Mark Cuban is apparently selling a majority stake of the Dallas Mavericks.
The Adelson family is currently in the process of buying a majority stake of the Mavericks, according to longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein and The Athletic’s Shams Charania. Cuban is expected to remain the controlling owner of the franchise despite selling a majority share of the team.
Miriam Adelson — who is the largest shareholder of the Las Vegas Sands — sold about $2 billion worth of stock in the company earlier Tuesday with the goal of buying into a sports team, according to CNBC. She is purchasing into the Mavericks at a $3.5 billion valuation, per Charania.
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The Mavericks were last valued by Forbes at about $4.5 billion, which made them the seventh-most valuable franchise in the league. By comparison, the Golden State Warriors topped that list at $7.7 billion. Adelson is the fifth-richest woman in the world, according to Forbes. She inherited about 56% of Las Vegas Sands when her husband, the company’s founder, died in 2021.
Cuban said last year he hopes to move the Mavericks to a new arena that would be “in the middle of a resort and casino” in the near future, and he hoped to partner with Las Vegas Sands — which is the largest casino company in the world — to do so. Partnering with Adelson and Sands would be a big step toward getting that done, though sports betting and casinos are still illegal in the state of Texas. The Mavericks currently play at American Airlines Center near downtown Dallas, and have been there since 2001.
Cuban first purchased the Mavericks in 2000 for about $285 million. Since then, thanks largely to the arrival of Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavericks have made the playoffs in all but five seasons and beat the LeBron James-led Miami Heat for their first NBA title in 2011. The Mavericks are currently 10-6 this season, the third under head coach Jason Kidd.
Cuban, 65, also announced Tuesday he planned to leave the show “Shark Tank” after its 16th season next year. Cuban first appeared on the popular CNBC show as a guest entrepreneur in 2011, and has been a regular “shark” ever since.
