NBA approves sale of Mavericks to Adelson, Dumont families as Mark Cuban eyes new arena in Dallas

Ryan Young

The NBA officially approved the sale of the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday.

While he isn't the majority owner anymore, and he admitted that new team governor Patrick Dumont will have the “final say,” Mark Cuban isn’t going anywhere.

“It’s a partnership, right? They're not basketball people. I’m not real estate people. That’s why I did it,” Cuban said, via Texas Metro News’ Dorothy Gentry. “I could’ve gotten more money signing it to somebody else. Obviously, I’m really excited about everything, but this is a great partnership.”

The NBA approved the sale of the controlling interest of the Mavericks from Cuban to the families of Miriam Adelson and Sivan and Patrick Dumont on Wednesday. The families, who run the Las Vegas Sands casino company, purchased their share of the team for about $3.5 billion.

Dumont, who is Adelson’s son-in-law and the Las Vegas Sands’ chief operating officer, will serve as the Mavericks’ next governor. Cuban, who kept a share of the team, will continue running basketball operations. While the new ownership group has deep ties to Las Vegas, which appears to be at the front of the line to get an NBA team, the Mavericks are expected to remain in Dallas.

“The state of Texas has always been friendly to our family, and we look forward to being able to repay that kindness,” Adelson said in a statement. “I am excited to spend time cheering on the team and getting to meet members of its passionate fan base. Everywhere we have a business presence, our top priority has been to empower our team members to engage with the local community in a meaningful way. I very much look forward to bringing that same commitment to Dallas and the greater DFW area.”

Mark Cuban said he won’t have “final say,” but he will remain head of the Mavericks’ basketball operations after the $3.5 billion sale.
Mark Cuban said he won’t have “final say,” but he will remain the head of the Mavericks’ basketball operations after the $3.5 billion sale. (Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images) (Allen Berezovsky via Getty Images)

Cuban purchased the Mavericks in 2000 for about $285 million. Under his leadership, thanks largely to Dirk Nowitzki’s run in Dallas, the team has made the playoffs in all but five seasons and won its first NBA title. It’s unclear how much of the team Cuban has retained in the sale, but the Mavericks were most recently valued by Forbes at about $4.5 billion. That made them the seventh-most valuable franchise in the league, about $3 billion behind the Golden State Warriors in the top spot.

Cuban said last year that he hoped to move the Mavericks out of American Airlines Center and into a new arena “in the middle of a resort and casino” in the near future. That would explain the partnership with Las Vegas Sands, the largest casino company in the world. Sports betting and casinos, however, are still illegal in the state of Texas.

Adelson is the fifth-richest woman in the world, per Forbes. She inherited about 56% of Las Vegas Sands when her husband, who founded the company, died in 2021. Adelson sold about $2 billion worth of stock in the Las Vegas Sands last month in order to make the deal.

Cuban, 65, also announced plans to leave the show “Shark Tank” after its 16th season next year. He denied that he was planning to run for president.

Cuban was seen getting shots up before the Mavericks’ game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.

“This is what I love to do,” Cuban said. “But I’m also a realist, and I also am self-aware. I know what I’m good at. … The advantage is what you can build and where, and you need to have somebody who's really, really, really good at that. Patrick and Miriam, they’re the best in the world at what they do. Literally, around the world.”

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