UNBELIEVABLE: Mark Cuban Reveals 2 Shocking Reasons For Selling Dallas Mavericks
Mark Cuban, current minority owner and former principal owner of the Dallas Mavericks, recently clarified why he sold his majority stake. Cuban, 66, is also the co-owner of 2929 Entertainment, an integrated media and entertainment company, and a former “shark” on the ABC business reality television show “Shark Tank.”
Cuban initially didn’t give the public much insight into his decision to sell his majority stake in the Mavericks. However, Cuban’s change of heart was obvious in his recent appearance on the “All-In” podcast. He kept a 27.7% minority stake, so there seemed to be some financial motivations, but he recently set the record straight with two additional reasons. Read on for those two reasons.
Mark Cuban Reveals First Reason
Mark Cuban recently revealed the two reasons why he sold the Dallas Mavericks to the Adelson and Dumont families. Cuban has appeared on a plethora of podcasts in recent months, but he opted to discuss the first of two reasons on the “All-In” podcast. Cuban’s decision was completely understandable, as the sports business scene tends to change over time.
Cuban told the “All In” podcast, “When I first bought [the Mavericks] in 2000 I was the tech guy in the NBA … I was the media guy. I had every edge and every angle. Now fast-forward 24 years later, in order to sustain growth to be able to compete with the new collective bargaining agreement, you have to have other sources of revenue. And so you see other teams in all sports for that matter talking about casinos, talking about doing real estate development.
“That’s just not me. I wasn’t going to put up $2 billion to get an education on building. If we’re able to build a Venetian-type casino in Dallas with an American Airlines Center in the middle of it, the valuation is $20 billion. But I own 27% of that.”
Cuban Reveals Second Reason
In addition to the first reason, Mark Cuban revealed to the “All-In” podcast the second reason why he sold his majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks. Cuban lost his front office job for the Mavericks, but he still has his front row seat at all of the Mavericks’ home games at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
There’s a new sports business trend of building arenas and stadiums with casinos, as sports betting has become more popular than ever before due to more states legalizing it. Perhaps Cuban didn’t feel like he was capable of building an arena with a casino, and if that’s the case, then Cuban’s decision to sell his majority stake to a wealthy family from Las Vegas who’s familiar with casinos should be a step in the right direction.
Cuban added that he didn’t want his three children to be pressured into Mavericks ownership or want it to be the family business. Nepotism in the front office is common in the NBA, but at least Cuban’s straying away from forcing his family into basketball-related jobs.
Cuban’s Current Role
Mark Cuban is currently the minority owner with 27.7% of the Dallas Mavericks stake, as the Adelson and Dumont families are the majority owners of the Mavericks. Cuban no longer has control of the Mavericks’ basketball operations. Mavericks General Manager Nico Harrison currently handles the team’s personnel decisions. Harrison assembled the team’s roster that won the Western Conference in 2024.
Cuban’s loss of control of the Mavericks’ basketball operations was arguably good for the team’s future. The team’s new organizational structure provided the team with a clearer sense of direction than in previous years. Take, for example, Harrison’s two acquisitions of Center Daniel Gafford and Forward PJ Washington ahead of the season’s stretch run. Harrison’s acquisitions helped the Mavericks make a deep run to the 2024 NBA Finals.
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