Report: Mark Cuban to sell ‘significant’ stake in Dallas Mavericks

DALLAS — Mark Cuban is in negotiations to sell a “significant” percentage of his stake in the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks to the widow of a Las Vegas casino magnate, according to a published report.

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The Dallas Morning News, citing a “person familiar with negotiations,” said that Cuban, 65, the Mavericks governor, is working to sell to Miriam Adelson, the widow of Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson. Sheldon Adelson died in January 2021.

News of Cuban’s plans to sell the unspecified stake in the franchise was first reported by NBA insider Marc Stein. The Associated Press, citing an anonymous source, said the deal was for $3.5 billion and involved a majority stake in the franchise.

The ownership group of the franchise has been owned by Cuban since 2000, Sports Illustrated reported. Under the proposed terms of the deal, Cuban would maintain operational control of the franchise while Adelson’s group would own more than 50% of the Mavericks, the Morning News reported.

If the deal is finalized and approved by the NBA Board of Governors, it would merge the interests of the “Shark Tank” panelist with the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, according to the newspaper.

Miriam Adelson and her son-in-law, Las Vegas Sands Corporation President Patrick Dumont, had previously been in discussions with Cuban about building a Dallas casino entertainment district and an arena for the Mavericks if gambling is legalized in Texas, ESPN reported.

The cable sports network added that the Adelson family is selling almost $2 billion in stock in their company “to fund the purchase of a majority interest in a professional sports franchise pursuant to a binding purchase agreement, subject to customary league approvals,” according to an SEC filing.

“My goal, and we’d partner with Las Vegas Sands, is when we build a new arena it’ll be in the middle of a resort and casino,” Cuban told the Morning News in December 2022. “That’s the mission.”

Cuban bought a majority stake in the Mavericks in January 2000 for $285 million, the newspaper reported. Forbes’ most recent valuation of the Mavericks, published last month, valued the franchise at $4.5 billion, the seventh-highest in the NBA, the Morning News reported.