too much will change in the immediate, other than who is writing the checks.