Sheldon Adelson founded Las Vegas Sands, an international gambling company that included the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas and properties in Asia. He died at 87 in 2021. Miriam Adelson, 78, and her family remain major shareholders in Las Vegas Sands, and the Israeli-born physician and newspaper publisher is the fifth-richest woman in the United States with a net worth of $32.8 billion, according to a recent estimate by Forbes.
In an SEC filing made public Tuesday, the Adelson family announced it was selling $2 billion worth of Las Vegas Sands stock to “fund the purchase of a majority interest in a professional sports franchise pursuant to a binding purchase agreement.”
Cuban, whose net worth is estimated at $6.2 billion, said last year that he was hoping to “partner” with Las Vegas Sands to build a new arena and resort complex, according to the Dallas Morning News, though sports gambling is not legal in Texas. The Mavericks have played at American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas since 2001.
An NBA spokesperson declined to comment on the agreement Tuesday night. The Mavericks referred questions about the agreement to the Adelson family, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Mavericks, who missed the playoffs every year from 1991 to 2000, were transformed by Cuban’s arrival. Hall of Fame forward Dirk Nowitzki led Dallas to its first championship in 2011, and the team has made the playoffs in 18 of the past 23 seasons.
While Cuban has incurred a long list of fines as owner for everything from complaining about the officials to overseeing a late-season tanking effort, he has been credited with modernizing the Mavericks by improving team facilities and focusing on amenities that appeal to players. Dallas acquired franchise guard Luka Doncic with a draft-day trade in 2018, traded for all-star guard Kyrie Irving this February and entered Tuesday’s game against Houston with a 10-6 record. For much of his ownership tenure, Cuban has starred on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” but he announced Monday that he will leave the show after its upcoming season.
NBA franchise values have skyrocketed over the past decade, and the agreement between Cuban and the Adelson family follows several other recent transactions. Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam agreed to purchase a stake in the Milwaukee Bucks in April. NBA legend Michael Jordan agreed to sell a majority stake of the Charlotte Hornets to Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin in June. In July, the Qatar Investment Authority acquired a 5 percent stake of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, the ownership group that oversees the Washington Wizards, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics and the NHL’s Washington Capitals.
In an interview with Showtime Basketball last week, Cuban expressed reservations about the NBA’s long-term financial picture, given the changing media landscape from traditional television to streaming services.
“In 2010, remember, with New Orleans, no one would buy [the franchise] and the league had to take it over,” Cuban said. “I’m not saying it’s going to be like that, but the point is that it’s not automatic that everything always gets better.”
Ava Wallace contributed to this report.
